Program Administrator for Special Initiatives, Texas Global
University of Texas at Austin, USA
Lena Suk
Global Virtual Exchange: Faculty Development, Student-Access, and Sustainable Partnerships
Texas Global at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) launched the Global Virtual Exchange initiative to lead and facilitate transformative online connections between UT Austin students and faculty, and their colleagues around the world. Texas Global supports course development and implementation for UT Austin faculty and their international partners to design engaging, digital learning activities that align with the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) model. This presentation provides an overview of the Global Virtual Exchange initiative and outlines the recent innovations in vision and structure, which build upon an initial program concept that began in 2016. Examining the significant impact of these innovations on the faculty, students, and the institution, the presentation demonstrates the value of Global Virtual Exchange within campus internationalization.
Dr. Lena Suk serves as program administrator for the Special Initiatives unit of Texas Global at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Suk manages campus internationalization initiatives including Global Virtual Exchange and faculty grant programs. Before joining Texas Global, Dr. Suk earned a Ph.D. in history from Emory University and was an assistant professor of Latin American history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Dr. Suk is published in the Journal of Social History and Latin American Research Review. Her research on gender and popular culture in Brazil has received support from the Mellon Foundation and U.S. Fulbright program.