The Office of International Affairs (OIA) has vigorously pursued a number of major initiatives over the last year to support Texas Tech’s global engagement and strengthen the university’s brand around the world as a first rate educational institution. We began the year with a new organizational structure to streamline all activities/services offered by OIA, and followed this by overhauling our Website with user-friendly information. We also inaugurated a biannual e-newsletter to let the university community know about the full extent of our activities and services. Finally we invested in our people, and equipped our facilities with state of the art technology to gain operational efficiency. Most importantly, we now have a comprehensive (2015-2020) strategic plan that our staff developed, is fully invested in, and will use as a living document going forward.
In Fall of 2014, we achieved an all-time high of 2,805 international students, a 22% increase over the previous Fall. This was followed by 2,725 international students from 111 countries enrolling in Spring of 2015, an 18% increase over Spring 2014. We believe this is a result of our intensified recruitment efforts, which included engaging the services of five international recruiters resident in India, Brazil, and China. We have also stepped-up our efforts to attract new international sponsors and sponsored students. By the end of 2014, we were working with 28 sponsors and 206 sponsored students, both record highs for Texas Tech.
We have completed the transition of the international undergraduate admissions unit from the Graduate School (which maintains responsibility for admitting international graduate students). The unit is now fully functional and works seamlessly with the recruiters to bring more international students to TTU. To ensure their success, the newly-created International Student Life Unit works with international students to provide every opportunity for them to succeed academically and thrive on our campus socially and culturally while studying in the U.S. An example of such support includes the creation of a “Global Village” program to help international students integrate into the local community. We have also started a new initiative to reconnect with our international alumni and have recently obtained contact information for 2,000 global Red Raiders, whom we will be cultivating for marketing and fundraising.
Many of the immigration-related services our office provides to international students, faculty, and scholars have also been streamlined. With the introduction of a web-based appointment system and paperless processes, our staff can provide superior and timelier expert advice to our clientele from more than 100 countries.
Expanding and broadening international learning is another hallmark of our university that our office is well-equipped to guide and support. We help academic departments design study abroad programs that enhance the multicultural and global competencies of our graduates. In 2014, our Study Abroad unit helped organize 155 international education programs benefitting over 1,000 students -- both record highs for Texas Tech. We have also established a study abroad funding initiative to incentivize and assist faculty in developing new “faculty-led” study abroad programs.
We help initiate and develop international partnerships to broaden the academic environment and promote people-to-people relationships through exchange of student, faculty, research/development collaboration, and educational programs. OIA coordinated trips of TTU delegations to China, India, Brazil, and Costa Rica to explore opportunities for exchange of students and faculty and research collaborations. Currently, Texas Tech University has about 200 partnership agreements with universities and institutions in 58 countries.
Our lesser known activities include the events we sponsor to enrich the larger community including regional K-12 students, civic organizations, non-profit groups, and individuals interested in global affairs. In 2014, we sponsored 9 art exhibits, 33 speakers, and 159 events for K-12 students. Our facilities were utilized 172 times by community organizations, 68 times by TTU units, and 26 times by HSC units.
We initiated a new effort in 2014 to further strengthen international research and development programs at Texas Tech University. In less than a year, our office assisted faculty in submitting grant proposals exceeding $14.5 Million. We have also helped establish many new international collaborations, including the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program , FAPESP x TTU Joint Research initiative , Mexican 100,000 Scholarship Program, BHEARD, and the Borlaug Fellowship. We have instituted a monthly funding alert to inform faculty of international research and development opportunities, and have established a grants program to provide “seed” funding to faculty interested in undertaking international projects. We have also created an on-line international research database to showcase international research and development activities at Texas Tech.
We are grateful for the support from the entire university community that has enabled us to accomplish so much during the past year, and we look forward to even greater successes during 2015. Thanks to students, staff, and faculty for allowing us to serve them. Special thanks to the Offices of the President, Provost, Vice President for Research, Graduate School, and the Deans for their unconditional commitment to our institution’s accelerating global engagement.
Tibor Nagy and Sukant Misra
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