Vice Provost for Global Engagement James Keenan, S.J. (Lee Pellegrini)
The coronavirus has made it a challenging time for global outreach in academia, given international travel restrictions and financial uncertainties throughout higher education. But the Boston College Office of Global Engagement, under the direction of first-year Vice Provost James Keenan, S.J., has made significant advances nonetheless.
Fr. Keenan has succeeded in meeting the ambitious agenda he set for himself by strengthening the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities, or SACRU, creating new partnerships with Jesuit institutions, and working with the Office of the Provost to bring the Office of International Programs and Office of International Students and Scholars under the auspices of the Office of Global Engagement this semester.
Citing a desire to 鈥渉onor the legacy鈥� of the late Alberto Godenzi, 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 inaugural vice provost for global engagement, Fr. Keenan has worked with each of the eight SACRU schools to form working groups with interdisciplinary committees in their respective institutions to respond to COVID-19 through research and teaching, and develop plans for collaboration on environmental issues. In addition, he has leveraged the existing study-abroad programs between Boston College and five of the seven SACRU partners: Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Sacro Cuore in Milan, Sofia University in Tokyo, and Australian Catholic University in Melbourne to develop further cooperation among faculty and graduate students, while also working through 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 Jesuit Institute to organize an annual semester-long visiting professor fellowship for a SACRU faculty member to teach at Boston College.
New partnerships
Beyond SACRU, Fr. Keenan has recently overseen the signing of memoranda of understanding between 蝌蚪直播 and three Jesuit schools鈥擜teneo de Manila University in Manila, Philippines; Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogot谩, Colombia; and Universit茅 Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth in Beirut, Lebanon鈥攖hat will establish faculty and student exchange programs, academic partnerships, and future collaborations.
The MOU with Ateneo de Manila University seeks to inaugurate a partnership between 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 School of Theology and Ministry and AMU鈥檚 Loyola School of Theology for online courses; collaborations between the school鈥檚 environmental sciences departments and their respective programs in global public health and entrepreneurship; and an alliance between Ateneo鈥檚 Science and Art of Learning and Teaching initiative and the Lynch School of Education and Human Development鈥檚 Learning Engineering Program.
The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana-蝌蚪直播 MOU would create collaborations between their respective schools of social work, particularly in the areas of migration and reconciliation; the development of programs with 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 Earth and Environmental Sciences department and PUJ鈥檚 Faculty of Rural and Environmental Studies and its Water Institute; and online courses between the Woods College of Advancing Studies鈥� Applied Economics program and PUJ鈥檚 master鈥檚 degree programs in artificial intelligence and health economics.
Boston College and Universit茅 Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth look to launch joint research opportunities between nursing schools; online courses, and possible faculty exchanges between USJ鈥檚 Faculty of Religious Studies and 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 School of Theology and Ministry.
Fr. Keenan said the accomplishments of this past year are due in no small part to the strong working relationships he and Office of Global Engagement Associate Director Bryan Fleming developed with the President鈥檚 Office, the Provost鈥檚 Office, Office of International Programs, Office of International Students and Scholars, and the 鈥渧ery active鈥� Global Engagement Committee composed of delegates from each of 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 eight schools.
鈥淏ecause of these relationships, we have had a very successful launch of SACRU, which is already promoting various research working groups. We鈥檙e also preparing for visiting professorships at our allies鈥� schools and launching a weeklong summer global training program in 2023 for roughly 50 doctoral students annually. And we have signed five major MOUs with the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Pontifical Council of Culture, and three major Jesuit research universities. We are pleased with the accomplishments that we have achieved thus far.鈥�
New global umbrella for 蝌蚪直播 programs
Fr. Keenan said the move of OIP and OISS under the umbrella of Global
Engagement will strengthen their outreach, allow them to work more
closely together, and create more diverse and rigorous opportunities for
international study. He praised former OIP Director Nick Gozik鈥攚ho left
蝌蚪直播 to become dean of global engagement at Elon University last
month鈥攆or being 鈥渁n enormous help鈥� in the transition. 听
鈥淟arry
Pickener is doing a superb job as OIP interim director, with the search
for the new OIP director to begin in April,鈥� said Fr. Keenan. 听鈥淲e want
OIP to have a global reach that is more reflective of a Research 1
University, and this means working with undergraduate program directors
to make study abroad a more ambitious time for developing students鈥�
academic portfolios, and offering a program that is more expansive than
our predominantly Western European offerings.鈥�
听He added that
OISS Director Adrienne Nussbaum 鈥渉as been indispensable on the Global
Engagement Committee; in time, we will have conversations about other
ways to support our graduate students coming from overseas.鈥�
蝌蚪直播鈥檚 academic leadership has welcomed the changes.
听鈥淚t
makes complete sense that the Office of International Programs works
under the umbrella of Global Engagement,鈥� said Vice Provost for
Undergraduate Academic Affairs Akua Sarr. 鈥淭he mission of OIP to educate
students for an increasingly diverse world is directly in line with the
vision of Global Engagement to advance international education and
global cooperation on our campus. The promotion of internationalization
is an important strategic goal for 蝌蚪直播, and I think this partnership will
be fruitful. I look forward to continuing to work with Jim Keenan,
Larry Pickener and the entire Global Engagement team.鈥�
Added Vice
Provost for Faculties Billy Soo, 鈥淥ISS has come a long way from 听when
its sole role was to assist international students and scholars with
visas. Today, it has a host of programs and services that help welcome
and integrate our international community with the greater Boston
College universe. With the establishment of the Office of Global
Engagement, OISS has found a natural home where they can share their
expertise and experience to a broader company who have the shared goal
of magnifying Boston College鈥檚 presence in and impact on the world.鈥�
Fr.
Keenan noted the potential for additional partnerships with
universities whose expertise aligns with Boston College鈥檚 interests and
strengths: At present, a group of 蝌蚪直播 faculty are in discussions with
their counterparts at the Ateneo, the Javeriana, and Saint-Joseph, he
said, and by next semester he expects some 50 蝌蚪直播 faculty to be 鈥渂uilding
bridges鈥� with the Jesuit universities in Manila, Bogot谩, and Beirut.
Three more MOUs are likely to be signed this spring with the Jesuit
Hekima University in Nairobi, Trinity College Dublin, and eventually a
major Jesuit university in India.
鈥淭hese six universities,
together with the seven universities in SACRU鈥攍ocated in 13 very
different international cities鈥攚ill be the critical, global partners
that will define 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 actual and future global engagement. We are very
excited about the future of global engagement at Boston College.鈥�
Jack Dunn | University Communications | February 2021
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