Make "Internationalization" a Pillar of the Mills Approach to Higher Education

We should consider the potential benefits of making "Global Education" a core component of a Mills' undergraduate (and graduate?) education and what it would take to make this a reality.

Context

Colleges and universities across the country have in recent years worked to expand their enrollments of foreign students.  Several have coupled these efforts with curricular and campus-wide initiatives and centers.  Mills lags behind on all counts -- fewer foreign students enrolled, less support for study-abroad, fewer programs focused on global issues, no foreign language requirement.

Proposal

Globalize curriculum through requirements (gen ed, foreign language), new majors, new courses, priority faculty hiring.  Expand financial aid support for study abroad, create a global studies coordination center (see also Highlight and Cultivate Graduate Fellowship Success), create a languages and cultures or global affairs living learning communities, recruit more foreign students.

Outcomes

A curriculum that better prepares students for the 21st century.  Increased enrollments due to foreign students coming to Mills and domestic students finding Mills a more attractive alternative than it has been.

 Full Proposal below or via REMOVED

Science Courses for Non-Science Students

While there are many explanations for why we do not have more science courses for non-majors, there are even more reasons why we should.

Situated as we are in a region that is a worldwide center for information technology and biotechnology, famous for its viticulture and world class eateries, and with a science center and observatory just a few miles up the hill, we should be able to field an enticing array of "the science of X" courses and develop a campus culture that would ensure high enrollments in same.  Existing courses in ornithology and botany are a great start, but we could branch out and ensure that the humanists, artists, and social scientists that we graduate have the multiple exposures to science necessary to be a responsible citizen in the 21st century.

We can imagine a line up that might include courses like:

• Astronomy for Everyone (in conjunction with Chabot)
• The Biology and Chemistry of Wine (with trips to Napa & Sonoma)
• Modern Physics for Poets
• The Science of Cooking (Harold McGee as one of the textbooks, a cooking class in the bargain, maybe trip to a fine eatery)
• Biotechnology for Beginners
• Climate Change for 21st Century Citizens
• Computers and Society
• Mathematical Excursions : From Pythagoras to Fermat's Last Theorem
• The Mathematics of Society : Introduction Game Theory 
• The Mathematics of Society : Voting, Choice, and Probability
• Urban Forestry
• The Bridges, Boats, and Tunnels of the Bay Area (math, engineering, and the built environment)

Taught by engaging faculty who can have fun at the same time as they convey information and skills to students not otherwise engaged in the study of science.