I

Michigan State University is a university not only for the people of Michigan but also for the world. John Hannah, MSU's twelfth president, articulated this vision in the middle of the twentieth century. As an institution we now have well over half a century of international education and research experience, extensive work abroad on every continent and in most of the world's countries, and more than 25,000 international alumni. Nearly 3,500 international students and scholars make MSU their home annually, and 1,600 MSU students study abroad each year. Our goal is that this number will increase to more than 2,500 annually by 2006.

MSU's twenty-five internationally focused area study centers, thematic institutes, and offices housed throughout the campus, many within the colleges, lead and support MSU's international activity (see the inside back cover of this publication). Many hundreds of MSU's faculty and their colleges and departments work individually and collectively to define and implement MSU's international efforts. The centers, institutes, and offices of International Studies and Programs (ISP) provide leadership, support, and coordination for our many international efforts.

As we approach the close of the twentieth century, local society is affected increasingly by social, economic, cultural, and demographic processes that cross national boundaries and cause domestic and international concerns to merge. Although global forces are mediated by local practices and beliefs, globalization also reshapes cultural and institutional boundaries and intensifies interactions worldwide.

This reaffirms the importance of area and regional scholarship but challenges practitioners to "cross borders" in knowledge and understanding and apply interdisciplinary approaches to deal with problems and opportunities. It also requires that MSU update its land-grant philosophy and mission.

We believe that at the start of the twenty-first century all MSU students, faculty, staff, and other clientele should have broad opportunities to become globally competent and experienced, capable of collaborating with colleagues and clients at home and abroad, and able to operate effectively in a global environment. Globally informed content should be integrated into the vast majority of courses and curricula and comparative and global perspectives integrated into the research and projects of our faculty. The benefits of cross-cultural and comparative understanding should be extended through outreach programs that provide learning and professional development opportunities to Michigan citizens, businesses, and public officials throughout the state, and to others beyond state boundaries.

This, then, is our challenge and our vision for an MSU of international distinction and a land-grant institution in the twenty-first century. As we conclude a strategic planning process that began nearly two years ago in International Studies and Programs at MSU, we move to install the next generation of MSU international efforts to achieve our vision. Subsequent issues of MSU International will highlight our new directions, as well as underscore our existing strengths.

—John K. Hudzik, Dean