Office of Inclusive Excellence

The needs assessment was developed in summer 2014 and administered during fall 2014 to international students studying at CSUMB and CSUMB faculty who work with international students.

Purpose and Goals:

1. To get the “Big Picture”: To get a sense of what the current situation is like for international students at CSUMB--Who are these students? Where are they coming from? What are they majoring in? Why do they come here? What services are offered to them?
2. To get the International Student Perspective: To identify any challenges that students have, particularly with regard to academics and to identify any needs they may have.
3. To get the Faculty Perspective: To identify any challenges that faculty face in working with international students and identify any needs that faculty may have.

Method:

• Online survey for International Students
• Online survey for Faculty
• Faculty Key Informant Interviews
• International Student Focus Groups were planned, marketed, and incentivized, though unfortunately never actualized due to timing and other constraints

Both quantitative and qualitative data sets were analyzed and compiled into the following reports (Full Report and Executive Summary):

This handbook was developed in fall 2014 in anticipation of the continued growth in CSUMB's international student population and with the understanding that CSUMB faculty will soon begin to see more linguistically and culturally diverse groups in their classrooms.

Objective:

To provide faculty with a better understanding of who their international students are and what challenges these students are likely to face. Having a better understanding of this population will help faculty determine how best to help them achieve academic success.

To this end, the handbook also offers suggestions andstrategies for working with multicultural, multilingual, and multinational groups through a discussion of intercultural competence (ICC) andinclusive teaching techniques.

The handbook is divided into four parts and was designed so that the reader can select sections that interest him/her the most; it does not need to be read in sequence or in its entirety.

Part I: introduction to internationalization

• What is internationalization?
• International students in the U.S. &California

Part II: CSUMB international student population

• Where do our international students come from?
• Why are they here?
• What are they majoring in?

Part III: Stepping into someone else's shoes: Understanding variations in culture

• How does culture influence education systems around the world?
• What role do students and teachers play invarious cultures?
• How does culture affect students’ behavior andparticipation in class?

Part IV: The multilingual, multicultural, multinational classroom

• What is intercultural competence? Why does itmatter? How does it relate to CSUMB?
• What are some strategies for implementing culturally-aware inclusive teaching?
• Faculty to Faculty Advice
• Additional Resources

Infographics of the educational systems of different countries: Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Norway, and the U.K. These countries represent the top seven countries of origin of CSUMB international students in fall 2014.

An accessible version of the Country Fast Facts is also available for download in PDF format.