Database to Collect LMU’s Worldwide Connections

GLOBAL-LOCAL INITIATIVES | LMU’s Office of Global-Local Initiatives has embarked on an ambitious and promising project to collect, systematize, and expand the university’s global reach.

Espinoza Picture copy - Database to Collect LMU’s Worldwide ConnectionsUnder the direction of Vice Provost Roberta Espinoza, the Global-Local Initiatives team launched LMU Global a new platform that will serve as an information hub to LMU community members who want to plug into existing partnerships and collaborations or to gain a comprehensive understanding of LMU’s connections around the world.

Faculty and staff are invited to add their international connections to the directory. The International Partnership Activity form will gather data about LMU’s international partnerships and collaborations.

“The purpose of gathering this data is to inventory LMU’s worldwide engagement and networks,” said Espinoza, “and to more effectively tell the university’s compelling internationalization story.” She said that global partnerships are vital to facilitate learning experiences that will prepare the next generation of leaders with the necessary intercultural competencies to address the most pressing global-local challenges of our time.

“When we have a clear view of LMU’s international contacts and international activity, we can establish tactical priorities and support structures to develop programs and initiatives that align with our Jesuit traditions and values,” she said.

Since his arrival in June 2015, President Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., has envisioned LMU as a definitive center for global imagination and has challenged the university to reimagine LMU’s global, creative, and interdisciplinary footprints. Provost Thomas Poon, Ph.D., in his 2018 convocation address further highlighted the importance of creating a space in which LMU’s formal and informal connections and global activity are accessible to advance all student, faculty, and staff’s local and international collaborations.

Maria Melendrez, program and partnerships specialist in the Provost’s Office, is leading this significant undertaking, including outreach, organization, website design and curation. “Each school, college, and division has international connections –– some formal, some informal,” said Melendrez. “At present, we’ve tallied approximately 120 partnerships in every continent and 32-plus countries, but we know there are many more that still need to be captured, categorized, and celebrated.”

As we are learning through the ACE Internationalization Lab (ACE Lab) process, LMU is well positioned to start leveraging the long-standing partnerships that have already been developed by dedicated students, faculty, staff and alumni. Global-Local Initiatives also expressed gratitude to ITS, MarComm, and all community members who took time to share their vision for the platform and provide feedback.

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