Top Story!

Chancellor Brady Welcomes New International Students

Left to Right: Chancellor Brady speaks to international students; Dr. Penelope Pynes with Dr. Charles Lyons and his wife, Anne.

Chancellor Brady recognizing international student, Chi Gava

This semester approximately 120 new international students have come to study at UNCG. About half of those students are part of international exchange programs, and most others are degree-seeking international students or part of the INTERLINK program. The reception was a wonderful opportunity to let these students know how much they are appreciated.

International graduate students, Huda Al-Zurfi (Left) and Arwa Al Taher

Chi Gava is the first international student on exchange from Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Chi is originally from Zimbabwe and holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Journalism. She is currently a graduate student in the Department of Journalism.

Huda Al-Zurfi is from Iraq and studying through the prestigious Iraqi Education Initiative, an Iraq government student scholar program.  She is a degree-seeking student at UNCG who is studying to receive a Master's degree in the Computer Science. Huda is also a recent graduate of INTERLINK.

Arwa Al Taher is from Libya. She is seeking her Ph.D. in Geography at UNCG  and is studying through a Libyan government scholarship program. Arwa is another recent graduate of INTERLINK.

Amal Sadou from Benin and Fay Alnajadah from Kuwait represented new INTERLINK students.

We would like wish all of the international students a warm welcome and best wishes for the semester. UNCG and IPC are proud to be a part of each student’s journey!

Haeun (Helen) Kim being recognized by Chancellor Brady

Faculty and Staff!

Martinek Travels to the United Kingdom

Tom Martinek and Kathleen Adnum, the International Officer at Trinity St. David

Tom Martinek, Jr.

Martinek then traveled to the University of Plymouth in Plymouth, England. This visit provided Martinek with the opportunity to spend time with a long standing exchange partner and to meet with faculty and staff in various academic departments that had not been previously explored for exchange programs.

The final stop on Martinek’s tour was the University of Wales-Trinity St. David in Carmarthen, Wales. The visit to Trinity St. David came at an excellent time as the university has recently merged with another campus in Lampeter, Wales, and will soon be merging with Swansea Metropolitan University. The merger will greatly expand the academic opportunities for UNCG exchange students as well as for students from Trinity St. David at UNCG.

While in Wales, Martinek also presented at a symposium sponsored by Trinity St. David titled, "Internationalization: Beyond Student Recruitment.” Martinek was among four presenters from the U.S., the UK, and Australia that shared their experiences with internationalization efforts on their campuses. Martinek's session, "Internationalization Through Exchange," highlighted UNCG's internationalization initiatives and efforts and focused primarily on how the development of quality exchange partnerships does more than just provide exchange opportunities for students—that is, it plays a crucial role in creating an ethos and culture of internationalization across the campus.

Bellamy Accepted to NAFSA Academy

IPC Director of Study Abroad and Exchanges, Denise Bellamy, was recently accepted into the NAFSA Academy for International Education. The Academy is an intensive training program that prepares participants to take on additional leadership roles in the area of international education and provides extensive networking opportunities. During the 11-month program, participants attend training events, complete written assignments, engage in conference calls, and receive guidance from a professional coach. Each of these activities is aimed at giving participants an overview of the major practice areas within the international education profession and broadening awareness of professional resources.

Bellamy is honored to have been chosen to participate in the Academy. “I am very excited about joining the NAFSA Academy!” says Bellamy. “The Academy will allow me the opportunity to learn more about the innovative leadership and administrative strategies being implemented by international education professionals throughout the nation. The practical and professional knowledge I gain will also help to increase my contributions to the overall international mission and strategic goals of UNCG.” Bellamy also looks forward to the establishing and nurturing new connections that will be helpful for her throughout her professional career.

International Students

Spring 2012 International Exchange Student Orientation

Incoming international exchange students meet their PALs!

During the first week of January, the International Programs Center (IPC) welcomed 100 international exchange students to campus, including 56 new students and 44 students returning for their second semester. The new exchange students participated in a week full of orientation activities, including presentations, a campus tour, and trips to several local shopping centers. The IPC staff offered a number of presentations during the orientation week on topics such as academic advising, academic and non-academic life, and visa document information. In addition, staff from Campus Housing and Residence Life, UNCG Police, the Spartan Card Center, and the Student Health Center provided presentations, which helped orient the students to on-campus services and policies.

Fatimah Hussain Algudaidhi, a degree-seeking student from Saudi Arabia

At the same time, UNCG welcomed 30 new international degree-seeking students. Due to the various other obligations of the degree-seeking students, their orientation was conducted in four hour blocks by Michael Elliott and Norma Velazquez.

During orientation week and throughout the semester, IPC is always thankful for the help and support we receive from faculty, staff, and our student volunteers in welcoming our international students. A special thanks to the PALs and study abroad returnees for their support. We look forward to a great semester!

IPC staff members, Dr. Penelope Pynes and Michael Elliott, with some of the new degree-seeking students

Left to Right: Linxia Wu and Yaoxi Yang, degree-seeking students from China

Left to Right:  Exchange students, Anne Fonslev from Denmark, Tianyi (Sky) Song from Sweden, and Gry Moller-Kristensen from Denmark*

*Anne Fonsley and Gry Moller-Kristensen are both part of the Global Work with Immigrant Kids (GWIK) program. The GWIK program was established in 2009 to support student and faculty exchanges between European and U.S. universities. The goal of GWIK is to educate new social service practitioners for work with immigrant and refugee children. GWIK exchanges are currently available between UNCG and universities in Denmark, Belgium, and Spain. The UNCG Coordinator of GWIK is Dr. Cathryne Schmitz.

International Students receive International Honor

Beta Gamma Sigma key

To read more about UNCG’s chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, go to: http://www.uncg.edu/bae/bgs/

Special Programs

South Korean Visitors come to UNCG

Participants in Chungnam National University’s Overseas R&D Management Program Delegation Leaders are Dean Yoon Soo Lim and Professor Taiwan Kwak (front row)

Dean Yoon Soo Lim with Dean Mac Banks from UNCG’s Bryan Business School and Dr. Penelope Pynes from IPC

• The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Regional Economic Development - Dr. Joy Bhadury
• The Role of Entrepreneurship in the Global Economy: The Case of the Cross-Disciplinary Program - Dr. Dianne Welsh
• Government and University Relations – Mike Tarrant
• The Administration of Federal-level Research Projects at Government Agency and University Levels - Dr. Byoungho Jin
• Redefining Work Space for Today’s Workers – Darryl Howard
• Introducing Social Media: How Does it Work for Business?- Dr. Aprille Black
• Patents and Intellectual Property: Practices and Policies in the United States - Lisa Goble
• Leading Cultural Change – Kevin Lowe

Seminar participants also took part in site visits to the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, hosted by Dr. James Ryan, and  Space Logix of Greensboro, hosted by Daryl Howard.

From left to right: 4 CNU delegates, Penelope Pynes, Bjoungho Jin, CARS Doctoral student Sojin Jung & Denise Bellamy

Our partnership with CNU was initiated by Dr. Dianne Welsh, Director of the Entrepreneurship Cross-Disciplinary Program and Professor of Entrepreneurship, and a colleague, Dr. Gyu C. Kim, at CNU in Korea.  Denise Bellamy, Director of Study Abroad and Exchanges, and her staff were instrumental in organizing this effort. We also give special thanks to UNCG’s Executive Education office. IPC and the Bryan School of Business and Economics are thankful for the opportunity to host the Overseas R&D Management Seminar and look forward to growing our collaborations with CNU in the future.   

Student Highlights

Architectural Sojourn to India teaches more than Architecture

Clairissa Anderson surrounded by school girls in India

Clairissa Anderson and Carlos Smith, Interior Architecture students at UNCG, were two of a group of thirteen UNCG students, faculty, staff, and alumni who traveled to India on an architectural sojourn in March 2010. The trip provided that group with the once in a lifetime opportunity to visit some of India’s most captivating structures. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Qutub Minar in Delhi, India, which is India’s tallest tower standing at 2.75 meters. Construction on the tower began in 1192 A.D., and it is considered a timeless example of Indo-Islamic Afghan architecture.

Carlos Smith at Qutub Minar

I also remember a girl saying, ‘Your eyes are like precious stones from Jaipur.’ I was struck by her comment, and I tried to imagine a young American girl, of the same age, paying a similar complement to a foreigner. Would that American girl even know where natural resources in the United States come from? I asked the girls what grade they were in, and they told me that their ages ranged from eleven to sixteen years old. About half of their class was either already married or they were arranged to be married soon. They were appalled that I was twenty-one and looked the way I did and yet had no husband.  Their teachers were equally interested in me and did not seem to mind the students studying me more than the architecture and history of the site we were all visiting. Meanwhile, my professor, Tina Sarawgi, was franticly calling the bus driver to come and pick us up (woman in blue in the upper right corner of the photograph). After this first encounter with the people of India, Tina and I decided that it would be best for me to buy a hat or a scarf to cover my head so as not to become the main attraction of the existing structures and monuments that we had yet to visit.”

Anderson goes on to explain how the experience changed her. She says that it was, “an enormous eye opener,” and that she remembers having more culture shock when she returned to the U.S. than she experienced in India. Anderson also says that she is now better able to appreciate her education and the opportunities that she has to learn and to share her new perspective with others.

Model United Nations

WorldMUN participants in Singapore

UNCG’s Model United Nations (UN) class participated in the twenty-second annual Southern Regional Model UN (SRMUN) in Atlanta on November 17-19, 2011. Nineteen students represented Canada and Namibia in simulations of UN committees and affiliated agencies. The conference brought together some 700 students from approximately 40 colleges and universities from around the region. Students assumed the roles of diplomats from their assigned countries and debated important international issues with the goal of writing resolutions to address those issues. Committee members then voted on these resolutions.

The students prepared for the event by compiling information on their countries and studying the agenda topics posted on the SRMUN website, as well as learning about the UN and the rules of procedure for the conference. Model UN requires students not only to think about international issues from the perspective of foreign diplomats but also to experience the challenge of reaching an agreement on complex international problems. It also enhances students’ research, public speaking, writing, and negotiating skills. UNCG has participated in SRMUN for the last nineteen years.

Prior to the most recent regional event, seven UNCG students from the Lloyd International Honors College had the opportunity to participate in the World Model United Nations (WorldMUN). WorldMUN was held in Singapore in March of 2011 after a three-day delay due to the Japanese earthquake. The students were joined in Singapore by other students from around the world in simulations of the United Nations. Organized somewhat differently from SRMUN, UNCG students at WorldMUN represented several different countries. Andrea Schronce received an award for her participation and was recognized at the closing ceremonies at the conference.

UNCG is proud to participate in the Model UN activities, which have been supported over the years largely through an annual contribution from the IPC Kohler Fund.

International Visitors

Left to Right:  Dr. Dianne Welsh, Chancellor Linda Brady, Dr. Tanya Castleman, Amélie Jacquemin, and Dr. Penelope Pynes

On January 17, 2012, Dr. Tanya Castleman, Associate Dean of Development and International Programs at Deakin University and professor of Business and Law, visited UNCG from Victoria, Australia. Dr. Castleman’s visit was initiated by Dr. Dianne Welsh, Director of the Entrepreneurship Cross-Disciplinary Program and Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Bryan School of Business at UNCG. During her visit, Dr. Castleman took a campus tour and met with Dr. Welsh; Heidi Fischer, Assistant Director for International Student Services at the Bryan School of Business; Tuisha Fernandes, Associate Director of the Bryan MBA Program; and Dr. Penelope Pynes, Associate Provost of International Programs, to discuss student exchange programs in entrepreneurship. Dr. Castleman also met with Dean Mac Banks from the Bryan Business School and attended Chancellor Linda Brady’s Welcome Reception for international students.

Also, pictured is Amélie Jacquemin, a visiting scholar from the Center for Research in Entrepreneurial Change and Innovative Strategies, which is part of the Louvain School of Management at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. Jacquemin is conducting doctoral research on the “Impact of regulation on entrepreneurship.” 

Dr. Kathleen Macfie (far left), Dr. Sarah Krive (left center), Dr. Sergei Erofeev (center), and Dr. Penelope Pynes (far right) with students interested in studying at European University of St. Petersburg

Also on January 17-18, 2012, Dr. Sergei Erofeev, Director of International Programs at European University of St. Petersburg (EUSP), visited UNCG from St. Petersburg, Russia. Dr. Erofeev’s visited was organized with the help of Dr. Kathleen Macfie, Associate Professor of Russian Studies and Chair of the Russian Studies Faculty Committee at UNCG. Upon arrival, Dr. Erofeev attended the Chancellor's Welcome Reception with Dr. Macfie and then proceeded to an information session about EUSP open to students and a discussion on the recent elections in Russia. Also during his visit, Dr. Erofeev met with Dr. Penelope Pynes, Associate Provost for International Programs at UNCG; Dr. Sarah Krive, Assistant Dean of the Lloyd International Honors College; and Dr. Roberto Campo, Director of International and Global Studies, to discuss collaborative opportunities between UNCG and EUSP for undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as potential collaboration on the new Center for the Study of Modernity that EUSP is developing in Kazan, Russia. They also considered strategies for supporting faculty and student opportunities in both St. Petersburg and Kazan. Dr. David Crowe from the History and Geography Department at Elon University was also invited to join this discussion in order to explore the possibility of creating a regional Russian Studies initiative that would include cooperation with EUSP and a regional conference, the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies, in Spring 2013, to be held at UNCG.

 "Argentina's Furious Antigone: Transitional Justice and Performative Acts of Recovery"

In October 2011, Dr. Brenda Werth, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at American University, gave a fascinating talk titled "Argentina's Furious Antigone: Transitional Justice and Performative Acts of Recovery ".  Professor Werth specializes in contemporary Latin American Theatre and Southern Cone Studies, and her areas of expertise include performance, memory studies, documentary theatre, and film. Her latest book Theatre, Performance, and Memory Politics in Argentina examines the intersection of theatre, memory, and human rights discourse in post-dictatorial Argentina.

Dr. Brenda Werth, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at American University

In her talk, she discussed the transformative engagement of performance with memory politics and human rights in Argentina over the course of the post-dictatorial period. This event was of particular interest to the graduate and undergraduate students currently taking the courses on Latin American Literature and culture some of whom had previously read the play "Antigona Furiosa" by Argentinean writer Griselda Gambaro, a play that discusses memory and violence in Argentinean dirty war. After the talk students and faculty engaged in a lively conversation with professor Werth. This talk was particularly relevant to our community at a time of intense social and political revolutions in different parts of the world, where people and nations are struggling to resist and overturn dictatorial regimes. It provided an opportunity to reflect on the role of art, literature and performance in these complex processes.

Faculty Corner!

In July, 2011, Dr. Sharon Morrison, Associate Professor of Public Health, took a group of 10 students to Zambia for a multifaceted course, Community Service Learning in International Health (HEA 407/697), designed to provide an international experience to both graduate and undergraduate students in public health and other disciplines. While in Zambia, students did most of their work in and around the city of Livingstone, which is a home to Victoria Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in the world. Livingstone, however, is also home to one of the highest recorded HIV rates in the world. Students were grateful to have the opportunity to offer basic public health services to the people of the local community and say that it was “worth every minute!” Read more about the students’ experiences below.

Dr. Sharon Morrison (center right) and UNCG students at the Livingstone Airport

Worth Every Minute: International Health Serve and Learn In Zambia
Submitted by August Elliott, Betty Foh, Laura Peoples, Sheri Vettel, and Dr. Sharon Morrison

UNCG student, Laura Peoples, weighing babies

Our HIV-related activities included HIV testing and consultation, education for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), education outreach in high schools and prisons, home-based care for households affected by HIV, and performing arts HIV prevention and outreach.

UNCG student, Sheri Vettel, taking a patient's blood

Although our work seemed very minimal to us, for many of our patients our assistance was huge. Our presence, interest, and willingness to spend time with them were just as important as the healthcare we provided.

While we loved the morning medical projects, the FUN really began each afternoon! We balanced our medical work with community projects such as participating in after-school reading and art clubs, sports, building, painting, farming, and adult literacy. The manual labor was not a hardship when you were able to look around and see the smiling faces of the beautiful children that would benefit from our hard work. Getting to spend time with them was especially rewarding. We truly enjoyed the opportunity to work with the people of Livingstone in both the medical and community projects.

Worth every minute!

During our trip, we learned that health is important no matter where you live. We also learned that the people of Zambia are extremely resilient and that the elderly are a valuable asset to the community. We were also inspired by the Zambian people and their efficient use of their limited resources.

UNCG student, August Elliot, at the reading club

For more information about this experience, please visit our class blog at: http://zamblogger2011.blogspot.com or the course website, http://www.uncg.edu/phe/zambia

INTERLINK

INTERLINK Students Ali Almansour and Rajeh Almasradi celebrating the end of term

INTERLINK’s New Scholarship Program

INTERLINK is pleased to announce a new partial scholarship program for qualified applicants. The amount of the award ranges from $200-$600 per 9-week term and is determined based on an evaluation of students’ prior grades. This scholarship is designed to increase diversity in the program, so students will be selected from countries that are currently under-represented at INTERLINK. Please contact our director, Dr. Brad Teague, by email at bteague@interlink.edu for more details. 

Congratulations Graduates and Welcome New INTERLINK Students

INTERLINK held its Fall End-of-Term Ceremony on December 16, 2011. The ceremony celebrated the conclusion of the term by recognizing students who successfully completed the program. At the ceremony, participants also bid farewell to students returning home and honored those who had volunteered in the Conversation Program during the fall semester.
On January 2, 2012, INTERLINK welcomed 29 new students from 11 different countries for the first day of orientation. The incoming students hail from Benin, Brazil, China, the Ivory Coast, Korea, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Vietnam. We are excited to learn with all of them this term!

INTERLINK students taking the lead in their English-language learning

INTERLINK student, Sofy Ribadeneira

A new student, Omar Montasser, from Libya, plays soccer every Friday at the Student Recreation Center with other INTERLINK students and some American students.  It gives him a chance to connect with other students, both inside and outside of the international student community.

International Conversation Partners Program (ICCP) and Learning Exchange and Assistance Program (LEAP)

Omar Montasser and Mohammed Benhassan spend time socializing outside of INTERLINK

Upcoming Events

February 2012

Feb. 9              Student Academic Achievement Awards Spring 2012 Reception
Feb. 15            UNCG Study Abroad Application Deadline
Feb. 15            Tax Workshop for International Students
Feb. 16            Beyond OPT with Chad Collins (Attorney and Career Services)
Feb. 17            Beyond OPT Consultation
Feb. 20-24      Study Abroad Final Interviews (Foust Building, All Week)
Feb. 22            Faculty-Led Study Abroad Risk Management

March 2012

Mar. 1             INTERLINK’s Spring I 2012 End-of-Term Ceremony
Mar. 5             Beginning of INTERLINK’s Spring II 2012 Term
Mar. 14           Study Abroad Nomination List
Mar. 24           UNCG Study Abroad Pre-Departure Orientation
Mar. 31           UNCEP Pre-Departure Orientation