Survey of faculty opinion on international education at Ball State University : an honors thesis (ID 499)

This research was conducted to assess faculty awareness and attitudes toward international education at Ball State University. From a sample of 294, 170 questionnaires were returned producing a 57.48 percent response rate.A variety of areas were identified as being a part of international education. Most faculty believe that Ball State has a policy pertaining to internationalizing education and that university leadership is "somewhat dedicated" to international education. Responses tended to be scattered in regard to whether international education is stressed in the respondents' area of teaching. Faculty interested in international education are more likely to respect faculty involved with international activities. The majority of faculty had heard of and encouraged student participation in the study abroad programs.Nearly all faculty were aware of most of the international activities and events offered at Ball State. Financial burden and teaching load were identified as the two most important factors in preventing faculty from participation in international activities. A majority of the respondents, 74%, were fairly or somewhat satisfied with the level of internationalization of the curriculum at Ball State, while more than half, 52%, believe an international component should be included in degree requirements.The largest number of respondents felt that the strategy to internationalize the curriculum should be infusion by introducing comparative, international and cross-cultural dimensions into pre-existing courses throughout the curriculum. Increased international understanding and increased cultural awareness were considered to be the most important benefits to be gained by faculty. Special travel allowances were ranked as the most important type of incentive for international involvement while salary increases were ranked least important.The university's top leadership needs to be more convincing concerning their dedication to international education and show faculty that international education is a high priority, especially through provision of increased financial support and publicizing of special travel allowances.