Vermont Business Magazine A new Center for Global Engagement at Saint Michael’s College is set to receive $400,000 in federal funding from the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, signed on March 15.
The support, championed by Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT ’61, will help to expand student international internship opportunities to Europe and Latin America. It also will pay for programming on international issues and cover operating costs for the Center.
The funds are among several of Leahy’s Congressionally Directed Spending requests, which allow a senator to direct federal money for projects in his or her home state. Leahy, as Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, restored Congressionally Directed Spending to the 12 annual Appropriations bills that fund the federal government and headed the writing of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill.
The Center’s Director Jeffrey Ayres of the political science/international relations faculty said its mission is to provide a wide array of opportunities to celebrate global citizenship and actively engage in a global community. Ayres said the Center would serve as the collaborative hub of international activity at Saint Michael’s College, promoting global learning and literacy, deepening inter-cultural competency and inclusion, and supporting opportunities for global engagement for students, faculty, staff, alumni and local community members.
The Center’s web page describes specific initiatives within its mission, including:
- Semester-long, summer and faculty-led academic study abroad programs
- International in-person and virtual internships that advance career readiness
- Scholarships such as the Fulbright, Pickering, Marshall, Ford, Boren and critical language programs
- A Peace Corps Prep program building on a long record of alumni participation in the Peace Corps
- An internationalization grant program that supports student activities and campus programming
- Raising awareness of internationally-oriented student clubs, campus programming and a curriculum that includes a variety of globally-themed majors and minors
- Assisting new and continuing international students with immigration and visa concerns, and providing support and assistance in engaging with the campus community and to adjusting to life in the United States
- Complement support already given to the College by the Freeman Foundation for in-person internships in Asia
Saint Michael’s President Lorraine Sterritt said the College “is deeply honored to be a recipient of this Appropriation, which will allow us to continue the very relevant and important work of our new Center for Global Engagement. We truly appreciate Senator Leahy’s support.”
Ayres said the funding support secured by Leahy “will strengthen the Center for Global Engagement as a pillar of the College’s new strategic plan and expand programs for global engagement to support the academic success, personal and professional growth and career readiness especially of our students.”
In her application for these funds, Angela Irvine, the College’s director of foundation relations and sponsored programs, explained why Saint Michael’s sought this support:
“Global citizenship and literacy and inter-cultural competency are essential 21st Century educational and workforce skill-sets,” she wrote, “and living thoughtfully in this increasingly multicultural and globalized world demands critical engagement with varied perspectives and complex phenomena … global competence is one of the most important career skills in the 21st Century economy.”
“I am so glad to have been able to secure federal funding for Saint Michael’s College to establish the Center for Global Engagement in the FY22 Omnibus Appropriations Act,” Leahy said. “Since my time at Saint Michael’s, the College has shown a strong commitment to fostering cultural understanding for Vermont students. This project will provide opportunities for meaningful global citizenship skillsets development and allow graduates to participate in the growing global workforce.”
About Saint Michael’s College
Saint Michael’s College, founded in the great Catholic intellectual tradition, which also recognizes the principles of social justice and compassion, is a selective, fully residential Catholic college in Vermont’s beautiful Green Mountains. Our closely connected community delivers internationally respected liberal arts and graduate education near Burlington, one of the country’s best college towns. To prepare for fulfilling careers and meaningful lives, young adults here grow intellectually, socially, and morally, learning to be responsible for themselves, each other and their world.
COLCHESTER, VT -- Saint Michael’s College 3.31.2022
