2020-2021 KUIA Annual Report
Highlighting KU's international work, featuring stories on faculty and staff accomplishments, student and alumni success and the legacy of former colleagues.
Message from the Associate Vice Provost
"We have much work to do as we move forward and look beyond the pandemic context to our institutional vision 'to be an exceptional learning community that lifts each other and advances society,' but we are well on our way."
On behalf of all of us in International Affairs, we are delighted to share with you our annual report for the past academic year. Above you will see the Study Abroad & Global Engagement (SAGE) team, which was recognized by Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer as KU’s Team of the Year for their extraordinary efforts during the pandemic to support our Jayhawks abroad, ensure students’ safety and academic continuity, and pivot to new modalities to enable Jayhawks to continue to receive the international education so fundamental to a KU degree.
The work of SAGE is emblematic of an entire division and university that worked tirelessly to put students first. These efforts required continual pivoting, adaptation and innovation.
KUIA Updates
ACE Internationalization Lab
KU Assists JCCC with Implementing Grant to Internationalize Courses
SAGE Named 2021 KU Team of the Year
Faculty Achievement
KUIA Awards 10 Travel Grants
KU International Affairs has awarded more than $49,000 in travel grants to nine University of Kansas faculty members and a graduate student to support research and collaboration abroad. Recipients will use the funds before June 30, 2022.
Read Article
Jorge Soberón
Over the decades, Jorge Soberón’s field of research has grown from studying a few acres of butterfly terrain to encompassing broad regions of the world as he uses theoretical and computational modeling to predict biodiversity patterns on a global scale.
Read ArticleStudent Success
Pursuing Unique International Experiences during COVID
Determination, flexibility and a healthy sense of adventure were required for the KU students who sought internatioal education experiences during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Three students share their stories.
Japanese Students Share Thoughts on Study Abroad during Global Pandemic
In early March, just days before the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, a group of 15 Japanese students arrived at KU from Kansai University. Members of the group reflected on their experience before returning home in December 2020.KU International Students 2020-21
KU International Students 2020-21
Alumni Reflections
Thanksgiving Homestay Program
Over the years, the Betty Grimwood Thanksgiving Homestay Program has gained national recognition and brought thousands of international students into Kansas homes. For Betty Grimwood, her husband, Ed, and two sons, Charlie and Tom, the program fostered relationships that spanned generations and continents.
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Safa Alqudah
KU alumna Safa Alqudah received $700,000 for Hear Jordan, a project she developed that takes a three-prong approach to address hearing loss by providing free hearing aids and evaluations to children, training audiology students with the proper equipment, and implementing a public awareness campaign.
Read ArticleStaff and Faculty Kudos
Remembering Hodgie Bricke
Hodgie Bricke began her international education career as a part-time program assistant in International Programs in 1989 and retired in 2012 as assistant vice-provost. For more than three decades, she built networks that were fundamental to KU’s internationalization and placed the university on the global map.
Memorial Fund