Need Master's, Will Travel

Resume builders rarely feel so fuzzy, giving Red Raiders with an itch to travel the opportunity to gain two years of job experience outside the United States – while at the same time earning a master’s degree, promoting peace and giving a boost to developing or impoverished countries.

Texas Tech recently became the newest member of the Peace Corps’ Master’s International Program, allowing Red Raiders to earn graduate degrees in agriculture or education while serving as Peace Corps volunteers abroad.

"This program will offer our students an excellent opportunity to learn new languages and cultures in a real-world environment, and gain first-hand insight into global development challenges,” said Texas Tech President Jon Whitmore. “At the same time, our students will be able to share their professional expertise while serving in their host nations."

A Life-Changing Experience

Chuck the globes, keep the maps; the world has sprung a leak.

Or, as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently observed, the world is flat – flat and getting flatter.

Like a tire with a nail, like a football at Mile High Stadium (now known as INVESCO Field at Mile High), the world is deflating, looking more map than globe these days as telephone conversations ping-pong off satellites and businesses straddle oceans.

“Globalization is upon us,” said Sandra Crosier, director of Texas Tech's Study Abroad Program.

So no wonder college graduates are increasingly queuing up for jobs with an international bent.

The Master’s International program is ideal for those who truly want to immerse themselves in a new culture like these landscape architecture students learning how to make tortillas in South America.

The problem is that many Americans looking to enter the international workforce are stymied by their lack of experience abroad, caught in a vicious cycle: Resumes lacking foreign experience are shuffled to the bottom of the applicant pool, yet American job-seekers have trouble landing a position outside their nation’s borders to get the experience they need.

“It’s just hard for Americans to get a foot in the door,” said Richard Menard, a study abroad counselor and international exchange coordinator for Texas Tech Study Abroad.

Employers want their hires to be able to pick up languages and navigate foreign cultures – skills that Menard calls “vital.” However, students don’t necessarily have a wealth of internship options to choose from, Menard said – the State Department, maybe, or the CIA, NSA, or a nonprofit such as Amnesty International.

The Master’s International program, with its two-year commitment, is ideal for those who truly want to immerse themselves in a new culture, Menard said.

“This is a life-changing experience,” Menard said. “When a person is in a country for two years with the goal of soaking up the culture, you really change a lot.”

Improving Access to International Opportunities

In the past, recruiters from the Peace Corps office in Dallas visited campus for one week each year, said Crosier, herself a former Peace Corps volunteer who spent two years teaching English in Thailand.

More than 360 Texas Tech alumni have served as Peace Corps volunteers since its creation, but officials from both Texas Tech and the Peace Corps agree the new partnership will enhance and strengthen both organizations.

Texas Tech is now one of less than 60 colleges and universities in the U.S.  – and the first in Texas – partnering with the Peace Corps through this program.

Texas Tech student, Amanda Schrein, in Vietnam during a summer program for history during which students and faculty experienced one-on-one and group interactions with their Vietnamese and Cambodian counterparts.
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“That’s a nice coupe for Texas Tech,” Menard said.

The Texas Tech Master’s International program will be managed by the university’s Office of International Affairs with Ambassador Tibor P. Nagy Jr., vice provost for international affairs, serving as the program's coordinator. Students will enroll in degree programs in the College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources and the College of Education.

“This will make people more competitive in interviews,” she said. “With today’s global marketplace, people want these jobs more than ever.”