Joined by faculty and student speakers, Chancellor Volety spoke at length about the importance of an international presence at the university.
International students add to the diversity and culture of the school, he said. They also serve as local resources for learning about cultures from all over the world.
On the flip side, one of the goals of the university is to send more students to study abroad.
Staff gave comments on their recent trip to India, where they met representatives of the University Grants Commission which is a statutory body set up by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India. It’s charged with coordination, determination, and maintenance of standards of higher education in India.
Dr. Robert Burrus, Dean of Cameron School of Business, shared some of the cultural notes he learned while in India:
"I got corrected by my chancellor, he was like, you really just need to say, chai masala, not marsala. And so you're learning a little bit about the culture. And by the way, when you say chai tea latte, at Starbucks, you're really saying you want a tea, tea latte. It's just really a chai latte that you're talking about," Burrus said.
Burrus also said learning about cultures from all over the world gives students a leg-up in the market.
“Well, first, in the Cameron School of Business, our goal is to create market-ready graduates. And so we want them to have these international competency skills so that they can be better in the marketplace," he said.
In the fall of 2022, UNCW reported an out-of-state population of 20% — which includes students from 18 foreign countries.
