News

In alignment with Lehigh’s strategic plan, the university’s Office of International Affairs has presented its four strategic initiatives, which will help guide OIA in its mission to make the Lehigh community international, expand the university’s footprint abroad, and provide high-quality international education experiences for Lehigh students and scholars.

The strategic initiatives, and further details about each one, can be found at the interactive website global.lehigh.edu/plan. A downloadable PDF of all four initiatives can be found here, and hard copies will be made available in the future.

The four initiatives can be found below:

These initiatives were developed in close alignment with Lehigh’s university-wide strategic plan, Inspiring the Future Makers, which offers a vision for how the university can broaden its global perspective and impact.

“Inspiring the Future Makers specifically challenges us to collaborate to find solutions that drive societal change and advance experiential learning and real-world application,” said Cheryl Matherly, Vice President and Vice Provost for International Affairs at Lehigh. “These strategic initiatives will guide us in continuing to achieve that vision.”

Each of the four strategic initiatives includes specific, actionable components that will help guide OIA in preparing Lehigh students and other stakeholders to engage the world, address global challenges, and lives of meaning. Those components are listed below.

1) Position Lehigh as a premier destination for the world’s best students

• By leveraging our existing and ever-expanding global networks, we will strengthen our international student recruitment, further solidifying Lehigh’s reputation as a leading destination in the United States for master’s and doctoral education in all disciplines.
• Drawing on our deep knowledge of international student experiences, we will create cutting-edge campus resources that support international student well-being and academic success.
• We will offer all our students internationally-recognized, innovative international education experiences that foster critical thinking about the world’s most pressing global issues.

2) Prepare Lehigh community members to be global learners, citizens, and leaders

• We will introduce incoming students to global learning early in their university experience. Additionally, we will strengthen international student orientations and continue to develop and improve existing programs, like Lehigh Launch and Prelusion.
• Our programmatic offerings will align with the principles of global citizenship and learning about self, other, and world. These programs – such as study abroad, Iacocca internships, Global Village, our United Nations partnership – will facilitate critical reflection and draw connections between learning and action in the world.
• By working with faculty to engage with new teaching methodologies in their classes, we will further integrate global learning into Lehigh’s curriculum.
• We will further the Iacocca Institute’s reputation as a center of excellence for global leadership education.

3) Ensure all students have access to international education experiences

• To increase participation among students traditionally underrepresented in education abroad, we will strengthen our outreach with internal and external partners to mentor students for high-impact learning experiences.
• We will expand scholarships to ensure all students have the resources necessary to participate in an international program at Lehigh.
• We will expand financial resources to provide emergency support for international students and scholars.

4) Expand resources that advance the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge

• We will develop the India Gateway Initiative to facilitate resources for new partnerships, research, and recruitment.
• In alignment with university strategic priorities, we will expand and deepen international partnerships to advance innovations in teaching and research.
• Enlisting Lehigh’s global expertise, we will strengthen Lehigh Valley’s economic development and ability to serve its growing international populations.