Various flags stand in the UND Multicultural Center. Photo by Chester Beltowski/The Dakota Student.

UND has been actively engaged in research and teaching that includes international dimensions. University faculty at have been pushing the administration to move UND into a more multicultural approach to teaching and learning.

“As educators and as citizens, we at UND understand it is absolutely imperative that our students learn to think and live globally,” UND President Robert Kelley said.

UND has been named one of the universities to serve as a member of the 12th Internationalization Laboratory Cohort of the American Council on Education.

With this position, along with a dozen other universities, UND officials say the school hopes to learn and share information and ways to create a more globalized campus.

Sessions that have been held have members excited to learn new ways to help their universities.

“The leaders of this conference and the participants from other universities, were clearly focused on improving the learning experience and learning environment for students,” said Associate Vice President for diversity Sandra Mitchell, who participated in the lab sessions. “We all gained valuable insights and innovative ideas about potential methods of helping our students become more globally connected.”

Helping students learn to live and learn more globally is essential for success in today’s world, UND official said.

Having the skills to live and think on a global scale will help set UND graduates above everyone else, they added.

UND will participate in the cohort for the next 20 months. In the time frame, administrators say they hope to develop new ways to help instructors provide students with new teaching and learning techniques.

UND officials hope by participating students can learn new techniques to help advance themselves and the campus.

Parker Payne is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].