Cynthia Jayne began teaching Spanish at Union 27 years ago; today she heads up the university�s international efforts under the Institute for International and Intercultural Studies.

�About eight to 10 years ago, we began looking at the globalization of the campus,� Jayne said. �We evaluated our current status and formed a committee to make recommendations. One of them was that someone be appointed to take on global issues.�

Jayne was that someone. Today she oversees undergraduate and graduate programs in intercultural studies, an international studies program that sends faculty and students around the world and courses to help transition international and third culture students to the United States.

Third culture students include children of missionaries and others with overseas working assignments. Those students grow up in American homes, live in a foreign culture and then are sent �back home� to college, where they often understand little about trends, current slang or even common experiences like going to the mall.

Jayne holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Louisiana State University and did additional study at Vanderbilt University, the University of Kentucky and the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication.

She says her first priority was to get the campus to think globally.

�We examined how to get faculty and students involved in international studies,� Jayne said. �We asked faculty to look at the study opportunities overseas and see how they could work them into existing curricula.�

Currently, Union is directly involved with programs in Austria, Morocco, China, Spain, France, Tunisia, Syria, Honduras and Thailand. In addition, the institute coordinates other study opportunities for students outside the confines of the traditional campus experience. Students also are invited to submit proposals for their own study abroad programs in settings of their choice.

To help accomplish its goals, the university joined forces with the Consortium for Global Education (CGE), an organization that has established about 300 relationships with educational institutions in 80 countries.

�The CGE is a consortium of approximately 50 colleges in the U.S. that cooperate in establishing parterships with institutions around the world to provide faculty and student opportunities in all disciplines,� Jayne said. �All of the U.S. institutions are faith-based. They also hold IAP-66 status, which enables us to get visas for visiting faculty.�

Jayne serves on CGE�s executive committee and was president last year.

The next concern addressed intercultural bridging for international and third culture students.

�Both of these groups have issues they don�t even know are issues,� she said. �Moving to the United States and to a college campus presents new challenges for them that they sometimes can�t even name. We help support them as they make the transition.�

One way the institute does that is to offer a course for international students and one for third culture students.

�Both groups have different needs,� she explained. �Class discussions involving students in similar situations bring all kinds of things to light. It�s very encouraging to hear students say �you know, I�m facing the same thing he is.��

The institute also acts as liaison between international students and the federal government to help students comply with immigration regulations.

�The paperwork has definitely become more complicated with SEVIS,� Jayne said. �We just make sure nothing falls between the cracks.� SEVIS is the new Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, a federal internet tracking system that became mandatory last January for institutions who accept international or exchange students.

Next on the agenda was to set up a master of arts program in intercultural studies.

�The master�s degree program started before the undergraduate program,� she said. �We began offering it in San Francisco on the campus of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. Now we also have it in Jackson.�

Both programs have been popular with Americans who either work abroad or want to. Class schedules make it possible for students to travel from other locations to attend lectures. Students complete assignments between meeting times and participate in a five-week ethnographic study in another country.

�Last year, they went to Turkey,� Jayne explained. �Students also have traveled to Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia.�

The success of the graduate program necessitated looking at an undergraduate program. An international studies minor developed into a program in intercultural studies that offers both a major and a minor.

�The program is interdisciplinary,� Jayne said. �Students take a core of courses, then we work with them to do interdisciplinary study. A capstone course helps pull it all together.�

Intercultural studies majors also have an international study experience which they select based on their particular interest area.

But Jayne and the Institute for International and Intercultural Studies aren�t finished yet. The world is getting smaller, she points out, and the opportunities just keep getting bigger.

�There is always more that we can offer our students,� she said. �Our goal is to send out graduates who have that global perspective. That�s important in today�s marketplace.�