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FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR TITLE VI AND
FULBRIGHT-HAYS PROGRAMS
William I. BrusteinAssociate Provost for
International AffairsUniversity of
IllinoisTITLE VI 50TH Anniversary Conference
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PROPOSITIONThe future of Title VI/FH
depends greatly on the ability of these programs
to respond creatively to new challenges and
opportunities emanating from the Beltway and from
our campuses

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CHALLENGES

• Demonstrate to skeptics that the field of Area
  Studies is not dead.
• Respond to allegations by critics that Title
  VI/FH has under-performed in equipping our
  graduates with foreign language proficiency,
  in-depth knowledge of non-U.S. societies,
  familiarity with critical global issues, and in
  placing our graduates in national security
  positions
• Carve out its own niche as other governmental and
  non-governmental programs establish competitive
  programs (e.g., ROTC Language and Culture Project
  of NSEP)
• Growing demand for foreign language proficiency
  for non-language majors

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CHALLENGES

• Emphasize that Title VI/FH aims to combine the
  learning of foreign languages with critical
  thinking skills and in-depth knowledge of world
  regions while dispelling the notion that the
  primary objective and value of Title VI/FH is the
  establishment of crash courses to deliver
  linguists/interpreters fluent in critical
  languages
• Operate in a fiscally-constrained environment
  where higher education institutions have limited
  resources to hire traditional area studies
  scholars and where libraries may no longer have
  adequate resources to maintain separate area
  studies libraries and area studies librarians,
  and where higher education institutions can no
  longer support foreign language courses with
  single digit enrollments
• Convince our campus administrators and faculty
  that the programs of Title VI/FH add significant
  value to the institutional missions of teaching,
  research, and engagement especially in light of
  budget rescissions and low overhead (8 percent)
  from Title VI grants

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New Mission for Title VI/FH

• The education of globally-competent students,
  that is, students possessing a combination of
  critical thinking skills, technical expertise,
  and global awareness allowing them not only to
  contribute to knowledge, but also to comprehend,
  analyze and evaluate its meaning in the context
  of an increasingly globalized world so that they
  are well prepared to seek and implement solutions
  to the challenges of global significance (e.g.,
  economic, technological, political, and
  environmental).

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Foundational Skills of Global Competence for
Faculty and Students

• Ability to work effectively in international
  settings
• Awareness of and adaptability to diverse
  cultures, perceptions and approaches
• Familiarity with the major currents of global
  change and the issues they raise
• Capacity for effective communication across
  cultural and linguistic boundaries
• Comprehension of the international dimensions of
  field of study

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Achieving the New Mission for Title VI/FH

• Adding Value, Demonstrating Relevance, and
  Enhancing ROI Title VI/FH Principal Driver and
  Locus of Campus Internationalization
• A. Reaching out beyond the humanities and social
  sciences (e.g., engineering and business
  multi-national teams, design, application, and
  marketing)
• B. Grounding study of critical global issues
  within world regionsthe benefits of combining
  general and particular knowledge (e.g., Pitt
  Global Studies, Illinois JACS)
• C. Internationalize the Curriculum

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Achieving the New Mission for Title VI/FH

• D. Foreign Language Proficiency for all Faculty
  and
• Students
• Promote advantage of Title VI/FH over
  competitors. Foreign languages, by themselves,
  do not provide people with insight into what
  people think. According to MLA 2007, deep
  cultural knowledge and linguistic competence are
  equally necessary if one wishes to understand
  people and their communities
• Promote two-prong approach to foreign language
  proficiency one size does not fit all
• Increase Title VI/FH funding and interest in
  initiatives to train faculty in content-based
  language modulesincluding language and
  non-language faculty (e.g., summer study programs
  both within and outside of the U.S.)

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Achieving the New Mission for Title VI/FH

• E. Putting Smiles on the Faces of Senior
  Administrators
• Internal and External leveraging of funds
• Collaboration among Title VI and other
  international programs on campus (e.g., Study
  abroad, international students and scholars,
  thematic centers)
• New approaches to adding area and international
  studies faculty (e.g., sweep-stakes, incenting
  departments, focus on professional schools)
• Embrace new models of shared services and
  distance education particularly in areas of LCTLs
  (e.g., CIC CourseShare) and library collections
  and staffing (e.g., enhanced web presence)

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Final Thought

• Title VI/FH administrators and Program Officers
  embracing the proposed added mission and
  communicating them to proposal evaluators