Editor’s Note: This is the first story in a series of stories highlighting International Education and celebrating a decade of programing, events, and student success.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When Yun Shi, the director of International Education (IE) at the University of Urbana-Champaign, was a first-time international student in the United States, she had a dream.
She wanted to help students who shared similar experiences by providing them with resources, support, and a home-away-from-home when they needed it the most, something she did not necessarily have when she was a first-time international student.
Now, 24 years later, she is living that dream through her work at International Education. “
I just think it’s very beautiful to serve on this campus with so many international students and domestic students who are interested in learning and we need to provide that space for them,” Shi said. “I feel like I’m living my dream. This is what I want to do.”
For the last decade, Shi and countless other collaborators, staff, faculty, and alumni poured their souls into creating a safe space where current students from all backgrounds and countries can feel empowered.
For 10 years, International Education has created transformative experiences and memories for domestic and international students alike and has given them the structure and base they needed to become future leaders that approach life with a global perspective.
IE has contributed to numerous success stories, and during the 2024-2025 academic year the unit will honor the programs, events, and stories that led to success when it celebrates its 10-year anniversary.
A Short History
International Education is a unit under Student Success, Inclusion, & Belonging (SSIB) in Student Affairs at Illinois. It was founded in 2014 as “International Education Program (IEP),” was housed in the Asian American Cultural Center, and was created out of necessity.
A focus group study conducted around 2012 identified several key areas where the university could help “integrate” international students into American culture and navigate campus life to help them be successful.
According to this study, Illinois saw “a dramatic increase from 649 international undergraduate students in 2000 to 4,990 in 2013, which represents a 670% increase.”
As a result, the university deemed it critical to support this growing international student population and encourage positive academic and personal experiences. So, the IEP was created as a support system for this new growing population.
Since then, the unit changed its name and adapted the mission and vision to new perspectives and strategic goals over the years that better align with the university’s updated strategic plan.
For example, Shi said “integrate” was the term used at the time when IEP was developed, but no longer accurately captures its vision, mission, or goals today.
Currently, International Education’s mission is to embrace world and global perspectives, engage international and domestic students, and empower all students with global learning opportunities through co-curricular activities and programs.
Similarly, IE’s vision is to provide a transformative learning experience to nurture world citizens and future leaders in local and global contexts.
Empowering Students
Shi was hired in 2014 and immediately got to work creating and implementing programs and events that would bring people from all different areas to “encounter the difference to make a difference,” (adapted from Larry A. Braskamp, 2012).
And in 2019, Shi said a team in Student Affairs replicated the original focus-group study because they wanted to investigate whether the unit and its programs were fulfilling the intended purpose.
They found that mental health and wellness was an emerging area of focus. This led to additional programming that would accommodate the needs of students, needs that went beyond just acclimating to campus life.
This is where IE began to reorganize itself and adapt to new trends. Now, Shi said what they are doing is adding programs and events to support this need for a sense of belonging and well-being.
The new study was also one of the driving forces behind changing the initial vision and mission statement of IE.
Shi said their new approach not only sets strategic goals to help students succeed and cultivate a globally minded workforce but it also emphasizes empowering students through teachable moments.
Shi said although it does not look like traditional teaching, they still are providing every day, informal, peer-to-peer education where students share their culture, stories, and experiences and find common ground.
“How do we empower students’ voice? By hearing the students’ perspective, which brings to a lot of knowledge and perspectives that everybody can learn,” Shi said.
Embracing Global Perspectives
Contrary to what might be assumed, International Education is not just for international students.
Shi said that IE has adapted to promote a successful, globally conscious generation by incorporating the needs of both domestic and international students.
“I’ve said it many times, when people hear international education they say, ‘Oh, you’re just supporting international students.’ However, it doesn’t matter what field you’re in, what your major is, you will be working with somebody who may look different, speak a different language, whose thinking process is different, whose problem-solving technique is different,” Shi said. “We want to bring this synergy…and domestic students is a big part of that.”
Shi said the programs and events IE offers are for the entire campus community regardless of where someone is from because everyone should have access to a vast array of global perspectives and develop cross-cultural competencies.
This in turn leads to synergy in professional and personal settings.
Students engage with each other and learn from each other when participating in IE events and Shi said by embracing the world’s many cultures, Illinois students enhance their global perspective.
“That is a strategic goal for the university to create our next work force with a global perspective,” Shi said.
