Formed in 2008, the faculty Committee on Global Education (formerly, Committee on International Education) offers guidance for global education initiatives at the college. Members for the fall 2022 are: Professor Amelie Hastie, Professor Ashwin Ravikumar, Professor Sanam Nader-Esfahani, Registrar Rebecca Catarelli, and Director of Global Education Janna Behrens.

The charge of the CGE can be found online. Primary activities include:

  • Reviewing student petitions for non-approved programs
  • Adding or removing programs from the approved list
  • Consulting with departments regarding programs appropriate for majors
  • Considering requests to join consortiums and exchange proposals
  • Creating new and revising existing study away policies and guidelines
  • Awarding summer study abroad fellowships
  • Nominating faculty members for faculty exchange programs to the provost and dean of the faculty

The Committee welcomes the opportunity to meet with faculty and their departmental colleagues with questions, suggestions, concerns, etc. Please contact the Director of the Global Education Office to schedule a meeting or send feedback.

Proposing New Institutional Partners

Amherst has a number of institutional partners around the world. The College is committed to providing a range of opportunities for global learning and will make every effort to make these experiences available to all students and faculty.  With this goal in mind, the college seeks to establish partnerships with select foreign institutions that share a commitment to a liberal arts education.  Partner schools may be in regions of the world with cultural norms and laws that do not comport with all of Amherst’s values.  Partnership with a college or university therefore does not represent an endorsement of a host country’s laws, but the college will partner only with institutions that adhere to principles of non-discrimination and academic freedom.

Initiatives that fall under the umbrella of “institutional partnerships” may be:

  • Short- or long-term exchanges of faculty, lecturers, and language teaching assistants
  • Student exchanges
  • Consortia opportunities for faculty and students

Steps:

  1. Meet with the Director of the Office of Global Education to Discuss the Institution of Interest
    The director will communicate with the appropriate office at the potential partner university to learn about the institutions existing models for exchange, and details such as student and faculty housing, U.S. academic credit equivalencies, transcript issuance, etc.
  2. Submit a Proposal of Approximately One Thousand Words to the Committee on Global Education (CGE) that Addresses the Following:
    -     Why this institution? For example, what are your aspirations for linking our institutions? What can Amherst offer the institution, and what can it offer Amherst, e.g., research centers or institutes, or archives?
    -     Why this host country? For example, what sites of important cultural significance, national archives, and museums might be of interest to Amherst students and faculty?
    - Who are the faculty members leading efforts to form a relationship with this potential partner?
    - What faculty opportunities are of interest?
    - What student opportunities are of interest?
    - What is the academic calendar of the institution? What are the ideal times for faculty and student programs?
    - What funding is needed to support these initiatives? Costs may include the following: faculty housing, travel assistance, lecture or teaching stipends.
    - Describe the location of the institution, cost of living, amenities, and institutional and cultural practices that would be important for the Amherst community to know. (The U.S. State Department's Country Profiles and Travel Advisories and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites are helpful resources.) If this document is online, links can be provided.
  3. When a proposal is submitted to the CGE for consideration, the committee may suggest changes. Authors may then submit a revised version of their proposal, which the CGE forwards to the dean of the faculty along with the committee’s recommendation regarding the value of this partnership.
  4. The authors of the proposal will meet with the dean of the faculty and the director of the Office of Global Education.
  5. If the college is interested in forming a partnership, the dean of the faculty (and other faculty and/or staff, as needed) may visit the host university to discuss moving the partnership forward with relevant counterparts.

Partnerships will be reviewed every three to five years in order to evaluate the level of engagement among faculty and students at both institutions, and the sustainability of the partnership.