MSU will continue to take steps toward becoming a global university with increased funding for international and foreign language studies.
The U.S. Department of Education Title VI programs provided MSU with a total of almost $8.5 million over a four-year period for the programs, said Jeffrey Riedinger, acting dean of International Studies and Programs at MSU.
"It's best for us to be both recognized by the government and receive funding to support our programs," he said. "It allows us to expand what we're doing."
Title VI programs provide federal funding through competitive grants to further research and outreach, along with training that deals with languages, according to a press release.
The funding goes to several different centers and programs at MSU, including the Asian Studies Center, the Center for Language Education and Research, or CLEAR, and the Center for International Business Education and Resource, or CIBER, the press release stated.
"Each of those on average received somewhere between $225,000 a year, and the high is something like $300,000 per center per year, give or take," Riedinger said.
Tomas Hult, director of CIBER at MSU, said the funding will help the center facilitate many of its current projects.
"We have 60 different projects that we do," he said. "Each of them has multiple aspects to them. Our globalEDGE Web site, that is an online resource, is just one. Another one is our Global Business Club of Mid-Michigan, which was started about 15 years ago. We have six speaking engagements a year and invite vice presidents from different companies to talk about international topics."
CLEAR, which is federally mandated to promote the teaching and learning of foreign languages, will also use the funding for different projects that may directly help students around the world.
"We do projects to promote the teaching of foreign languages, mostly in less commonly taught languages," said Joy Campbell, executive associate director of CLEAR. "We also do professional development for foreign language teachers to get them current with pedagogy and techniques, so the money goes towards those who work on those projects."
CIBER, which focuses on being an international resource and helps U.S. businesses compete internationally, will receive a total of $1.44 million over a four-year period, Hult said.
"We have been funded since 1990 by this," he said. "It's just continuing the grant because every four years we continue to apply. Our proposal was ranked No. 1 amongst the other proposals that were admitted."
Riedinger said MSU has been committed to international programming on its campus and overseas for more than 50 years.
"Every major university is committed to international programming on its campus and overseas," he said. "The (funding) doesn't help us specifically work overseas, but it's part of a portfolio so we can learn about problems overseas so we can address those problems here."
