Developing Global
Competencies at CUA
Ella Sweigert
Director of Education Abroad (CUAbroad)
GLOBAL COMPETENCE
… is the ability “… not only to contribute to knowledge, but
also to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate its meaning in
the context of an increasingly globalized world.” The definition can
be found in the report Call to Leadership: The Presidential Role in Internationalizing the University by the
National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC) report
The SKILLS that form the foundation of
global competence include
 the ability to work effectively in international settings;
 awareness of and adaptability to diverse cultures,
perceptions and approaches;
 familiarity with the major currents of global change and the
issues they raise;
 and the capacity for effective communication across cultural
and linguistic boundaries.
Source: Paths to Global Competence: Preparing American College Students to Meet the World by William I.
Brustein, Director of the University Center for International Studies and Professor of Sociology, Political
Science, and History at University of Pittsburgh.
FAMOUS PEOPLE
AMERICANS WHO STUDIED ABROAD
And
FOREIGNERS WHO STUDIED ABROAD,
INLCUDING THE US
W.E.B. Du Bois
American civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist,
sociologist, historian, author, and editor.
Du Bois graduated from Harvard, where he earned
his Ph.D in History; later he became a professor of
history and economics at Atlanta University. He
became the head of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), becoming
founder and editor of the NAACP's journal The Crisis.
He received his bachelor's degree cum laude from
Harvard University. Won a fellowship from the John
F. Slater Fund for the Education of Freedmen to
attend the University of Berlin for graduate work.
While a student in Berlin, he traveled extensively
throughout Europe. The first African American to
earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Benazir Bhutto
Former Pakistani politician, chaired the Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP). Pakistan's first and to date only female
prime minister (twice), the first woman elected to lead a
Muslim state. The eldest child of former Pakistani prime
minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nusrat Bhutto, and was
wife of current Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Assassinated in 2007 two weeks before the scheduled
election in which she was a leading opposition candidate.
The following year she was named one of seven winners
of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights.
Radcliff College at Harvard University, B.A., cum laude,
honors in Comparative Government; also Phi Beta Kappa.
Studied Philosophy, Politics, Economics, International Law, and
Diplomacy at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. After LMH she attend
St Catherine's College in Oxford. She was elected president
of the Oxford Union, becoming the first Asian woman to head
the prestigious debating society.
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who
served as the seventh Secretary-General of
the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan
and the United Nations were the co-recipients
of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for his founding
the Global AIDS and Health Fund to support
developing countries in their struggle to care
for their people.
He received a Ford Foundation grant, enabling
him to complete his undergraduate studies at
Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Annan is fluent in English, French, Kru, other
dialects of Akan, and other African languages.
William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd
President of the United States from 1993 to 2001.
His wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is currently the
United States Secretary of State. Each received a
Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Yale Law School.
With the aid of scholarships, Clinton attended the
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at
Georgetown University, receiving a Bachelor of
Science in Foreign Service degree. He spent the
summer before his senior year interning for
Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright. Upon
graduation, he won a Rhodes Scholarship to
University College, Oxford where he studied
Philosophy, Politics and Economics, though as a
result of switching programs and leaving early for
Yale, he did not obtain a degree there.
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the
current President of Mexico. He assumed office
on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a
single six-year term through 2012.
After growing up in Morelia, Calderón moved
to Mexico City, where he received a bachelor's
degree in law from the Escuela Libre de
Derecho. Later, he received a master's degree
in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico
Autónomo de México (ITAM) and a Master of
Public Administration from the John F.
Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University.
Aung San Suu Kyi
Burmese opposition politician and a former
General Secretary of the National League for
Democracy.
Recipient of the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize
for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1991. Until recently, she had been
detained and has remained under house arrest in
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since 2002.
Graduated from Lady Shri Ram College with a
degree in politics in New Delhi in 1964. Suu Kyi
continued her education at St Hugh's College,
Oxford, obtaining a B.A. degree in Philosophy,
Politics, and Economics. After graduating, she lived
in New York City with a family friend and worked
at the United Nations for three years. She earned
a Ph.D. at the School of Oriental and African
Studies (SOAS), University of London .
IDENTIFYING
GLOBAL COMPETENCY:
Definitions
Internationalist
 Excellent intercultural communication skills
 Learns through listening and observing
 Thrives in multicultural settings with a diverse
range of personalities and learning styles
 Establishes rapport quickly
 Able to work effectively as a part of a
multinational/ multicultural team
 Effective and knowledgeable in working in
cross-cultural settings
 Learns quickly
IDENTIFYING
GLOBAL COMPETENCY:
Definitions
Multicultural Leadership
 Effective and cooperative team player who also
works well independently
 Takes initiative and risks
 Communicates despite barriers
 Understands cultural differences and similarities
 Handles stress
 Identifies problems and utilizes available
resources to resolve them
 Highly developed cross-cultural communication
skills combined with ability to motivate others
to excel
IDENTIFYING
GLOBAL COMPETENCY:
Definitions
Comfort with Dissonance
 Capacity to adapt and be flexible in new and
changing situations
 Handles difficult situations
 Extremely adaptable and resourceful in new
and challenging environments
 Functions well in multiple, dissonant
environments
 Capable of working in difficult and ambiguous
settings
Skills Globally Competent
Graduates Have
Initiative
Enthusiasm
Inquisitiveness
Interest in continuous learning
Courage
Self-reliance
Self-confidence
Self-control
Self-knowledge
Positive outlook toward adversity
Sense of humor
Independence
Appreciation of Diversity
Perseverance
Creativity
Flexibility
Comfort with uncertainty
Open-mindedness
Language and communication skills
Assertiveness
Most important to employers, according to a
study by Michigan State University, are
resourcefulness and adaptability.
MORE ON GLOBAL COMPETENCE
• “A global-ready graduate [is] a person with a grasp of global systems,
global issues, the dynamics of how things are interrelated and
interconnected in the world, and how society can best address global
issues.” Ron Moffatt, Director of the San Diego State University International Student Center
• “The skills to listen, observe and evaluate, analyze, interpret, and
relate.” Darla K. Deardorff, Director of Duke University’s International Education Administrators Association
• “The ability to be fluent in at least one other language, such as
Spanish or Mandarin; fluency with e-commerce and the Internet; a
well-versed knowledge of geography; and, maybe most important,
some knowledge of the political and cultural history of one or two
countries or regions outside of Western Europe.”
Carol Conway, Director of the Southern Global Strategies Council
HOW NEAR ARE WE TOACHIVING
GLOBAL COMPETENCE?
The report card is far from promising:
• In the National Geographic-Roper (2002) poll of geographic knowledge
Americans finished next to last
• Less than 25 percent of Americans surveyed could name four countries
that acknowledge having nuclear weapons
• Only 3 percent of U.S. college students in 4-year programs participate
in education abroad each year and those who participate are
disproportionately white, female, middle-class majoring in the
Humanities or Social Sciences and choose European or Englishlanguage destinations
• Enrollment in foreign languages has fallen from 16 percent in the
1960s to less than 9 percent today; and
• Between 1965 and 1995 the share of 4-year institutions with
language-degree requirements for some students fell from roughly 90
percent to 67 percent.
Ways to Achieve Global
Competence at CUA
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Study a foreign language
Study abroad
Intern abroad
Service abroad & at home
Commitment to others