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(A
Case Study by Kelly Copeland, Spring 2005)
Pepperdine University is an independent Christian university
enrolling over 8,000 students in its five colleges and schools:
Seaver College, the
School of Law, the
Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP), the
Graziadio School of Business and Management (GSBM), and the
School of Public Policy (SPP). Founded in 1937, the school
is religiously affiliated with the Churches of Christ.
Pepperdine is located in Malibu, California and at six graduate
campuses in Southern California (West Los Angeles, Irvine, Long
Beach, Encino, Westlake Village, and Pasadena). Pepperdine also
has six international campuses in Heidelberg, Germany; London,
United Kingdom; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lyon, France; Florence,
Italy; and Hong Kong.
While internationalization is not mentioned
in Pepperdine’s Mission Statement, it still plays a significant
role at the University and has come up in two of President
Andrew Benton’s key addresses. First, in his
inaugural address in 2000, Benton explained his vision for
the University including five challenges, the second of which is
strengthening the diversity of the University. Elements of this
challenge, as he explained it, include “reflecting what is good
and exciting about Los Angeles, including its diversity,” as
well as “providing a broad cultural and international experience
for each student.” Specifically he mentioned increasing
participation in study abroad and increasing the numbers of
international students.[1]
In his
2004 Founder’s Day address, Benton shared seven dreams he
has for the future of Pepperdine, the third of which is
increasing the University’s international presence. He
mentioned creating a more expansive international programs,
especially in the Pacific Rim, to “prepare students,
undergraduate and graduate, to contribute on the world stage,
working with governments and multinational corporations to make
the world a better place.”[2]
Additionally, internationalization is
mentioned in
GSBM’s mission statement:
The mission of the
George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management is to
develop values-centered leaders for contemporary business
practice through education that is entrepreneurial in spirit,
ethical in focus, and global in orientation…[3]
Finally, it is also mentioned in
SPP’s Academic Catalog as their Leadership Challenge:
It is the goal of
Pepperdine’s School of Public Policy to comprehend, address, and
in some instances influence the world’s crucial public policy
questions with well-educated practitioners, analysts, and
leaders. Through forums, conferences, and international faculty
exchanges, the school will engage professionals from other
nations to share foreign policy ideas with Malibu-based students
and faculty. It also will welcome the challenge of more broadly
educating these international practitioners in United States
policies.
With its strategic
location on the Pacific Rim, Pepperdine is positioned to stage
timely and vital seminars on such subjects as foreign trade,
economic development, and social and environmental issues for
executives from agencies around the world.[4]
Though internationalization efforts are
largely based at the individual school-level, they are evident
in the faculty and curriculum, through study abroad programs, in
the support for international students, and in additional
initiatives.
Internationalization efforts at Pepperdine
are also evident in the faculty’s international experience; the
curriculum, languages, and degree programs offered; and in the
student life to varying degrees in each school.
The Faculty
To a large degree, the Pepperdine faculty
has international experience. Of the 377 current Pepperdine
full-time teaching faculty members, 60% have international
teaching experience![5]
And the University’s faculty has included seven Fulbright
scholars.[6]
The University helps promote the internationalization of its
faculty with efforts including:
- Seaver faculty members with tenure are
encouraged to participate in Seaver’s International Programs
as the Visiting Faculty in academic year programs or as
Directors of summer special interest programs.[7]
- The GSBM faculty is also encouraged to
participate in their one-week study tours abroad as either
Lead or Support Faculty. Two faculty members go on each
trip. This promotes networking by allowing them to make
contacts at the partner university as well as allowing them
to do research in a new culture and environment. GSBM does
not give preference to faculty with international experience
when determining who will go on the study tours, thereby
promoting the internationalization of their faculty.
- SPP engages in international faculty
exchanges as well as organizes forums and conferences so
that international professional can share their foreign
policy ideas with SPP students and faculty.[8]
Seaver College Curriculum
Seaver College is a residential college of letters,
arts, and sciences with approximately 3,000 undergraduate and
graduate students offering bachelor’s degrees in 37 fields of
study and master’s degrees in six.[9]
- The college offers both majors and
minors in Spanish, French, and German; as well as majors in
International Studies and International Business and a minor
in Italian.
- Seaver offers language courses in
Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese,
Japanese, Greek, Hebrew, and Russian (in the Russia study
abroad program).
- The undergraduate
General Education (GE) Program requires students to take
one upper-division course on a Non-Western Culture (the
history, culture, and/or religion of Asia, pre-colonial
Africa or Latin America, or Islamic studies) and to reach
the equivalent competency of three college semesters in a
Foreign Language.
- One of the leaders in
internationalization efforts at Seaver College is the
International Studies and Languages Division (ISL) which
is one of Seaver’s eight academic divisions.
The mission of
the International Studies and Languages Division is to introduce
students to other cultures, languages, and ways of understanding
the world so that they will interact and serve effectively,
guided by God's call to justice and mercy.[10]
ISL is comprised
of the
International Studies major,
Modern Languages, and the
Institute for the Study of Asian Cultures.
- The
International Studies (INTS) major requires students
to take courses in international politics, economics,
and communication. Students may specialize in one of
seven functional or regional areas (Economic Studies,
Political Studies, International Management Studies,
International/ Intercultural Communication Studies,
Asian Studies, European Studies, and Latin American
Studies). International Studies majors must also
establish competency (the equivalent of two years of
university level language courses) in two languages, or
complete two upper-division courses in one language.
They are strongly encouraged to study abroad.[11]
-
Modern Languages offers courses in language
acquisition, linguistics, rhetoric, literature, and
culture. Students may major or minor in Spanish,
French, and German, or minor in Italian. All majors are
required to study abroad or to have a similar intensive
language experience.
- The
Institute for the Study of Asian Cultures (ISAC)
offers courses in Asian literature, history, and
traditions, as well as language courses in Mandarin
Chinese and Japanese. ISAC houses a library on East
Asia, grants scholarships, and overseas the Asian
specialization of the INTS major.[12]
Graziadio School of Business and
Management Curriculum
The
Graziadio School of Business and Management (GSBM) is the
nation’s fifth largest graduate business school accredited by
the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB
International) enrolling approximately 2,400 students in its
full- and part-time programs for undergraduate and graduate
students offering one bachelors degree, three master’s degrees,
and three joint degree programs.[13]
In particular, GSBM offers an
International Master of Business Administration (IMBA)
degree, as well as a
Global Business concentration for fully-employed graduates
of the
Bachelor of Science in Management (BSM) Program.
- GSBM offers language courses in
French, German, and Spanish. Students may study Mandarin
Chinese through Seaver College.[14]
- The
International Master of Business Administration (IMBA)
for full-time students is a two year program in which
students spend their first year taking business courses and
intensive language training (in French, German, or Spanish);
and then spend their second year studying business abroad at
one of GSBM’s partner universities and completing an
international internship while there. Many of the partner
universities offer the students the option of extending
their time abroad through the summer semester to earn a
second MBA degree from the partner university.[15]
- GSBM also offers a Master of Business
Administration with a concentration in
Global Business for fully-employed graduates of their
Bachelor of Science in Management (BSM) Program.
Graduate School of Education and
Psychology Curriculum
The
Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) enrolls
approximately 1,850 students and offers ten master’s and
doctoral programs in education and psychology as well as
teaching and administrative credentials.[16]
School of Law Curriculum
The
School of Law enrolls about 670 full-time students and
offers seven different degree or joint degree programs,
including the LL.M. in dispute resolution administered by its
internationally acclaimed
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution.[17]
School of Public Policy Curriculum
The
School of Public Policy (SPP) enrolls almost 100 students
and offers a Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree as well as
three joint degree programs. The
Davenport Institute is the research and special program
division of SPP dedicated to addressing current issues through
major conferences, seminars, and published research.[18]
Student Life
Seaver has many international and ethnic
student organizations such as the African Alliance, Amnesty
International, Armenian Student Organization, Asian Student
Association, Black Student Union, Cultural Italian American
Organization, Habitat for Humanity, Hawaii Club, International
Justice Mission, Latino Student Association,
Pepperdine International Club, and the Real Estate
International Society; and GSBM holds various student-organized
cultural celebrations throughout the year.[19]
The
Institute of International Education ranked Pepperdine 5th
in the nation of doctoral/research institutions for
undergraduate participation in study abroad with an amazing
53.5% for the 2002-2003 academic year.[20]
Pepperdine began its first study abroad program in Heidelberg,
Germany in 1963 through Seaver College.[21]
Since then each of the five schools has taken their own unique
approach to study abroad.
Seaver College Study Abroad
Seaver’s
International Programs have over twenty different programs,
including:
-
Academic Year programs in Heidelberg, Germany; London,
United Kingdom; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lyon, France;
Florence, Italy; and Hong Kong.
- Seaver’s academic year
International Programs have an extremely high
participation rate (234 of the college’s 2,999 total
students are studying abroad in one of these programs
this Spring 2005 semester[22]),
partly because they are such an integral and well-know
part of the College. The programs are designed mainly
for sophomores to complete their GE requirements. The
students take Pepperdine courses from Pepperdine and
local instructors.
- In the Florence, Heidelberg,
and London programs, students both live and go to
classes on Pepperdine property.
- The Lyon and Buenos Aires
programs are both homestay programs, so the students
have the opportunity to live with a local family and
practice their language skills with them.
- In the Buenos Aires, Lyon, and
Hong Kong programs, students take Pepperdine courses
from both Pepperdine and local faculty at a local
university.
- The Florence, Heidelberg, Buenos
Aires, and Lyon programs all require students to
complete one semester of the language before departure.
-
Affiliated University programs for a semester or year of
study with the University of Queensland (Brisbane,
Australia), Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan), and the
University of Nebrija (Madrid, Spain).
- In these programs, the students
take university courses with the local students. In
Tokyo, students may take courses that are taught in
Japanese if there are proficient in the language,
otherwise there are may course offerings in English as
well. In Madrid, all the courses are in Spanish, so
students must be proficient in Spanish to participate in
the program.
- The Tokyo and Madrid students are
required to live in homestays, thus giving them even
more interaction with the local culture.
- The Tokyo program is offered
through the service provider
Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE).
-
Summer Special Interest programs such as language
programs (Spanish in Madrid or Buenos Aires and French in
Lyon), service learning programs (Thailand, Africa, or
Honduras Medical Mission), an internship program (London),
business programs (London, Japan, or Hong Kong), art
programs (SACI art school in Florence; Music in Heidelberg,
London, or Florence; and Theatre in London and Edinburgh),
tropical ecology and biology programs (Costa Rica), a
biblical sites program (Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and
Israel when permitted), and a program in Russia.[23]
- These programs vary in format from
travel tours led by a Pepperdine Faculty Director who
teaches the courses (such as the Biblical Sites,
Tropical Ecology and Biology, and Asian Business
programs), to programs in which students enroll at a
local university with other local and international
students (such as the SACI art program).
- Seaver students majoring in Spanish,
French, German or International Business are required to
study abroad (or to have an equivalent intensive experience
in their language of study).
Seaver also offers its students a
Washington D.C. Internship Program which gives students the
opportunity to intern full time at an organization of their
choice (several of which are international in focus) as well as
to take courses at Catholic University. A limited number of
Catholic University students are in turn allowed to study in
Seaver’s International Programs.[24]
GSBM Study Abroad
GSBM offers its students several different
Global Programs for study abroad for credit that help give
their students the “international perspective necessary for
succeeding in the global marketplace,”[25]
including:
- Full-time
International MBA (IMBA) students are required to spend
their second year abroad studying at one of the prestigious
partner universities in France, Germany, Mexico, Argentina,
Costa Rica, or Chile taking courses in the local language
and completing an internship.[26]
-
Full-Time MBA students are eligible for an optional Fall
trimester at one of sixteen partner universities where they
are integrated into the university’s graduate business
program and student body taking courses in English or the
local language. Programs are in Europe (Belgium, Denmark,
the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain,
and Switzerland), Brazil, and Asia (Hong Kong, China,
Philippines, Thailand, and soon South Korea also).[27]
- MBA, IMBA, and BSM students and alumni
(whether
full-time or
fully-employed) may also participate in week-long study
tours in Global Enterprise Management for elective credit
led by a Pepperdine faculty member in Europe (the United
Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany), Hong Kong, or Latin
America (Argentina, Mexico, and soon Chile also). These
study tours are mainly offered during April and December
when students have breaks between semesters to facilitate
their participation. Approximately 10% of GSBM students
participate in these week-long study tours annually.[28]
To encourage full-time MBA students to
participate in their Global Programs, GSBM puts on an annual
International Fair during orientation with tables for each of
their partner universities staffed by exchange students who
disseminate information about their home universities.[29]
School of Law Study Abroad
- The School of Law offers a fall
semester and summer session in
London where students may study international and
comparative law from two full-time Pepperdine professors as
well as local adjunct professors. The program was approved
by the American Bar Association and began in 1981. In Fall
2003, 51 of the 778 students were enrolled in the London
program.[30]
GSEP Study Abroad
- GSEP’s
Ed.D. in Organizational Change program is a series of
twelve, eight-day seminar-style sessions to learn to lead
strategic change in organizations. The sessions take place
at various different national and international locations
including the University of Monterrey in Mexico. During the
third year of this five year program, students participate
in an International Experience and a Change Project.[35]
- GSEP’s
Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership requires an
International Policy Experience course in which students
visit an international location and examine organizations
there and compare the with the those in the US. Past
locations have included Mexico and Costa Rica.[36]
Pepperdine ranks consistently in the top 30
for their percentage of undergraduate international students.[37]
Pepperdine is home to more than 350 international students from
more than 69 countries around the world. Of the total
Pepperdine student population, 4.63% are international students
(defined as a student who is not a citizen or permanent resident
of the United States). These students are divided between the
five schools as follows: 6.5% at Seaver; 5.08% at GSBM; 2.43% at
GSEP; 1.03% at the School of Law; and 5.81% at SPP.[38]
Of the Seaver international students, 52% are from Asia, 26% are
from Europe, 9% are from Africa or the Middle East, 6% are from
Latin America, 4% are from North America, and 3% are from
Australia or the Pacific Islands.[39]
Office of International Student Services
The
Office of International Student Services (OISS) is
Pepperdine’s central office for international students which
began in 1955 when they were certified to issue I-20s for
Pepperdine’s international students. The office provides
information and counseling to international students on matters
such immigration, visas, work permits, and on-campus
employment. OISS offers annual seminars on immigration, taxes,
and other legal issues. In addition, OISS performs special
functions for Seaver College such as:
- Recruiting internationally for Seaver
College
- Putting on Seaver’s International
Student Orientation twice annually
- Helping Seaver international students
with admission, foreign credentials evaluation, course
registration, and financial issues.
OISS also does programming to increase the
interaction between international and domestic students and
faculty including the international student carnival, the
international student soccer tournament KICK, the international
convocation meeting, and the Pepperdine International Club.[40]
- “Pepperdine
International Club seeks to intertwine the cultures of
all students, both domestic and international, and create a
sharing environment for those traditions. This is
accomplished through fun, food, and friendship.”[41]
Seaver Student Services
Seaver international students also have
access to ongoing
student services through various campus centers such as
Academic Advising, Counseling, Student Health, and the Career
Center. They can also get free tutoring at the Volunteer Center
and the Writing Center.
Special Seaver Curriculum
Though Seaver College does not currently
have an English as a Second Language (ESL) program, the College
does offer special Speech and Writing courses for students who
have low placement test scores in English in these areas.
SPLASH Program
The Full-Time MBA Program at GSBM offers a
mandatory one week-long
SPLASH program before orientation each year to help
international students adjust to living and studying in the
United States by including information on culture, business
writing, social security, driver’s licenses, insurance, and
housing. This is a popular event as an amazing 35% of
the students in the Full-Time MBA program are international
students (from 32 countries and six continents)![42]
After September 11, 2001, GSBM was
concerned that their number of international students in their
full-time MBA program would drop due to all the new immigration
requirements. The following year, GSBM did have a significant
number of students that could not make it because they could not
get their visas in time. In response, they bumped up their
application deadlines, which gave students the extra time needed
to get their visas. Other than the one year drop, GSBM
consistently has had around 35% international students.[43]
International Alumni Chapter
Efforts are being made to create an alumni
chapter in Shanghai, China.[44]
Public Safety
Pepperdine’s Public Safety Office has been
involved in ensuring safety, not only on their domestic
campuses, but also on Pepperdine’s several international
campuses. As part of their precautions, a web camera has been
installed at the London house which transmits images of the
house entrance to the Public Safety office in Malibu where they
are monitored. By the end of this year, they plan to have web
cameras installed on Pepperdine’s other international properties
in Heidelberg, Florence, and Buenos Aires.[45]
Board of Regents
The
Board of Regents is Pepperdine’s legal governing body which
provides guidance in designing the future of the University.
Several of its 40 members have international experience,
including Hari N. Harilela who is from India and lives in Hong
Kong; Glen A. Holden who was formerly the United States
Ambassador to Jamaica; Thomas P. Kemp who received a Federal
grant to encourage entrepreneurship in Russia; and Edward V.
Yang and Matthew K. Fong who have experience and connections in
Asia. The Board of Regents meets quarterly, and every three
years tries to meet in an international location. The Spring
meeting was held at Pepperdine’s Florence, Italy campus 3 years
ago and in Hong Kong last Spring.[46]
Fulbright Scholarships
Pepperdine encourages its students to apply
for the prestigious
Fulbright Scholarship to study or do research abroad after
graduating. For four consecutive years, and in seven out of the
last nine years, Seaver graduates have won a Fulbright Award.[47]
Pepperdine has done an excellent job at
incorporating internationalization. Some of the most impressive
areas of successful internationalization are:
- Internationalization is mentioned in
the President’s goals, GSBM’s mission statement, and SPP’s
leadership challenge.
- The faculty’s international
experience—60% have international teaching experience.
- GSBM’s International MBA
program—particularly the intensive language study,
internship abroad, and option of a second degree from the
partner university.
- Extremely high participation rates in
study abroad—an estimated 53.5% of undergraduates
participate in study abroad.
- GSBM’s study abroad options for both
full-time and fully-employed students.
- The diversity of the international
students from over 69 countries.
- The high participation rate (35%) of
international students in GSBM’s Full-Time MBA program.
[7] William B. Phillips, Dean of
International Programs, Pepperdine University,
interviewed by the author February 18, 2005.
[14] Alisa Sunal Lopez, International
Director, Graziadio School of Business and Management,
Pepperdine University, interviewed by the author
February 18, 2005.
[19] Pepperdine University—Seaver
College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences [Admissions
brochure]; Malibu, CA: Pepperdine University, 2004: 17.
[23] Pepperdine University—Seaver
College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences 28.
[37] Richard Dawson, Director of
International Student Services, Pepperdine University,
interviewed by the author February 18, 2005.
[39] Pepperdine University—Seaver
College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences 33.
[42] Pepperdine University—Graziadio
School of Business and Management—Master of Business
Administration for Full-Time Students: Master of
Business Administration, International MBA
[Admissions brochure]; Malibu, CA: Pepperdine
University, 2004: 11.
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