With an interconnected planet, the future of higher education points to the internationalization of students.  UW-La Crosse welcomed well-decorated, culturally diverse scholar Dr. Lixian Jin and her influential outlook on campus to implement cultural awareness.

The Centennial Hall of Nations was lined with a colorful collage of more than 35 international flags represented at UW-L as Jin prepared her presentations for students and faculty. For Jin, spreading her knowledge of cultural awareness has become muscle memory.

Currently the Chair and Professor of Linguistics and Intercultural Learning and also the Director of the Center for Research in Intercultural Communication at DeMontFort University, she has over 30 years of intercultural experience. Her approach throughout her 100-plus publications has remained concrete: to implement teaching and learning in a globalized education era, with awareness of cultural preferences. When awareness is incorporated into teaching and learning, it gives the opportunity for success, along with the students who bring it, to span continents.

“Internationalization is a way forward for the development of the university and everyone in and around it,” Jin stated. “By giving support, we can create a much better future for our planet.”

Her research has impacted English education practices in China, and she hopes to see continued collaboration between universities. Statistically, the U.S. is the number one choice for students worldwide, teaching 17 percent of all international students. Jin said she is in awe at the size and space of the university’s facilities and thinks UW-L has the building blocks to be completely internationalized.

“You have the hardware, you just need some software to engineer it,” Jin said.

This “software” Jin speaks of is being optimized at UW-L. Fred Pierce, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management and newly appointed Interim Director of International Education, has high hopes for the future. UW-L has 321 international students, a number that Pierce wants to increase to roughly 600 in the coming years. In order to do this, the institution is rebranding themselves while changing the look and feel to resonate in different markets.

“We’re rethinking everything we’re doing here so we can enhance international education on campus,” Pierce said. “Stretching yourself intellectually and culturally enhances your skill set so much.”

UW-L senior Wei Yi knows first-hand the challenges of being an international student. Wei travelled to UW-L from Hechi, a city in southern China. She’s an English Major, and she elaborated on the obstacles she deemed necessary to overcome as an international student.  The language barrier and adaptation to U.S. education topped her list.

“In China, our class discussion doesn’t have any free talk. We just sit in front of the teacher and take notes,” Wei said, and further spoke about the “open” aspect of American education, “It’s the American style. It’s why lots of international students prefer to study abroad.”

Internationalization is Jin’s main focus, and to keep the gold standard of higher education in American, the focus is shifting towards ways to create a more adapted internationalized student body.