Salve Regina receives one of eight international Innovation Fund awards

Pictured from left: Hope Vaughn ’19, Elizabeth Maher ’19, David Hodge (U.S. Department of State), Matt Clausen (100,000 Strong in the Americas), Erin FitzGerald, Dr. James Mitchell, Christopher Nova ’17 and Maggie Hug (100,000 Strong in the Americas).

In recognition of a new minor in Spanish tailored to students in the health and service majors, Salve Regina was one of eight universities in the Western Hemisphere to be honored with a “100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund Award” for promoting transnational institutional partnerships.

The winners, which include institutions from the U.S., Colombia, Mexico and Canada, were announced by the White House, U.S. Department of State, Partners of the Americas and NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

This is the third round of four grant competitions, which is supported by Santander Bank through Santander Universities. The competition was open to higher education institutions in all countries throughout the Western Hemisphere and to all fields of study.

In addition to Salve Regina, winners of the $25,000 grants include: Universidad EAN, Colombia; Universidad Tecnologica de Tijuana, Mexico; Vancouver Island University, Canada; College of Staten Island, CUNY, New York; Louisiana State University, Louisiana; Marian University, Indiana; and Towson University, Maryland.

The winning institutions are creating new and innovative partnerships that will increase student mobility to and from Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States. The goal of 100,000 Strong in the Americas, President Obama’s signature education initiative in the Western Hemisphere, is to increase the number of U.S. students studying annually in the Western Hemisphere to 100,000, and the number of Western Hemisphere students studying in the United States to 100,000 annually by the year 2020. The initiative is aimed at enhancing hemispheric competitiveness, increasing prosperity and preparing a more globally competent workforce.

Salve Regina’s Initiative

Salve Regina’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Office of International Programs worked in partnership with the Council on International Educational Exchange and Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra to develop a new minor in Spanish to incorporate a required six-credit, eight-week summer study and service program in the Dominican Republic.

“This minor, by developing students’ Spanish language skills and knowledge of Hispanic Caribbean cultures, will prepare students graduating from four of Salve Regina’s largest academic majors to better serve the local populations in Rhode Island, southern New England and other metropolitan areas nationally,” said Dr. James Mitchell, associate professor and chairman of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages. “The program is targeted at students majoring in nursing, social work, administration of justice and health care administration.”

“By focusing on majors which traditionally have a curricular barrier to semester study abroad and offering a cost-effective purposeful summer option for immersive study abroad, we will achieve a substantial increase in our institution’s mobility rates to the Western Hemisphere and put in place an infrastructure for continuous growth in mobility from these majors to this region in subsequent years,” said Erin FitzGerald, director of international programs.