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MCC Daily Tribune

President's Wednesday Message

The US Departments of State and Education have officially designated November 13-17 as International Education Week, and MCC's Global Education and International Services (GEIS) office, in collaboration with colleagues, has prepared a full slate of programming with a special focus on world religions and faith practices.

For example, today at the Downtown Campus during College Hour, Dr. Muhammad Shafiq, Director of the Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue at Nazareth College, will offer a keynote on "Globalization, Diversity, and Dialogue." At the Brighton Campus, Student Government Association is sponsoring Multicultural Day in the Atrium from 10 am to 3 pm, and at noon, faculty interested in SUNY's Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program and the Fulbright program can attend a lunch and learn in the library, room 2-423.

International Education Week provides an opportunity to highlight the work of MCC's faculty and staff in internationalizing the curriculum and co-curriculum. It also is a chance to share the ways in which our international students enrich our community and cultural understanding. International exchange offers students a unique chance to learn about the world. Each year, several MCC classes offer students the ability to study abroad; faculty engagement in SUNY's COIL initiative has provided an innovative way for many more students to interact with their international peers in shared coursework; and this fall, 156 international students are taking classes at MCC, adding their perspectives to the learning environment.

Our efforts in internationalizing the curriculum support our goal of preparing students to succeed in local and global contexts. This work also aligns with SUNY's Strategic Plan initiative to "nurture a culturally fluent, cross-national mindset and put it to work improving New York's global competitiveness."

I hope some of you have already attended or are planning to attend one or more of MCC's International Education Week events recognizing the importance of global understanding and responsibility. My appreciation to Christina Lee, Meryll Pentz, and all faculty, staff, and administrators who have crafted this week's agenda and work on internationalization every week.

If you would like to share your International Education Week experience, please tell us on the blog.

Anne Kress
Office of the President
11/15/2017