Coastal Carolina University
PA-7: Support for Future Faculty Diversity

Consistent with the University strategic plan to increase global awareness and diversity on the Coastal Carolina University campus has developed an initiative to formalize and professionalize a process to bring qualified faculty members who hold terminal degrees in their fields from international partner schools to teach for short periods of time to offer increased global exposure to the University community and students. Program benefits include but are not limited to: exposing Coastal Carolina University students to a more diverse professorate, with different accents, approaches to teaching and approaches to grading; providing Ph.D. qualified faculty with a proven track record of outstanding teaching at our partner institutions to teach in needed course areas within Coastal Carolina University; building strong bridges that help faculty, staff, students, and administration to better understand programs, culture, and processes in place at partner universities, and that enable cross-fertilization and collaboration in teaching, research, and administrative processes; and enabling a longer-term planning and recruitment horizon to enable faculty of the best quality in partner institutions the ability to plan within their own administrative structures to participate in the program. Academic units are able to request a Visiting International Lecturer or Distinguished International Visiting Lecturer for periods of ½ semester or one full semester. Each VIL or DIVL will also be responsible for delivering at least one public forum on a topic to be agreed upon with their department.

The University regularly supports international visiting faculty who are complementing the educational, research, and service initiatives of the institution. Currently 5 visiting scholars are at CCU, of whom most are engaged in research in partnership with academic units. In addition, CCU sends its faculty to teach in China (10 in 2014 alone) to gain experience and broaden their research network and therefore enhance the diversity of perspectives brought back to CCU.

The University also sends its faculty to participate in prestigious international conferences and has 15 current former Fulbrighters on its campus (two more have just either received awards or been designated Fulbright Specialists) and 8 of CCU’s retired faculty are former Fulbrighters). These prestigious programs also bring expertise to our campus. We have recently also initiated cooperation with the SC Chapter of the Fulbright Association, and Billy Hills (CCU faculty) is now on that board, to bring additional visiting international faculty to CCU on a regular basis at low cost.

The website…Program just rolled out in late February 2015. Information not yet available through website.