I stopped by the Oregon Board of Higher Education meeting at Portland State University today (6/5/09). I was there for only about one hour. In between meetings, I spoke with three board members. I just reminded one that Oregon needed more Mandarin fluent graduates. He remembered me. With the other two, I had a short discussion. Both, at first, tried to pass off responsibility for expanding Mandarin programs to the University presidents. I said I had spoken, written and emailed to most of them repeatedly. They had done nothing. Both said there was little they could do from the Board level. This is, of course, nonsense. At the least, the Board could show interest, could ask for a report on the number and Mandarin fluency level of graduates across the Oregon University System, and could ask for ideas on how to expand Mandarin programs and enrollment. I tried to remind these board members that they had the responsibility, and that just because Oregon was having economic and budget problems, the world did not stop changing.
I also spoke with one university administrator from the University of Oregon. He reported that they were in the early stages of rethinking the liberal arts program, that they might shift from a goal of producing “Oregon citizens” to producing “global citizens,” and that study abroad might become a routine part of the academic program.
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