F-ILR Connections newsletter revised final mechs.indd - ILR School ...

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Feature Article Everything International Is Local; Everything Local Is International With the amount of international research and activities the ILR School has undertaken in the past few years, it would be easy to rest on our laurels. But, like the expanding world of work, ILR’s involvement with the world is growing, and intentionally so. It is not because of popular research fields or calculations of where the most grant money can be obtained, but out of the conscious efforts of a faculty and administration that recognize, increasingly, that the local workplace is also a global workplace, and vice versa. A recent information-sharing gathering at the School devoted entirely to ILR’s international efforts was illustrative of the wide variety of current ILR international relationships and projects. The meeting had 34 participants, including faculty and staff from New York City, Buffalo, and Ithaca, many of whom are members of the School’s International Programs Committee (see sidebar, p. 6). The meeting, convened by the School’s Resident Extension Collaboration team, was one of several steps designed to generate ideas for enhanced collaboration across divisions, departments, and units. It was a successful start to a series of intellectual exchanges that will take place in future months about work in the international arena. It also demonstrated how eager faculty, staff, and students are to push the geographic boundaries of their work. Now they have support, in the form of ILR International Programs. Not a department or an institute by standard definition, ILR International Programs is a committee-driven group of ILR faculty and staff members who have joined forces with the School’s administration to refine the integration of international dimensions into teaching and research at ILR. Current initiatives include efforts to promote international research and exchange opportunities; expand opportunities for students’ international education; develop international institutional partnerships; organize international conferences; and publicize international activities, including faculty research. These activities carry the ultimate goal of expanding every student’s international experience and perspective, and to stretching ILR’s public service reach on workplace-related matters. In fall 2002, in an effort to redefine ILR’s core mission of advancing the world of work in a global context, Dean Lawler asked the faculty to form a committee to facilitate international work and connections. The committee came together under Maria Cook’s leadership and has been at task for two years. Committee members are determined that a critical element to ILR’s goal of remaining a leader in the field as we expand into the international arena is to promote the understanding of what we are currently doing and to learn from each other. By encouraging discussion and sharing information, the committee hopes to facilitate dialogue and international collaboration. One of the committee’s first initiatives involved alerting colleagues and friends to internationally focused research and outreach projects already in place or being planned. Other goals are to better coordinate resources and use them more wisely; take advantage of various synergies without stifling creativity; think about how we use extension to marry research and practice and to improve on this collaboration; examine increased possibilities for international institutional exchanges; develop internship and placement possibilities; and establish a permanent place to work, discuss, and study these issues. The committee is intent on defining how best to serve our friends and colleagues in ILR and other campus entities as well as our external, international clients. Equally important is an examination of how we can better educate and prepare our students to be international citizens in their personal and professional lives. Encouraging a refined global perspective is critical to our goal of keeping ILR in the forefront of workplace issues and the leader in its field. Trade and globalization are two of the largest standard areas of study in the international arena. As many 4 ■ ILR Connections/Fall 2004 www.ilr.cornell.edu
students are learning from ILR faculty, however, almost any area of research can be examined in a global context, including labor movements, conflict resolution, human rights, labor law, HR practices, social justice, labor economics, and immigration policy. Though we traditionally think of these subjects within the frame of our own society, the United States is not an isolated entity. In recognition of this fact, ILR Extension, traditionally viewed as the “grassroots” side of ILR, out in the world and getting things done, has expanded its reach to include activities that extend across the nation and around the world. Sean Sweeney, senior extension associate, is a prime example of combining global with local (see sidebar, p. 6). Using his experience working in a British factory as a reference point, his research focuses on the international labor movement and how the U.S. labor movement’s actions affect it. In fact, ILR faculty and staff are conducting international research in each area listed above, and more. The breadth of possibilities housed under one roof illustrates ILR’s unique capacity to be a key force in advancing the world of work in the international arena. There are so many possibilities, in fact, that the extent of this capacity may not yet be fully understood. What is clear is that the way students are taught to approach the world of work is particularly relevant. As students move increasingly between countries, cultures, and corporate environments, their touchstone will be their problem-solving and reasoning processes, the core of their ILR education. This current drive to enhance students’ global experience is not unique to ILR or Cornell. President Jeffrey Lehman has indicated a desire to internationalize Cornell, and there is a similar international committee at the university level. In July, President Lehman traveled to China, Hong Kong, and India to bolster academic relations between Cornell and major institutions in these countries. Harvard’s curriculum review in recent weeks listed as a goal to expand every student’s international experience. ILR hasn’t yet gone so far as to advise every incoming student to have a passport, but increasingly ILR students are living and studying abroad. International internships are very important to ILR. They can transform a student’s vision. Travel expense can often be a limiting factor for our students who wish to study abroad. Tuition during study abroad can be a tremendous hardship and ultimately a deterrent for students who budget for (and whose tuition assistance is based on) state tuition fees but must pay the same rate as students in the endowed colleges for their study abroad. No cost differential is incorporated into the program, so the jump in cost for ILR students can be a difficult hurdle. Financial support will necessarily need to expand to make it possible for all of our students to have an international experience. International students face additional, special challenges, which is an area of concern to ILR’s International Programs Committee. Students seeking positions after they graduate increasingly are being affected by visa requirements. International programming will be a major focus for ILR in the coming months and years and in the upcoming university campaign. ILR’s goal is to permanently endow developing programs in the arena of international/global education and internships research, including initiatives for the Institute on International/Global Workplace; implementing a memorandum of understanding with the International Labour Organization (ILO); the ILR in Geneva Program (including course development, undergraduate internships, and research); forging formal relationships with several foreign universities; and funding international research expenses for faculty and students. Clearly, the School is uniquely equipped to take advantage of opportunities to advance the world of work globally. Just as clearly, the total of ILR’s coordinated efforts at research, teaching, and extension programming around the world will be greater than the sum of its parts, as these three critical elements combine to form one ILR compound on international issues. For more information on ILR’s burgeoning international programs visit www.ilr.cornell.edu/international/ or contact Chris Crooker, director, ILR Alumni Affairs and Development, at 607-255-5827 or cec23@cornell.edu; or Robin Remick, managing director, ILR International Programs, at 607-254-2950 or rjr4@cornell.edu. ■ • Ithaca, New York outreach projects global workplace www.ilr.cornell.edu ILR Connections/Fall 2004 ■ 5
Page 1 and 2: ILRCONNECTIONS A publication for al
Page 3 and 4: Faculty Spotlight Getting Off the E
Page 5: Inside the Classroom Globalization
Page 10 and 11: International Projects France Indus
Page 12 and 13: The ILR School and the ILO: Researc
Page 14 and 15: ILR C e l e b r a t i o n Our award
Page 16 and 17: Study of NYC Firefighters Shows Eff
Page 18 and 19: Cornell Tradition Fellows Frederick
Page 20 and 21: Students in the Spotlight Jack Cogn
Page 22 and 23: ILR Alumni Across the Globe • •
Page 24 and 25: Alumni Profile Louisa J. (Jane) Hay
Page 26 and 27: ILR Connections Secure Internationa

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