Vision and Mission
The vision of the Florida State University IICR is to be a comprehensive center dedicated to the development of an interculturally competent campus and community.
The mission of the Florida State University IICR is to promote intercultural communication research and program assessment/evaluation to serve the development of intercultural competence among students, staff, faculty and community members, to provide training and outreach, and to enhance internationalization initiatives by seeking external sources of funding for these efforts.
There are four priorities for action:
Priority I: Census and Networking:
Assessing, identifying and beginning to better link the multitude of international and intercultural activities, courses and resources already present in different sectors of the Florida State University campus. Its products would be a compendium of programs, activities, and research, making this available through a variety of means.
Priority II: Curriculum Development:
Initiating and carrying through the modifications or supplements to existing undergraduate and graduate curricula at the University -- both within Departments and across disciplines -- that are judged essential to enhancing intercultural and global competence among our students. This would include the institution of new certificate programs at the undergraduate and graduate level.
Priority III: Research and Service Initiatives:
Generating new initiatives that stem from increased interaction in the international and multicultural fields, born of the improved linkage among interested and competent faculty, staff and students that has been created in the previous phases.
Priority IV: Infrastructure Development:
Planning and development of any additional infrastructure, administrative resources or personnel that new activities in the first three phases have demonstrated to be needed and to be cost-effective.
Activities
The IICR undertakes research and assessment activities, expands research opportunities in intercultural competencies, and coordinates associated services and educational/training activities that enhance existing and emerging efforts to expand internationalization and cross-cultural competency at the Florida State University. This base of expertise will also allow for building offerings of assessment services to public sector clients outside the university.
These research and assessment activities will build networks of faculty members and graduate students across the university to assist them in their work by providing access to resources and expertise, and serve to raise the profile of internationalization and cross-cultural initiatives at the Florida State University.
A. Education and Training:
- Support the development of courses and workshops on effective intercultural engagement for all the Florida State University students.
- Provide faculty workshops to support curriculum internationalization.
- Provide intercultural communication workshops to meet specific needs of campus and community members.
B. Curriculum Internationalization and Development:
- Support faculty workshops to advance curriculum internationalization
- Develop faculty network for course development and revision
- Provide for seeded flagship curriculum projects
- Coordinate an annual faculty showcase of curriculum internationalization projects
C. Research and Assessment
- Collaborate with faculty and students on research related to the field of intercultural communication.
- Provide support for assessing the needs and the effectiveness of programs designed to develop intercultural competencies and the Florida State University’s internationalization efforts.
- Collaborate with faculty and students to produce an annual publication on the research findings in the field of intercultural communication and globalization as well as highlights of the Florida State university Internationalization efforts.
D. Resources and Outreach:
- Provide assistance and collaborate with campus and community in its internationalization efforts through programs and services designed to increase global awareness; including speakers bureau, K-12 outreach etc.
- Provide a comprehensive toolkit and materials to facilitate internationalization efforts, and maintain a database of relevant publications.
- Produce a searchable database of faculty and students engaged in international and intercultural research.
E. Funding:
- Seek funding to promote and support the goals of the Institute.
People
The Institute provides a framework for linkages and networks to identify the needs, pre and post program evaluation and other opportunities to enhance and measure the success of the Florida State University’s internationalization efforts through research, development and other initiatives currently ongoing. Furthermore, the Institute will seek external funding to expand these assessment activities and build a base of expertise.
The assessment activities and research that are the core part of the Institute’s mission will reach out to a variety of programs on campus, offering expertise and resources to assist in their program evaluations. This coordination will also allow for a broader campus wide tracking of the effectiveness of internationalization and cross-cultural competency building efforts, and serve to build a critical mass of expertise in intercultural communication and program assessment in this area. A package of assessment services to be offered to public sector clients outside the university will also be developed.
The Institute will provide networks and opportunities for collaboration among faculty, staff and students with the expertise and/or interest in the field of intercultural communication, and promote further collaboration between the Division of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs.
The Institute will be most closely affiliated with the Florida State University Center for Global Engagement with close collaboration with the colleges of Communication and Information, Social Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Education; FSU International Programs; Center for the Intensive English Studies (CIES); School of Graduate Studies. Participation in the Institute’s activities and research are open to all academic and student affairs areas as applicable.
Institute’s initiatives and activities will be featured and linked to the Florida State University’s Global Pathways Initiative website in order to reach across campus.
