ACE Leadership Team

ACE Internationalization Lab Results and Recommendations

In Spring 2022, the ACE Peer Review Team, pictured above, visited campus. The delegation met with campus administrators, deans, faculty, students, staff and Internationalization Lab participants. The delegation's reflections and recommendations from the visit were incorporated into a final report.

International Strengths

120+
Countries represented on campus by students, faculty and staff, and an alumni network that spans the globe.
488
Students have received Fulbright awards since 1946.
24th
Among U.S. public research doctoral institutions in the percentage of students who studied abroad.
13th
In the nation in language and area studies expertise, including four Title VI-funded national resource centers.

Results and Recommendations

KU has significant internationalization resources and is unmatched across the region in its level of international activity. These resources and activity have proven critical to KU’s teaching and research efforts.

However, the ACE lab underscored that KU’s international efforts and resources need more strategic coordination, alignment and incentivization. KU must amplify and strategically build upon the work it is already doing while creating more inclusive structures, support and recognition for the international activity that is currently occurring.

Through Jayhawks Rising, KU will:

  • Enhance alignment of resources with strategic partnership and programming priorities.
  • Improve tracking and reporting of international activity and accomplishments.
  • Increase recognition and rewards for international activity and associated outcomes.

Organizational changes are needed to enhance access, alignment and impact, as well as to affirm and clearly articulate KU’s identity as a major international research university.

Unit Participation

Moving forward KU International Affairs will partner with academic and administrative leaders to develop unit-level internationalization plans that are reflective of Jayhawks Rising’s overarching priorities of student success, healthy and vibrant communities, and research and discovery.

Benchmarking

  • Staff and faculty members who have taken professional development training on intercultural competency.
  • Undergraduate and graduate students who have studied abroad (broken down by demographics and field of study).
  • Faculty participation in international conferences.
  • Grants tied to international work or collaborators abroad.
  • Publications with co-authors from outside the United States.
  • Support professional development and career placement opportunities with organizations that have an international footprint.
  • Support professional development and career placement for international students.
  • Endowment support for international activity.

Metrics

Establish metrics that capture faculty, student and staff activity related to KU’s internationalization goals of:

  • Developing strategic partnerships.
  • Providing degree-relevant undergraduate and graduate programs that send students abroad to study, research, conduct service-learning projects and intern.
  • Developing intercultural cultural competency skills among staff, faculty and students, ensuring they can communicate and work well with people from different cultural backgrounds.
  • Diversifying KU’s international student population.
  • Incorporating international, intercultural and global dimensions into KU’s course curriculum.
  • Engaging faculty in international research. Encouraging transnational research that includes non-American authors and topics.
  • Offering international performances and exhibits.

Goal Setting

Using the most relevant benchmarking data and metrics, units across campus will set internationalization goals and establish a timeline for achieving those goals. The unit-level goals will be incorporated into the goal setting and performance expectations of individual staff and faculty.