photo by: Mike Yoder

University of Kansas Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara Bichelmeyer speaks during an interview March 4, 2020.

The University of Kansas is launching a new institute that aims to highlight and coordinate all aspects of its international operations, ranging from study abroad to overseas research collaborations.

In a message to the university community on Thursday, KU Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer said the university will launch the KU Institute for International and Global Engagement.

“The Center for International and Global Engagement will allow us to better align the significant resources we have at KU Lawrence-Edwards as we engage with our partners across the state, region, nation and world to bridge language, cultural and geographic divides as we address global challenges,” Bichelmeyer said in the message.

KU has multiple “area centers” that study and teach about various geographic areas of the world. Those include the Center for East Asian Studies, Center for Global & International Studies, Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies and Kansas African Studies Center.

In addition, KU has one of the larger study abroad programs in the country, ranking 24th out of 137 top research universities for the number of students who study abroad as part of their degrees.

But Bichelmeyer said the university is lacking a structure that ensures KU is connecting its various international efforts in a way that best benefits the university and students. The new institute will focus on four key areas: curriculum, research, international operations and international engagement.

KU expects to staff the center with a half-time executive director who will be a faculty member of the university, along with half-time directors for the five area study centers. Those all will be faculty members. In addition, KU plans to hire two full-time staff positions that will focus on research and community engagement.

KU plans to use some money from the provost’s budget to create the new center, along with existing federal funding the university receives through its National Resource Center designations, which are tied to KU’s extensive teaching programs related to foreign languages. By some metrics, KU is ranked as having the seventh most National Resource Centers of any U.S. university because of its emphasis on foreign language programs.

KU didn’t provide a total budget for the new institute, but did say it also would use existing funding that supports the five area centers to help operate the institute.

Some details of the institute weren’t immediately available, such as when it will begin operations and when KU expects to fill the institute’s leadership positions.

The announcement of the new institute comes as KU starts to implement its new strategic plan, Jayhawks Rising. That plan calls for KU to expand its reach to global communities, with a particular emphasis on broadening KU’s research operations beyond Kansas.

Bichelmeyer said the new institute will solidify “KU’s reputation as a leader in international and global engagement.” She said it also could be beneficial to Kansas’ broader economy, as the institute is expected to develop partnerships with overseas industries, foreign educational institutions and international KU alumni.

The new institute also comes at a time when KU, like many other universities across the country, is trying to increase international enrollment totals after the pandemic and political factors have reduced enrollments from recent highs.

On its Lawrence campus and Edwards Campus in Johnson County, KU had 1,723 international students enrolled. That’s an increase of about 50 students since 2020, but prior to that KU had seen five consecutive years of international enrollment declines on the campuses. KU’s 2021 international enrollment number is down nearly 30% compared to its recent high of 2,363 international students in 2015.