Together with Dr. Ron Williams, CSU associate provost, at the 2023 Fulbright Top-Producers' Reception in Washington, DC (21 February 2023)

CSU Global

Global Engagement

I am the Executive Director of Columbus State's Center for Global Engagement (CGE), where I serve as the Mildred Miller Fort Foundation Eminent Scholar and Chair of International Education. I am the SIO (senior international officer) at the University and oversee:

Education Abroad Programs
The Spencer House (CSU Education Abroad Site in Oxford, England)
International Student & Scholar Services
International Admissions
International Learning Community (co-curricular program on the CSU campus)
International Risk Assessment and Safety Abroad

Spencer House UK

I serve as the academic head of the Spencer House in Oxford, England. CSU students study at Regent's Park College, St. Anne's College, and St. Catherine's College and The University of Oxford as well as at Oxford Brookes University. I also direct CSU's summer programs at the Spencer House. Students reside in a living and learning community at the Spencer House. The Spencer House was gifted to CSU by Mr. and Mrs. J. Kyle Spencer in 2002.

The Spencer House is considered Columbus State's signature study abroad program center, which hosts approximately 50 students and 10-12 academic staff and faculty per year. Learn more about the Spencer House.

Dateline: Château de Pourtalès, France (September 2023)

The CEPA Foundation (501c3) Academic Advisory Board met on 21-23 September at the Château de Pourtalès in Strasbourg, France. As a member of this board, I worked with a team of academics to review CEPA's semester programs in Strasbourg and service-learning programs in Guatemala and Costa Rica. Based in Strasbourg, the European Studies Center at the Château serves as the study abroad host for Columbus State University's students. The Château is located near the European Parliament, the Counsel of Europe, and the European Court of Human Rights. Learn more about the European Studies Center.

Guatemala (January 2023)

Through a partnership with Columbus State University, Rotary International, CEPA Foundation, and the NGO, FUNCOLI (Free Hearts Association), I am participating in a global grant to provide fuel-efficient stoves with chimneys to families in the village of Vuelta Grande.

Mothers in the village spend hours inhaling smoke while they prepare food on indoor pits dug into the dirt floors. They and their children develop respiratory diseases, skin irritations, and early cataract disease. The newer rocket stoves provide a safe alternative that also reduces deforestation, erosion, and drought.

My students and I install the stoves through a CSU international service-learning project supported by the Mildred Miller Fort Foundation. In addition, my colleague, Dr. Allen Gee, and his students are support by the Donald Joran endowment to participate in this project.

20th Anniversary in Oxford

Columbus State University celebrates its twentieth anniversary of academic programming at the Spencer House and with The University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University.
Mr. J. Kyle Spencer originally supported faculty and students through the UC Berkley Summer School at Merton College. In 2002, he donated an Edwardian home to Columbus State University so its students could enroll at Greyfriars College. The following year, CSU students lived and studied at the Spencer House. When Greyfriars closed, CSU students were partnered with Regent's Park College. Today, CSU students can study at Regent's Park, St. Anne's, and St. Catherine's colleges as well as participate in a student exchange program at Oxford Brookes University.
A celebration for this anniversary is planned in Columbus, GA on 12th April 2023. Another one is scheduled in Oxford for late May 2023.

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