Regional councils will guide U.'s international pursuits
Michael Skocpol
Issue date: 4/25/07 Section: Campus News
The University will form regional advisory councils around the world to help Brown identify opportunities, build visibility and raise funds to support its internationalization effort, senior University officials told The Herald.
Vice President for International Advancement Ronald Margolin said he has begun assembling the first two councils - one that will focus specifically on China and another that will deal with Asia more generally - both of which should be active by the end of 2007. The creation of a third council, which will focus specifically on India, should begin soon, he added, and will be able to begin its work by March 2008.
Some preliminary discussions have also taken place on an Africa council, and University officials are also considering creating councils for Europe, the Middle East, Latin America generally and Brazil specifically, though there is no current timetable for the development of those councils, Margolin said.
The Office of the President and the Office of the Provost are collaborating with him on the effort, Margolin said.
Both President Ruth Simmons and Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 called the councils an important component of Brown's official internationalization effort, which kicked off in October 2006 with the appointment of an internationalization committee chaired by Kertzer and the announcement of a search to recruit a vice president for international affairs.
"Our goal is to connect (alums) to us, give them a sense that we are helping them if they try to advance Brown's interests in their part of the world and to come up with concrete suggestions for what we can do to enliven the effort," Simmons told The Herald.
As the councils are set up "over the next several years," Kertzer said, they will "help us in a variety of ways."
Forming such international advisory groups has been on the University's radar for some time, Margolin said. Though they are just now beginning to come to fruition, the first discussions of the possibility came roughly a year before the formal internationalization effort was publicly announced, he said.
Vice President for International Advancement Ronald Margolin said he has begun assembling the first two councils - one that will focus specifically on China and another that will deal with Asia more generally - both of which should be active by the end of 2007. The creation of a third council, which will focus specifically on India, should begin soon, he added, and will be able to begin its work by March 2008.
Some preliminary discussions have also taken place on an Africa council, and University officials are also considering creating councils for Europe, the Middle East, Latin America generally and Brazil specifically, though there is no current timetable for the development of those councils, Margolin said.
The Office of the President and the Office of the Provost are collaborating with him on the effort, Margolin said.
Both President Ruth Simmons and Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 called the councils an important component of Brown's official internationalization effort, which kicked off in October 2006 with the appointment of an internationalization committee chaired by Kertzer and the announcement of a search to recruit a vice president for international affairs.
"Our goal is to connect (alums) to us, give them a sense that we are helping them if they try to advance Brown's interests in their part of the world and to come up with concrete suggestions for what we can do to enliven the effort," Simmons told The Herald.
As the councils are set up "over the next several years," Kertzer said, they will "help us in a variety of ways."
Forming such international advisory groups has been on the University's radar for some time, Margolin said. Though they are just now beginning to come to fruition, the first discussions of the possibility came roughly a year before the formal internationalization effort was publicly announced, he said.