Global learning at UC Davis is rooted in the belief that this experience is important for all students -- not just a few.

Toward this goal, a volunteer networking group, Global and Local Opportunities Beginning with Edu-cation, or GLOBE, is generating greater global understanding through international education, internships and other opportunities abroad.

"We meet once a quarter to share ideas on ways to better collaborate and create opportunities for students to learn about the world they live in and their role in it," said Marcie Kirk Holland, a career counselor in the Internship and Career Center and lead organizer of GLOBE.

Kirk Holland says GLOBE provides a forum for the campus and community to facilitate collaboration, and communication and improve access to international resources. Activities and collaborations have included career fairs, special events such as International Education Week, new program models combining internships and study abroad programs, and efforts that resulted in 20 travel grants for summer internships abroad.

"With so many international programs on campus," said Kirk Holland, "GLOBE meetings are an effective mechanism for sharing information among our departments. This allows us to better inform the students we serve of the opportunities available."

In keeping with a theme of "open borders," she said, anyone can participate in GLOBE, which has been in operation for 10 years.

GLOBE's next meeting is from 10 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, Oct. 6, in the DeCarli Room in the Memorial Union.

The meetings are open to all staff, administrators and faculty. Some of the units represented in GLOBE include the Internship and Career Center, Education Abroad Center, UC Davis Extension, University Outreach and Interna-tional Programs, International Agriculture Development, Services for International Students and Scholars and Risk Management, to name a few.

"Our real success is our everyday contact with students in a variety of programs," said Kirk Holland.

A fast-changing world

International study in the post-9/11 world has taken on new meaning and importance, said Dennis Dutschke, associate vice provost for international programs in University Outreach and International Programs.

"There is a sense of urgency now," he said. "The success of what we once saw as a great, wonderful idea to bring people together has become a more pragmatic venture in the wake of many troubling events around the world."

Dutschke said it is now "incumbent upon institutions like UC Davis" to provide an education that makes students "globally competent." And groups like GLOBE help in this big picture view.

"The campus is so large and diverse with so many different pockets of international activities, that GLOBE serves as a forum that connects people in ways that have far-reaching impact," he said.

Dutschke explained that the campus's interest in offering a "whole world" education has its origins back in the early 1990s. With encouragement from Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef, faculty members, staff and administrators, programs such as University Outreach and International Programs were launched and "gathering places" like GLOBE became popular with the international crowd.

During the past three years, he said, GLOBE has helped to organize the annual celebration of International Education Week at UC Davis. Sponsored nationwide by the U.S. departments of Education and State, International Education Week serves as a way to encourage universities to organize events and activities on educational exchanges across borders.

The campus held workshops during International Education Week last November -- topics included careers in international business, public and international health, the international perspective on "life" in the United States, study abroad, health care needs in Africa, and funding opportunities for international study, to name a few.

"This year we hope to focus more on outreach to K-12," said Kirk Holland. "We plan to invite K-12 students and their parents to our events on campus and hope to have former overseas interns visit local schools with slides and stories about their experiences."

She said recent studies indicate that early exposure to overseas experiences help to encourage students in global academic pursuits.

GLOBE also collaborated to write a successful bid to host one of the 13 U.S. Department of State diplomats-in-residence. Once he was here, GLOBE helped coordinate activities for Steve Browning, the current U.S. Ambassador to Malawai and the UC Davis diplomat-in-residence in 2003. Browning, who had served in his career as a diplomat, presented guest lectures on campus and talked with people interested in joining the state department, among his other duties.

GLOBE also is working on a comprehensive risk management survey to examine issues involving international education activities, including the business management and marketing aspects of programs abroad. For example, what's involved in developing a new program in Costa Rica?

Bonnie Robbins, assistant risk manager for Risk Management Services, said the goal is to identify any risks that might possibly prevent an organization from meeting its objectives. "By doing so, we create a unique opportunity to break down the silos by sharing experiences and processes," she said.

Robbins said GLOBE marks the first major effort by the campus to coordinate student programs and issues relating to study abroad.

A trend in higher ed

Kirk Holland noted that overseas study is a hot topic these days in higher education. She said that Harvard University reviewed its undergraduate curriculum and concluded that students need a "greater familiarity with the world" that can only be gained from study abroad, according to a New York Times article.

Though more colleges are requiring foreign-language courses in their undergraduate curriculums, most fail to provide their students with a sufficiently "internationalized" education, according to a report released in November 2003 by the American Council on Education.