"A great state university has global reach and influence. Its research and academic programs have international impact, its faculty members collaborate with colleagues around the world, it attracts students from countries near and far, and its students have wide-ranging opportunities to learn other cultures and languages."
Annual Address to the University Community
President Richard L. McCormick
Friday, September 16, 2011
Jersey Roots, Global Reach is more than a Rutgers motto—it’s a mission. Our faculty, students, and staff work with colleagues in more than 160 countries, conducting collaborative research, exchanging ideas and information across borders, and engaging with local communities. We likewise gain from the knowledge, insights, and cultures of scholars and students who come to Rutgers from more than 120 nations. Global competence has never been more important. It is imperative that students become cognizant of the world outside their own communities, respectful of diverse societies, and equipped to examine problems of an international nature.
Rutgers students have more study abroad choices than ever, including new international service learning programs in Argentina, Bolivia, Ghana, Mexico, and Romania. Since 2006, Study Abroad participation has increased by 17%, with eighteen new locations, and fifteen more projected for 2012-2013, including a major development initiative for India.
Rutgers has many collaborative activities, academic programs, and research partnerships around the world. Working with faculty, we have identified five countries with which Rutgers enjoys especially significant partnerships: Brazil, where we are involved with the Science Without Borders initiative; India, one of the fastest growing economies in the world; Indonesia, where a new U.S.-Indonesia Higher Education Committee has been formed and new collaborative programs have been launched; Liberia, where Rutgers is leading an effort to build inclusive, gender-sensitive centers of excellence in agriculture and engineering at the University of Liberia and at Cuttington University; and China, where our collaborative research, teaching, and student exchanges engage numerous universities.
We are committed to significant growth in Rutgers’ globally focused programs—not only collaborative research and study abroad but also the mastery of foreign languages, courses in international cultures, exchange programs, and engagement with international communities within our host cities. The more our students understand cultures, languages, regions, and economic influences beyond their own, the better we can prepare them for successful lives and careers.
Richard L. McCormick
President
