Global Impact in Action

September 2016 Strategic Plan Update 

International Campus Focus

Global Leadership Academy: Five Years of Strengthening the Network

The Global Leadership Academy will soon complete its fifth year of developing leadership skills and stronger cross-network connections across Webster University faculty and staff. Thus far almost 90 University community members have gone through the yearlong program, which in different years has included weeklong visits with colleagues at the Geneva, Leiden, Vienna and Athens campuses, as well as visits to U.S. extended/military locations.

About one-fifth of GLA fellow survey respondents report GLA as their first experience abroad, and follow-up surveys and outcomes analysis continue to shape improvements in the program each year. Next year, for the first time the abroad destination will be the Thailand campuses in Cha-Am and Bangkok. The deadline for applying to the 2017 cohort is Sept. 30.

Global Leadership Academy Application » 

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Increasing and Diversifying Faculty International Opportunities

Several programs continue to diversify ways Webster faculty from throughout the network can teach in international settings and reach new students.

Thus far in 2016, the faculty mobility program has enabled faculty to teach at several international locations, including multiple sites in China and Thailand, plus Geneva, Florence, Leiden and St. Louis. Of note, nine faculty members – from Leiden, Geneva and six U.S. states – traveled to Ghana to teach in business or international relations at the campus in Accra. In St. Louis this fall are three visiting faculty members from Vienna, Geneva and Havana.

Growing this initiative is one goal of Strategic Plan Theme One: Global Innovation Through Inclusive Leadership.

Separately, several faculty members have used Faculty Research Grants to support research abroad. The deadline for 2017-18 Faculty Research Grants is Nov. 4. The Messing Faculty Award also offers one full-time faculty member per year funding for an international summer activity that strengthens the curriculum of the faculty member’s department or improves the teaching/learning relationship. Recent activities by Messing Award winners have been conducted in places such as Argentina, Japan and Thailand. The deadline for applying for the Messing Award is Nov. 4.

Submit Faculty Research Grant applications by Nov. 4 »  
Apply for the Messing Award by Nov. 4 »

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Webster Athens Accredited by Greece for Degree Programs

The Athens campus has received accreditation from the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs of the Hellenic Republic. The Greek government approval allows Webster to expand current offerings and offer full degree programs at this fully owned and controlled, accredited campus.

Previously, the Athens campus was only accepting study-abroad students from other Webster campuses, Webster International Network of Schools and Odyssey in Athens partners. 

Read More »

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Webster Ghana Earns Re-Accreditation

Webster Ghana has been re-accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) of Ghana for the next five years, a significant achievement as the location, which began offering programs in 2014, continues to grow and has added the BS in Computer Science this fall. Webster is the first American university in the sub-region to offer both bachelor and master’s degree level programs, and its new location in the East Legon neighborhood of Accra places the campus in a community of several universities, including the University of Ghana. The new site also provides housing for both residential students and visiting faculty.

Read more about accreditation »
Read more about new location in Accra »  

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Webster Adds UMass-Amherst to WINS Network

The University of Massachusetts at Amherst became the latest partner institution to join the Webster International Network of Schools (WINS). UMass-Amherst is the flagship of the UMass system and a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The WINS program leverages Webster's one-of-a-kind global network to increase faculty mobility and study abroad opportunities across these peers and Webster’s international locations. There are now more than 35 WINS affiliates, and more than 70 institutions (including non-WINS affiliates) send their students to Webster for study abroad experience. 

Read more »

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International Campuses Deepen Webster Ties in Host Communities

The campuses in Europe, Asia and Africa continue to deepen ties and foster opportunities within their local communities. 

• This summer, Vienna announced the most expansive scholarship and grant package ever received at the campus, an set of excellence scholarships from Borealis.
• In May, 30 students from Geneva, Leiden and Vienna in the Webster LEADS program held a joint leadership retreat in professor Arese Visconti’s native Tuscany.
• Athens is hosting a series of roundtables on European refugee, immigration, security and economic policies with ambassadors from several nations.
• For the second year, Accra hosted local partners in Barrack Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) to develop leadership training in African youth.
• In the Netherlands, the landmark Bijlmer Project to fight human trafficking and aid its victims continues to gain attention and support, most recently with a local theater’s production of Antigone donating proceeds to the project. The campus also made a community event out of its sponsorship of the “Webster Bow,” at Mandemakers Stadium between the Dutch and Irish national American football teams.
• International Relations faculty in Thailand collaborated with scholars at Calcutta University on a conference on Regional Dynamics in Asia, work stemming from an MOU reached with Calcutta last year.