Three members of the Fredonia community – Dr. Iclal Vanwesenbeeck, Caitlin Monan, ’17, and Dr. Tracy Stenger – received Global Initiative Awards, a new honor established by the Office of International Education to recognize a faculty member, staff member and student who have made great strides to internationalize the campus.
Recipients were announced at the International Education Commencement ceremony held in Rosch Recital Hall at the end of the spring semester.
Department of English Associate Professor Vanwesenbeeck has shown a true passion for global education in all areas of her work and teaching at Fredonia. Her classes are infused with an international perspective and students achieve at a high level of cultural awareness and perspective through her teaching.
“They had an awareness of different cultural perspectives, that is, to be aware that they were seeing and judging the world through one set of cultural assumptions and to appreciate that others see the world in a different way,” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Terry Brown said of Dr. Vanwesenbeeck’s students at the ceremony. “This encapsulates what Fredonia is trying to accomplish with its internationalization efforts.”
Vanwesenbeeck is respected by students and colleagues for her work in offering dynamic study abroad programs and cultural programming to the campus, Provost Brown added.
Dr. Stenger, in addition to being a constant advocate for student health and well-being at the Counseling Center, has proven to be a true partner for global education, serving on a number of committees and initiatives aimed at internationalization. During the spring semester, Stenger participated in an exchange program in Anadolou, Turkey, to share best practices in counseling with Turkish colleagues and students.
“Those who work with Tracy know that she is a dedicated and compassionate member of Fredonia’s campus. As director of the Counseling Center, she is a constant advocate for student health and well-being,” said Naomi Baldwin, director of International Education.
Ms. Monan, an International Studies major from West Seneca, was involved with the Office of International Education for two years. She studied abroad in Vietnam in the winter of 2017 and Chile in the fall of 2015, shared those experiences with classmates and also worked on behalf of various organizations throughout the world.
In her final semester at Fredonia, Monan interned with International Education as the lead Study Abroad ambassador and developed professional and leadership skills that she hopes to utilize in a career in international education and study abroad.
Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services Cedric Howard said Fredonia is lucky to have many students who are extremely dedicated to international education. “These students work hard to make the campus a more kind, inclusive community and to also share their global experiences with each other. All of our student nominees proved to be exceptionally passionate about bringing awareness of the world beyond Fredonia to this campus,” Dr. Howard said.
Nominations for the Global Initiative Award will open in the spring semester. Winners will be announced at the International Education Commencement gathering on May 18, 2018.
