Ouachita is hosting the 29th annual meeting of the Consortium for Global Education this week. The annual meeting began yesterday, September 14, and will continue through Friday, September 16.
The Consortium for Global Education is a non-profit global organization for American private Christian universities that supports global development in education. At the annual meeting, representatives of member campuses will be able to attend lectures and addresses on international education programs. The meeting will also allow member campuses and partner institutions to provide updates on new programs or information they would like to share regarding international education.
The consortium provides a formal structure through which members may help and inform each other regarding their international education enterprises. Ouachita’s membership in the consortium provides access to up-to-date information on global academic issues. The organization also provides access to international universities seeking to form relationships with American universities.
There are currently 34 members of the CGE and seven affiliate members. Representatives from each member campus are expected to attend the meeting, and about 150 representatives are expected to attend in total.
This year’s annual meeting is significant because it celebrates the 30th anniversary of the consortium’s founding. Ouachita has had a relationship with the organization since it was founded, as former Ouachita president Dr. Daniel Grant spent a decade after his retirement from Ouachita as executive director of the CGE.
“We have always been involved with the organization, and several of our presidents have served as chairperson of the organization,” said Ian Cosh, Ouachita’s vice president for community and international engagement and member of the consortium’s board of directors. “This is a very important part of Ouachita’s legacy.”
Yesterday’s events included a tour of campus for international guests, a forum on turning expertise into global opportunities and a welcome address from Ouachita president Dr. Ben Sells. Today, the meeting will provide several workshops and lectures on topics ranging from faculty involvement overseas to recruiting students abroad. A keynote address from Cambodian parliament member H.E. Nhem Thavy Thursday morning will explore the topic of schools in rural Cambodia and baseball as a door-opener sport, and is expected to be a highlight of the meeting. Thursday night, a keynote address from Dr. Joshua Walker will discuss the CGE’s responsibility as a global voice. Walker currently serves as Vice-President of Global Programs at APCO Worldwide, a leading strategic communications firm and is passionate about global affairs, specializing in the Middle East and East Asia.
“(Walker) is very knowledgeable about how, at governmental levels, these things work, and I think he’ll be a very interesting speaker,” Cosh said.
Events on Friday will include various workshops, lectures and addresses. In these lectures, attendees will hear from representatives from universities in Myanmar, Lithuania, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Middle East, as well as national leaders from Cambodia, Russia and Korea.
Cosh believes that serving as host for the meeting will be beneficial for Ouachita, as Ouachita’s relationship with the organization is so long-standing and several prominent leaders from the consortium will be on campus for the meeting. The organization has been involved with Ouachita’s Grant Center for International Education since the CGE’s founding, particularly with its deep commitment to global education specifically within Christian universities.
“There’s also a deep commitment here to the Great Commission and using education as a vehicle to proclaim the Gospel,” Cosh said. “When a professor or a student goes to a country, as Christian men and women, we hope that they would be faithful to the faith. So it’s not only an educational organization; it is an organization that understands that we are involved in the missions enterprise as well.”
To learn more about the Consortium for Global Education and its annual meeting, visit www.cgedu.org.
– By Katie Kemp, News Editor
