Technology-Assisted Global Experiences and Collaborations (TAGEC) Initiative
Call for Proposals
AY 16-17
Deadline: April 15, 2016
The Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) in the Office of Global Initiatives (OGI)
announces the 2nd Annual competition of the Technology-Assisted Global Experiences and Collaborations
(TAGEC) Initiative for the academic year 2016-2017.
The TAGEC Initiative seeks to support and encourage teaching innovation in global learning through
collaborative international partnerships that utilize technology to connect students across borders. With
the rise of web-based and other virtual technologies that allow companies to conduct business and manage
operations across borders, teaching practices have naturally needed to follow suit in order to provide students with
similarly technology-based global experiences. Programs funded through the TAGEC Initiative will offer Smith
students, both at the graduate and undergraduate levels, the opportunity to participate in engaging, significant, and
easily accessible credit-bearing global experiences that mirror in process, means, and impact the type of professional
interactions they will encounter upon graduation.
CIBER-funded grants will be available through OGI to support teaching innovation that use technology to facilitate
(1) campus-based global learning experiences for Smith School students,
(2) teaching collaborations between the Smith School and educational institutions located abroad, and/or
(3) collaboration for student programming between the Smith School and companies with operations or
headquarters abroad.
Program Requirements
A TAGEC Program must significantly enhance an existing, or create a new, for-credit, campus-based
global learning experience for Smith School students and
1) be sustainable and/or repeatable,
Page 1 of 5 2) provide students with an opportunity to present their learning or projects to a wider audience,
3) be collaborative in nature, and
4) support the global learning objectives as defined by the Smith School (below).
Examples of activities that would qualify include, but are not limited to, the following:
A. Global Classrooms: Courses that are offered in collaboration with a faculty member at a partner institution
abroad, are team- and project-based, make use of digital technologies for teaching and learning, and
produces one or more final deliverable.
B. Classroom-to-classroom linkages with partner institutions abroad: Teams of students work together on a
business simulation or compete in multinational teams on a classroom-based business plan or case
competition.
C. On-line Global Courses: On-line or hybrid courses offered at the Smith School in seminar series format that
bring in compelling speakers from educational institutions, industry, and policy makers around the world.
D. Global Consulting Projects: Within a course, student teams consult through virtual means on a business
challenge for an international client and under the guidance of a faculty member.
Proposals that address at least one of the following priorities are strongly encouraged:

Involve 5 weeks or more of international student-to-student or student-to-company interaction

Target graduate students

Are implemented in collaboration with institutions or companies located in countries that are of strategic
interest to the Smith School:
o Institutions: Current exchange partners (see list here) or universities located in emerging and frontier
markets.
o Companies: Those located or doing business in the BRICS (India, China, Brazil, Russia, or South
Africa), or other emerging and frontier markets.
o For assistance in identifying a partner institution or company, you may contact Rebecca Bellinger in
OGI (institutions) or Tucker Ophof in the Office of Career Services (companies).
Page 2 of 5 Applicant Eligibility
Any full-time Smith faculty member from any department is eligible to apply under this Call for Proposals. Faculty
members who have received and are currently implementing a project funded by the UMD Office of International
Affairs are not eligible to apply for CIBER funding to support that same project.
Duration of the Grant
The duration of the grant is of a maximum of two academic years, starting no sooner than May 2, 2016 and ending
no later than June 29, 2018.
Funding
OGI expects to award one to two CIBER grants in the amount of $5,000 each. Recognizing that each project could
require additional needs, OGI will consider offering supplementary funding support with each grant awardee.
Timeline disbursement of the funding will also be discussed with each grant awardee.
Additional Support
Partner identification/relationship management, technical support, and course development assistance are available
to the grantees through OGI, the Office of Transformational Learning (OTL), other relevant Smith School and
campus services.
OTL will help faculty develop learning outcomes for the TAGEC initiative through a needs assessment. Support
from OTL would then include up to ten hours providing guidance on designing the course, components to teach
the course (technology, online tools, etc.), evaluations, etc.
Conditions
The grant can be used to cover faculty travel, technology, educational resources, materials, and any reasonable and
necessary expenses in support of the program. A proposed budget is required at the time of application.
By accepting the grant, the successful applicants commit to developing and delivering a TAGEC Initiative Program
for at least two consecutive years (AY 16-17 and AY 17-18) and to submit biannual progress reports and one final
report, all of which will support the annual reporting requirement of CIBER.
Background
The Smith School CIBER is one of 17 federally-funded programs located at universities across the US. The CIBER
program was created by Congress under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to increase and
Page 3 of 5 promote the nation's capacity for international understanding and competitiveness. Administered by the U.S.
Department of Education under Title VI, Part B of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the CIBER network links
the manpower and technological needs of the United States business community with the international education,
language training, and research capacities of universities across the country. The Smith School CIBER’s specific
focus for the 2014-2018 funding cycle is emerging and frontier markets.
The mission of OGI at the Smith School is to provide students with opportunities to develop a global mindset and
global business savvy, and to link faculty, students, and staff with the international community and global
opportunities. Specifically, OGI creates and supports for-credit global programs that take students abroad, builds
opportunities for students to learn intercultural skills on campus, and spearheads the development of school-wide
international partnerships for the benefit of the entire Smith community.
Global Learning at Smith
The Smith School supports and actively seeks to integrate global mindset, including global business savvy, into the
undergraduate student experience through both curricular and co-curricular activities. This means ensuring that
courses and programs offered on campus and off both expose students to business systems outside the US and
provide ample opportunity for students to develop skills and competencies to confidently engage with the global
marketplace and people of internationally diverse backgrounds.
Global mindset
“… one that combines an openness to and awareness of diversity across cultures and markets with
a propensity and ability to see common patterns across countries and markets. In a company with a
global mindset, people view cultural and geographic diversity as opportunities to exploit and are
prepared to adopt successful practices and good ideas wherever they come from. The twin forces of
ideological change and technology revolution are making globalization one of the most important
issues facing companies today. As such, cultivating a global mindset is a prerequisite to becoming a
global company.”
- Financial Times Lexicon
Cultivating a global mindset requires attention to the key socio-cultural forces in a given setting and how these
affect the management of individuals, groups, and organizations. Examples of specific learning objectives to
promote the development of a global mindset include:
•
•
•
•
•
Gaining insight into the effect of cross-cultural differences on interpersonal interactions such as
communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, and teamwork.
Knowing how and why individuals from different cultures react differently to similar managerial practices,
work systems, and human capital management systems (e.g., selection, training, performance management,
and incentive structures).
Learning to effectively design, implement, and manage cross-cultural teams.
Developing an increased tolerance for ambiguity.
Possessing a greater sense of empathy and self-awareness.
It also requires attention to economic, political/institutional, and geographic influence on business, or global business
savvy. Global business savvy, part of global mindset, may be cultivated in different contexts by (1) assessing how the
key economic, political, and social influences governing a given country, region, or industry influence economic and
organizational behavior; or (2) developing a comparative perspective on a specific academic discipline or industry
Page 4 of 5 through engagement with real-world phenomena. Examples of specific learning objectives to promote the
development of global business savvy include:
● Learning about the institutional structure of a given industry in a specific national or regional context and
placing this knowledge in comparative perspective.
● Comparing the institutional structure of the business environment to that of the baseline “market-based”
model at the core of neoclassical economics and related business disciplines.
● Understanding the major business opportunities and growth drivers in a country or region.
● Employing discipline-based knowledge acquired in the classroom to solve real-world problems faced by
companies in a given country or region.
Application Process
Please submit your complete application in one single message with attachments via e-mail to Marina Augoustidis
in the Office of Global Initiatives/CIBER by COB Friday, April 15, 2016. Your complete application will include:
1. Complete Application Form
2. Appendix A: Short bios of applicant, faculty counterpart at partner institution, and/or project manager at
host company, other key personnel.
3. Appendix B: Smith School departmental letter of support
4. Appendix C: Faculty counterpart or project manager letter of commitment
Timeline
 Call for Proposals published: February 12, 2016
 Application deadline: April 15, 2016
 Awards announced: April 28, 2016
 Grant start date: May 2, 2016
 Grant end date: June 29, 2018
Page 5 of 5