As the holiday season hits full stride you are probably wondering items make it to the top of an international educator’s wish list. This new year brings some renewed optimism after a long, depressing year.  With the COVID-19 vaccine already in circulation on the darkest, shortest day of the year, it’s hard to repress a feeling of genuine hope that things can only improve from this day forward. This sense of optimism is reflected in a 3 Wish wish list I’ve created as a means of moving forward from the dark past of 2020 and into our post-pandemic global village in 2021. Happy New Year, everyone!

1. Authentic Campus Support for Global Education – At this point in the pandemic it’s incredibly hard to deny the global interconnectedness in our world, that international educators have been speaking about for years. Now is the time to revisit strategic plans as well as accreditation goals and integrate global education at all levels of the academy.  Global interconnectedness impacts not just the curriculum, but also the faculty division, student affairs/student life, administration, athletics, and the surrounding off-campus community.
   
2. Shiny New Mindset – Intercultural communication is a vital skill needed by students, faculty and staff to meaningfully and respectfully interact with each other every single day. This skill should be measured, assessed and developed with every campus population and hand-in-hand with diversity, equity and inclusion training. We need to move past the mindset that intercultural communication only happens when traveling in a foreign country.  We need to create and develop global skills for local impact. 

3. Money – Global education is grossly underfunded at most universities. Funds should be made available for passports, travel stipends and scholarships for students and faculty/staff. Now is the time for all levels of our higher education institutions to be multilingual and culturally fluent.  Creative funding opportunities that bring campus areas together under similar focal points should be supported, such as community engagement stipends that allow students to gain global skills and then apply them in to the local community.