Global Citizenship At
Becker College:
Vision 2019
By: Joseph Spero
Post University
Education 505
History of Becker College
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Becker College traces its history to 1784—one of the nation’s top-25 oldest institutions of
higher education
The College evolved from the union of two institutions: Leicester Academy—the third
preparatory school in Massachusetts, the first in central Massachusetts, and the first in the
Commonwealth to accept female students—and Becker’s Business School, a Worcester
school that offered career preparation for men and women.
Over the years, the institution served as the launch pad of many program “firsts”—
including the first major in journalism to be offered in the East (1937); a medical secretarial
major (1938), the College’s first offering in the health sciences that became a national
model; the first retail merchandising program in Massachusetts (1950); and the first
accredited associate degree in science, in veterinary technology, in Massachusetts
(1978).
In 1943: Becker School of Business Administration and Secretarial Science changes its
name to Becker Junior College of Business Administration and Secretarial Science, and
receives the authority to grant associate in science degrees.
In 1990: Becker Junior College of Business Administration and Secretarial Science
changes its name to Becker College
In 1991: Becker College receives authority to grant bachelor of science and bachelor of
arts degrees
Present Day @ Becker College
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Becker College is a private, independent, coeducational four-year college,
offering undergraduate (associate’s and bachelor’s) degrees, and adult
education degrees (associate’s and bachelor’s) and certificate programs.
Mission: transformational learning experience—anchored by academic
excellence, social responsibility, and creative expression—that prepares graduates
to thrive, contribute to, and lead in a global society.
The College’s six core values—excellence, accountability, community and
diversity, social responsibility, integrity, and creative expression
29 diverse Bachelor degree programs
Enrollment: 2,081
Class Size/Student to Faculty Ratio: 16:1
Two Diverse Campuses: Worcester and Leicester ( 6 miles apart)
Becker has been named one of the best institutions for undergraduate education
by The Princeton Review for two consecutive years
Today’s leading-edge programs—game design and development, vet tech and
pre-veterinary, nursing, and more
Becker College is proud to have a 99% placement rate for its graduates, for
employment and further study.
In 2012: Becker College begins Global Citizenship initiative; “Global Citizenship
touches all aspects of life”
Key Terms Being Put to
Use
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The term “futuring” is the art of analyzing and calculating what the
lies ahead in the future; Educational organizations should not be
building for the present, but rather the future.
“Scanning for trends in global education involves attending to the
economics and politics of education, as well as changes in the
efficacy and delivery of instruction and research” (Grummon, P. 71).
“The use of scenarios can change the corporate culture, compelling
its managers to rethink radically the hypotheses on which they have
grounded their strategy” (Mietzner & Reger, 2005, P. 235).
The purpose of these terms is to help educational organizations build
for a successful future.
The main challenge that lies ahead is to create a Becker College
organizational structure that supports comprehensive
Internationalization and Global Citizenship.
The Process
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Four Sub-Comittees have been created to begin the “scanning” and
“forecasting” process. The chart below indicates the common themes
identified across the sub-committees are as follows:
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A central office/dedicated resources to oversee that the Becker College
Global Citizenship initiatives are recognized
Student recognition: a means to identify, record, and reward student
participation in Global Citizenship initiatives
Creation of the Global Citizenship Points system, which would be tied to
student transcripts to record activities and participation in Global
Citizenship at Becker College.
Facilitation of an Education Abroad program.
Recommendation of the sub-committees that the College should initially
focus on short-term overseas study programs (service-learning)
Natural progression over time to offer the longer immersion experience of
a semester or academic year duration program of study.
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The Process
Strategic Partnerships
Communications
Campus Culture
Teaching & Curriculum
Student interests drives
partnerships
Reward system for students
Increase awareness of Global
Citizenship
Reward system for students
Short-term Education
Abroad
Map Becker strategic goals
with Global Citizenship
Developing mentoring
program
Map Becker strategic goals
with Global Citizenship
Global points system
Funding-short and long term
Education Abroad Program
Online communication
vehicle
Center for Global
Citizenship-central resource
Center for Global
Citizenship-central resource
Center for Global
Citizenship-central resource
Center for Global
Citizenship-central resource
Dedicated resources
Dedicated resources
Dedicated resources
Dedicated resources
Means of having Global
Citizenship on student
transcript
Means of having Global
Citizenship on student
transcripts
Education Abroad Program
Educational Technology
• “Educational technology is the study and ethical
practice of facilitating learning and improving
performance by creating, using, and managing
appropriate technological processes and resources”
(Bozkaya & Aydin; P. 1)
• Education paradigms are shifting to include online
learning, hybrid learning and collaborative models.
• Leverage technologies such as tablets and mobile
devices to connect the curriculum to real life
experiences/ issues
• Self connection to learner would create a better
atmosphere for students; main component: It is relevant
to them
• More Student Centered
Financial Trends
Program Budgeting
-Primary Components: the program plan, the program budget, and
cost–benefit analysis
-Organizes and presents information about the costs and benefits of an
organization’s activities.
-Program planning establishes goals and objectives for the organization
and relates them to the organization’s activities.
-The costs and benefits of different approaches for achieving the goals
and objectives are established through an examination of resource
requirements and estimated benefits to be gained.
-An important aspect of the program budget is the projection of costs and
program output over a number of years to provide along-term view of the
financial implications of those programs.
Step 1.
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Create a Becker College organizational structure that supports
comprehensive Internationalization/Global Citizenship
1. Establish a Center for Global Citizenship to centralize management of
Internationalization/Global Citizenship operations. A central office, with
administrative oversight, for coordination among:
a. Faculty Coordinator for Global Citizenship
b. International students; International student services / international
student recruitment
c. International programs/Education Abroad
d. Global/partnerships coordination (service-learning)
e.(scanning) Clearly delineate where/how Global Citizenship fits within
the College’s organizational scheme, reporting lines, and which
functional areas, or components, fall under its purview.
Step 2.
• Enhance international curricular opportunities for students
at Becker College
1. Develop and implement Global Citizenship
coursework, minor, concentration and major
2. Consider aligning Gen Ed with Global Citizenship
to support the global learning outcomes
3. Expand semester-long and year-long education
abroad opportunities in order to be competitive with
peer and aspirant institutions.
4. Focus on lower cost short-term education abroad
experiences in summer, spring break, intersession, or
May-mester
Step 3.
• Increase the number of international students at Becker
College (recruitment and retention)
1. Build comprehensive international student
recruitment
2. Gateway Program—find ways to internationalize or
develop separate summer programming for
international students. Students from other countries
want exchange experiences in the U.S.; invite
participation from other nationalities.
3. Improve services to international students
A. International student orientation
B. International Student Services (ISS) office
has launched international student support for
current international students
Step 4.
• Establish globally focused engagement opportunities at
Becker College
1. Global Points System (cultural type credits/nonacademic)
A. Badging system (electronic tracking)
2. Expand, develop and promote programs and
activities with an International /Global Citizenship focus
3. Expand domestic and international servicelearning opportunities
A. Develop local, regional, domestic and
international partnerships
Step 5.
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Implement an assessment program that tracks the effectiveness of
Internationalization /Global Citizenship initiatives
1. Assess Global Citizenship learning outcomes across the
curriculum.
2. Assess Global Citizenship learning outcomes across the cocurriculum.
3. Assess the efficacy of the Center for Global Citizenship.
4. Assess the efficacy of Office of Enrollment Management
(Admissions, Financial Aid and Registrar) in international
recruitment.
5. Assess the efficacy of International Student Services in
international retention
Global Point System
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The Global Points System (GPS), will require students to earn 16 Global
Citizenship points (global points) in order to graduate. To receive a global
point, students must attend cultural programming or engage in co-curricular
activities that meet the Global Citizenship learning outcomes.
For example, one global point is equivalent to attending approximately one
cultural programming opportunity and completing a written or oral
assessment of the program.
Global Points
Requirements
1 global point
Cultural program + written/oral
assessment
1 global point
Virtual classroom + written/oral
assessment
4 global points
Short term Education Abroad
program
8 global points
Full-semester Education Abroad
program
Conclusion
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“An overall goal of education is to create a classroom as a place
where all students can practice and live as responsible citizens”
(Dammania & Indani,2012, p. 3)
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When it is all said and done, Becker College graduates shall have
acquired, through a variety of experiences, the knowledge, skills, and
attitudes that enable them to understand world cultures, events, and
global systems; appreciate cultural differences; and to apply this
knowledge and appreciation to their lives as citizens and workers so
that they may thrive, contribute to, and lead in a global society.
References
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Becker College. (2014, March). About Becker College: Mission &Vision.
Retrieved from Becker College http://www.becker.edu/about/visionmission/
Becker College. (2014, March). About Becker College: History. Retrieved from
Becker College http://www.becker.edu/about/history/
Becker College. (2014, March). About Becker College: Presidential Report.
Retrieved from Becker College
http://www.becker.edu/about/president/communications/
Dammani, K., & Indani, M. (2012, November). Golden Research Thoughts:
Changing Role of Education with Reference to Global Perspectives.
Monthly Multidisciplinary Research Journal. Volume II Issue V, p. 1-3.
Retrieved from http://www.aygrt.isrj.net/UploadedData/1688.pdf
References
Fetsch, Robert J. (1990, Jan.). Toward the Cutting Edge With Strategic Planning and Futuring
Techniques. Journal of Counseling & Develoment, Vol. 68 (4), 692-695. Retrieved from
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=189af80f-ddcc-48e2-a15f418b41f48d12%40sessionmgr4002&vid=5&hid=4103
Grummon, Phyllis T.H. (2013, Jan.). A Primer on Environmental Scanning in Higher Education.
Planning for Higher Education; Vol. 41 Issue 2, p.69-74 (6). Retrieved from
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=d1464aa7-9b5f-455d-b44c813deff037c6%40sessionmgr198&vid=5&hid=102
Mietzner, D., & Reger, G. (2005). Advantages and Disadvantages of Scenario Approaches for
Strategic Foresight. International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 1(2),
220-239. Retrieved from http://www.lampsacus.com/documents/StragegicForesight.pdf
Morrison, J., & Ptaszynski, G. (1990, May). Developing an Environmental Scanning System in
an Educational Organization: Lessons Learned. AIR Forum. p.19(8). Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED321684.pdf