ACES Global Connect
ACES Global Academy
About the Global Academy
211 Mumford Hall
MC-710
1301 W. Gregory Dr.
Urbana, IL 61801
217.333.0240
aces-global@uiuc.edu
ACES Global Academy: Overview
The Need
The College of ACES has a rich history of international programming going back more than half a century. These activities slowed considerably during the early 1990s, a time when changes in federal policies reduced funding opportunities, especially in agricultural development.
Concurrently, what was then the College of Agriculture reorganized and broadened its perspective to more deliberately include consumer and environmental sciences. With the creation of the new College of ACES in 1996 came a promise to reinvent, reinvigorate and update our international activities. ACES Global Connect sprang to life in 2002 as the vehicle to achieve these goals.
During the past three years, ACES Global Connect has created new opportunities for faculty to become active in global programs, facilitated relationships with institutions in countries such as Brazil, Jordan, France, Latvia and Mexico, and generally raised the status of the college in external international arenas.
A core of committed and experienced faculty can lead these programming activities, but that core is still too small. Some faculty participate in international activities, but many are simply not aware of such opportunities – or indeed, of the pressing need to view their scholarship and the industries that they serve through the lens of a globalizing world.
This, we believe, must change. The transaction costs for building global connections are falling rapidly. And the world is changing so quickly that scholarly programs risk obsolescence if they are not in active pursuit of some strategy for global positioning and engagement.
Goals
- To increase the number of faculty who participate regularly in global activities
- To heighten global awareness and discourse generally in the College of ACES
- To elevate the status of our global mission within the college
- To take full advantage of campus resources in international programming
- To capitalize on opportunities that leverage external resources and partnerships
Vision
ACES Global initiated the Academy of Global Engagement in early 2006. A cohort of seven faculty were admitted to the Academy on nomination from their Department Head and participated in a year long series of scholarly and experiential activities designed to prepare each participant for life long scholarly engagement in the global arena. In 2007, the class grew to 8 members, including a representative from University of Illinois Extension. In 2008, a new class of Academy Scholars are sought to achieve the same mission. The Academy:
- Familiarizes participants with campus resources and create novel synergies across college lines.
- Familiarizes participants with national resources that facilitate global engagement (for example, USDA, FAS, NIH, international programs).
- Generates candid and introspective discussion of globalization and its implications for the College, for individual Academy participants, and for our stakeholder community.
- Creates a team-building environment that will allow the group to meld interests as they contribute to create the program as a team.
- Gives the group a capstone global immersion experience.
Design of the Academy
Participants are not expected to have had significant global experience, but a desire to gain such experience would be a crucial criterion for admission. We will attempt to balance the group in terms of rank, scholarly interests, and commitment to our instructional, research, and outreach missions. Scholars must agree to participate in the program the first year and then serve as Fellows the second year to help mentor new participants.
The Academy will cover all basic costs associated with the program, with the expectation that each Scholar will participate in all Academy activities. These, of course, should be designed to minimize interference with normal work duties and personal time. But Scholars must understand that participation in the Academy requires a commitment of time and attention and that individuals unable to continue that commitment will be excused from the program.
Academy Fellows
In addition to ACES Academy Scholars, an honorary group of Academy Fellows have been selected to participate in the local activities of the Academy as they relate to their individual research and teaching interests. Fellows serve as mentors to the Scholars in development and may be asked to give presentations, facilitate meetings, and contribute contacts and ideas for programs. Fellowship is a permanent commitment to the program.
It is important to note that Academy Fellows will not be supported financially by the program and are not expected to accompany Scholars on the capstone immersion experience. They will provide valuable continuity for on-campus activities of the ACES Global Academy.
Schedule of Activities:
| November 15 – December 15 | Applications for 2008-09 Class Available |
| January 17-18 | Interviews |
| January 22 | Announcement of 2008-09 Class |
| February 1 | 1st Meeting of Scholars |
| March 3-6 | Scholars Trip to Washington, D.C. |
| April 21-22 | Scholars Trip to Chicago, Ill. |
| September-October (TBD) | Immersion Trip |
Bimonthly meetings will be scheduled on campus from February-May and August-December according to scholar class schedules
Selection and Interview Process
a. Scholars
A one-page preliminary application form has been developed and placed for completion on the ACES Global Connect web site. Marketing of the program through a flier, emails, and solicitation through Departments also has taken place. Department Heads and others will be asked to encourage participation and to recommend potential Scholars.
Scholars will be selected on the basis of their application materials, interviews, and consultation with Department Heads.
An interview committee made up of a member of IAPC, a senior Fellow of the Academy, and an AGC staff member will hold interviews and select the class.
Successful candidates will be sent an appointment letter and a commitment statement that outlines their commitment and the consequences of not completing portions of the program. Each Scholar and his/her Department Head will sign the commitment statement at the onset of the year-long program.
The Capstone Global Immersion Experience
This module is patterned loosely on successful student-oriented global immersion programs in ACES. (Using faculty experienced in student programs as a resource for the capstone). But there would be an important difference: Students are at an early stage of learning, and their Global Immersion Program is linked to a formal course of study on some aspect of the global food system.
Academy Scholars, on the other hand, should be experienced scholars and teachers. Their activities will undoubtedly be diverse, and some may be rather narrow in focus. Some will relate to the global food system, but many may not. In short, the challenge will be to meld the interests of (for example) an assistant professor focused on teaching about families, a mid-career, research-oriented molecular biologist, and someone who is interested in helping Illinois farmers solve problems of agricultural production in a meaningful global capstone experience.
Provisional guiding principles for the capstone are:
- Challenge the participants, as a group, to design their own capstone program and provide leadership for it (use the diversity of the group as an advantage).
- Seek guidance from faculty who are experienced in global program building.
- Provide continuity, discipline, and logistical assistance from ACES Global Connect staff.
AGC staff will propose capstone options that may be geo-specific (capitalizing on ongoing College initiatives at a key international site where a substantial network of support has been constructed) and/or program-specific (capitalizing on the opportunity for interdisciplinary research and interaction between scholars on themes like “the global food system” or “global bio exploration framework” or “capacity building and human development”). Ideally, the capstone will embrace both an integrated theme and take advantage of a pre-established network of connections in a designated geographic site.
Scholars will select the location and theme for the capstone early in the program and will be instrumental in portions of the planning process in terms of the relation to their field of study.