Agenda has assembled an international student body

It's not uncommon to walk down Locust Walk and hear French, Spanish or Swedish coming from passers-by -- whether from a student studying a foreign language or international students spending their undergraduate career ar Penn. But whatever the reason, the presence of other languages indicate, in part, progress Penn has made in internationalizing. Goal six in Penn's Agenda For Excellence calls for "efforts to increase significantly Penn's role as an international institution of higher education and research." The Agenda aimed to achieve this goal through international collaboration among faculty, attracting international students and the development of study-abroad programs. While most members of the University community agree that individual schools have increased their international presence over the past five years, it is questionable how it translates to Penn as a whole. "I think that Penn has defiantly made some progress," said Joyce Randolph, director of the Office of International Programs, which oversees study abroad and international students. "It is progress that has been initiated or facilitated primarily in some of the individual schools," she added. Across Penn's different schools -- both undergraduate and graduate -- there indeed is an increased international presence. The Nursing School, for example, has several projects involving developing countries such as India and those in sub-Saharan Africa. The Graduate School of Fine Arts, where international students make up 30 percent of the student body, has programs in China, England and Italy. Yet the school with the highest publicity is probably the Wharton School, which has collaborated with several international business schools, giving students and faculty the opportunity to work at four campuses on three continents. While Penn has achieved a certain level of success, it appears to be moving against a national trend, which has seen internationalization decrease among universities. "Nationally, the trend is very disappointing. Data indicates that not much has changed since the 1980s," said Fred Hayward, senior associate at the American Council On Education's International Initiatives office. "Higher education in general seems to be talking the talk, but they don't walk the walk," said Philip Altbach, a professor of education at Boston College, who has written extensively on internationalization in higher education. A Department of Education study estimated that only 7 percent of undergraduates nationwide have sufficient global preparedness in terms of language skills and knowledge of the global economy. However, some outside observers put Penn among the institutions that help prepare students for the globalized world. "Overall, Penn seems to have developed a good reputation in the area due to its intentional focus at globalization," Hayward said. In his view, Wharton's efforts were Penn's most notable. While Altbach could not talk specifically about Penn, he said that selective institutions in general have made the biggest contributions to globalization. "We see that selective institutions have the international perspective because they have more resources and students that are more internationally minded," he said. The reasons for globalization are deep, with the primary reason being that "the globe is more globalized," School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Eduardo Glandt said. As a result of the trend toward globalization, schools are designing their curriculums with a more international flavor. "Our students are more exposed to how business practices might be different in different parts of the world," Management Department Chairman Harbir Singh said. "It prevents a U.S.-centered view of the world." In practice, internationalization is a reciprocal relationship between Penn and the world, with both offering and gaining. Penn is "enriched by contact with scholars around the world," Randolph said. The idea of a reciprocal relationship was echoed by Nursing Professor Joyce Thompson, who is also the director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center. She cited the example of learning from countries that were technologically poor but creatively rich because "here I'm in a resource rich arena but I might have lost some of my creativity." While Penn's name has reached to farther corners of the world in recent years, the extent to which Penn is being a leader in globalization or just following the pack remains unclear. In some instances, such as collaboration in Wharton and Nursing, Penn is very much at the forefront in developing international initiatives. "Penn has immense resources in its faculty and students... and in many of endeavors, we're ahead of the pack." Randolph said. In others areas, such as information technology, Penn has been more cautious. For example, Penn has been reluctant in terms of alliances with distance learning companies and the adoption of course Web sites. "Penn's approach is often to be quite deliberate and to weigh the risks and opportunities." Randolph said. Initiatives are "solid and academically based and not going to be smoke and mirrors." A particular area that Penn has been very successful is increasing opportunities for study abroad. For the fall semester, Penn has seen record number of applications for undergraduate study abroad. Over 500 students were involved in study abroad last year, compared to less than 400 in 1995. While some students are shut out of study abroad programs, OIP cites resource limitations, which they are slowly trying to expand. However, officials also cite the popularity of study abroad programs as how far Penn has come in the last few years. Penn has also been particularly successful in increasing the number of international undergraduate students, with Penn having over 10 percent, the most in the Ivy League and its peer institutions. In terms of graduate students, Penn is in the middle of the pack, with 26 percent.