Vivian Wang, vice provost for global engagement at The University of Tulsa, has been selected to participate as a Fellow in the U.S.-ASEAN University Connections, a White House initiative announced during the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit last year.
“I look forward to developing global partnerships in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Those partnerships will expand our global learning offerings and allow faculty to work together to address the growing needs for global solutions,” Wang said. She attended a conference with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in February 2023 to discuss support and resources that will assist U.S. universities interested in forming partnerships with ASEAN institutions.
The initiative is administered through the U.S. Department of State’s Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program, which builds American colleges’ and universities’ capacity to engage in global partnerships and study abroad programming aligned with U.S. foreign policy goals. It will bring together 50 leaders from diverse colleges and universities in the United States and eight ASEAN member countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam – for a series of virtual and in-person trainings designed to foster sustainable international academic partnerships and the two-way exchange of students, scholars and researchers between U.S. and Southeast Asian higher education institutions.
Ethan Rosenzweig, deputy assistant secretary for academic programs, said the U.S. Department of State is committed to fostering partnerships between U.S. and Southeast Asian colleges and universities and increasing academic collaboration to find solutions on topics of global importance, such as combatting climate change and promoting economic development.
The next two virtual trainings under the initiative are taking place in early 2023 and exploring academic partnership models. These events are open to the public, and registration is open on the IDEAS Program website.
The IDEAS Program is funded by the U.S. government and supported in its implementation by World Learning. The University Connections Initiative is implemented in partnership with the Association of International Education Administrators. For more information about the initiative and the IDEAS Program, visit www.studyabroadcapacitybuilding.org. For information about other study abroad resources and exchange programs offered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, visit https://studyabroad.state.gov/. For more details on the Association for International Education Administrators, visit www.aieaworld.org.