Ji-Yeung Jang comes to Rutgers by way of South Korea, Israel, Australia, and Kenya, and has big goals for enlarging the global footprint of the University.
Ji-Yeung Jang has joined Rutgers Global as the new Assistant Vice President for Global Affairs reporting to Eric Garfunkel, Vice President for Global Affairs, and overseeing Global Partnerships, Regional Initiatives, and Global Programs and Projects at the University. A seasoned professional in the field of international education, Jang’s journey to Rutgers has stretched across the globe, beginning in South Korea with stops along the way in Israel, Australia, and Kenya.
Prior to Rutgers, Jang served as Director of the Office of Global Affairs and then Interim Executive Director for Global Affairs at Ohio University, where she oversaw pan-university internationalization efforts. She holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from University of Minnesota in the field of educational policy and administration. In addition, she serves as chair of the Teaching, Learning and Scholarship Knowledge Community of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
Born and raised in South Korea, Jang's childhood dream was to travel around the world and meet as many people as possible. As soon as she graduated from college, Jang spent a summer at Kibbutz Reshafim in Israel, working with volunteers from around the world. “It definitely changed my life," she says. "Coming from a homogenous culture, and interacting with diverse group of people was challenging but rewarding. I learned that people may have different views and perspectives in life and that is okay.” Next, she traveled to Australia where she volunteered as part of World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) in a living learning exchange. “I learned a great deal about work ethics and the value of hard work. To this day, my experience as a WWOOFer has a huge impact on who I am as a professional,” says Jang. After these two impactful experiences, she decided to pursue a career in international development work and came to the U.S. as a graduate student obtaining her degrees at the University of Minnesota. During her master’s program, Jang traveled to Africa where she spent a summer in Kisumu, Kenya doing a field work for her thesis, Nonformal Education in Kenya. “Spending time in Kenya was mind-blowing in many ways but, most importantly, I changed my career trajectory from international development to internationalizing higher education after seeing the impact of hosting American students in the local community,” remembers Jang.
The main units of Rutgers Global that Jang will oversee include Programs, Partnerships, the China Office, International Training Programs, and Global Initiatives. The other departments at Rutgers Global are International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) and Study Abroad. In her brief time at Rutgers, Jang has already started to strategically rebrand the units she is managing into a more cohesive whole. “Rutgers Global leads numerous high impact activities through these units and has produced incredible outcomes. I wanted to find a way to bind us together with a sense of purpose and strategic alignment. When I suggested to the units I’m overseeing that we combine into one larger unit, in order to promote inter-unit connections and cooperation, they all came on board very quickly” she says. The new unit will now be called Global Partnerships & Strategic Initiatives, or GPSI, which will be divided into Global Partnerships, Regional Initiatives, Faculty Initiatives and Special Projects, Global Programming and Events, and International Academic Support.
Global Partnerships at Rutgers Global will continue to oversee and facilitate the processing of international agreements between Rutgers units and international partners, as well as manage partnership relations and showcase the wide range of innovative and creative collaborations that Rutgers has around the world. The Regional Initiatives unit will cultivate our current and potential relationships in academia, industry, and government in China and Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, primarily. The Faculty Initiatives and Special Projects unit includes the Rutgers Global Grants program, a growing UN@Rutgers initiative, and ongoing commitment to solving the Global Grand Challenges. Global Programming and Events office will continue to develop and plan intercultural programming on campus for our students and manage other special global events for the Rutgers community, as well as spearhead programming that brings global and DEI together. The International Academic Support manages the RU-FIT course, a first-year transition course for new international students, and mini-courses and coaching for students, as well as inclusive pedagogy workshops for faculty, and an upcoming international graduate academic success program.
“By combining these offices into one cogent unit we, as a group, are much better positioned to achieve our global strategic goals,” notes Jang. Some of those goals include bolstering the University’s international recruitment efforts by leveraging global partnerships, alumni relations and innovative programs. “We are also planning to lead a university-wide conversation that discusses ensuring access to a global learning experience for all students, which we are calling Global Learning for All,” she adds. Other goals include developing innovative academic collaborative programs with global partners, such as online education, global articulation programs (2+2, 3+2, etc.), and gateway programs, and enhancing faculty global engagement for greater global scholarship and research impact.
“A key interest of mine is data analytics,” remarks Jang. With extensive experience in database management and data research, Jang hopes to enhance Rutgers’ analytics and mapping by creating a new global dashboard that showcases Rutgers global activities and engagement. “By showing through a powerful data visualization how engaged our faculty are all over the world, we hope it encourages even more faculty to seek out relationships and partnerships that better serve to enlarge the global footprint of Rutgers University.”
Since beginning at Rutgers Global this summer, Ji-Yeung Jang has already proven that she is eager and able to lead the many global initiatives of Rutgers University. “I am inspired by this University and the people I work with every day. I look forward to amplifying our current initiatives and spearheading new ones, all in service to growing the Rutgers brand on a global scale.”