EHE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE MEETING
September 17, 2014
11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
133 Arps Hall
Present: Weidong Li; Chair; Bob Eckhart, Antoinette Errante, Keiko Samimy
Ex-Officio members: Adrian Rodgers, Bryan Warnick
Scribe: Anita Donaldson
Dr. Weidong Li, committee chair, called the meeting to order at 11:05 a.m.
Committee members reviewed and approved the Meeting Minutes for March 18, 2014.
Clarification and discussion on the roles and responsibilities of the EHE International Committee
 With the recent personnel changes in EHE Administration, Chair Li requested clarity on
roles. Bryan Warnick obliged; as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Bryan is
replacing Jackie Blount (who returned to faculty position in Educational Studies) and
Adrian Rodgers is replacing Evie Freeman (who permanently retired from the university).
Both Bryan and Adrian will be serving as ex-officio members on the committee.
 Chair Li opened the discussion on scheduling meetings, referring to the minutes of the
previous meeting (March 18, 2014). Chair Li suggested a re-visit to the idea of inviting
Dr. Sam Hodge, who serves on the International Affairs Faculty Council, to an EHE
International Committee meeting. Bryan Warnick personally encouraged Chair Li to
extend the invitation to Dr. Hodge to attend a future meeting. The gesture will hopefully
help the EHE International Committee be more aligned with the Office of International
Affairs (OIA). The discussion on scheduling and number of meetings occurred off and on
during the course of the meeting. The final consensus is:
o Adrian Rodgers is the initiator of the meeting agenda.
o There will be four (4) meetings per year.
o Two (2) in autumn semester; two (2) in spring semester.
o Anita Donaldson will be charged with scheduling the meeting.
o Ten (10) days prior to the scheduled meetings, an email reminder will be sent to
committee members (including ex-officio members) requesting agenda items.
 Chair Li challenged the group to consider:
o What should this committee be doing?
o How will “we” (the group) operate?
o There is a great need to get input from both faculty and administration to
determine initiatives and identifying responsibility for said initiatives.
o The possibility of an online forum for dialogue among committee members.

The group was interested in how membership to committee occurred; a brief discussion
on the history of previous appointments was shared. Adrian Rodgers shared the
committee was an Ad Hoc group.
Promoting International Programs
 Cross-sharing of information among faculty and administration.
 International Committee members were encouraged to share updates at departmental
meetings.
 A committee representative at the monthly College Council meeting; if not a faculty item,
will be introduced by Bryan Warnick; if a faculty item, Chair Li will present. Contact Peter
Paul to be placed on the agenda.
 Adrian Rodgers will be point of contact for inquiries regarding International Programs.
 Use of a variety of media:
o EHE News (internal, weekly college publication)
o International Programs website; links to:
 Office of International Affairs website
 EHE News archives (past EHE News articles pertaining to International
Programs
o Facebook Page
o Twitter Account
Global Options
 Bryan Warnick shared the Curriculum Global Options were approved by the College
Curriculum Committee during the summer. The next step is the approval by the
university’s Council of Academic Affairs which should occur later this fall. With the
possibility of spring implementation. The will be a need to advertise and promote. Extra
funds have been made available for advisors who will be advising students through the
process.
 Antoinette Errante and Adrian Rodgers will be sending an email to all tenured/tenured
track faculty inquiring if there is an interest in Undergraduate and/or Graduate
Interdisciplinary Specialization in Education, Globalization, and International
Development or related interests.
Study Abroad
 Office of International Affairs has initiated a new funding model. The monies well be
given directly to the colleges to distribute among its programs. At this time the college
has not made any funding decisions; funds will be used subsidize college abroad
courses.
 Bryan Warnick asked the members for input on the following question: What is a
reasonable number of faculty to student ratio to manage a study abroad group?
o Bob Eckhart suggested 1 to 10, undergraduate (Dean’s recommendation as
well); 1 to 12, graduate group.
o Antoinette Errante articulated that there are a number of other items to consider,
such as liability to the college, safety issues, etc.
o

The group recommended other factors to consider:
 Is the study abroad faculty partnering with another professor?
 Level of involvement of study abroad partner.
 Level of involvement of faculty member.
 Considerate having a graduate student assistant for undergraduate study
abroad.
Antoinette Errante volunteered to seek information from a colleague who has had
experience with study abroad groups for an additional perspective.
Travel Grants
 Adrian Rodger introduced the idea of having “rolling deadlines” for submission of travel
grants; abandoning set deadlines.
 Group expressed an interest in the review process of the grant requests; seeking some
type of involvement in the process.
 Group also agreed some type of presentation, report or welcome back event needs to
occur to further document and appreciate the study abroad experience by the
recipient(s).
Visiting Scholars
 Chair Li inquired if there was a policy for charging International Visiting Scholars (on a
fully funded visit by home institution) a program fee to cover cost of Visa. Adrian Rodger
indicated the Indonesian program does. Chair Li indicated in Human Sciences is not
allowed to charge or take in monies.
Meeting officially adjourned at 12:25 p.m. by Chair Li; seconded by Bob Eckhart.