By Rory Dulock | Staff Writer
Baylor’s Center for Global Engagement houses a variety of programs, including International Student and Scholar Services, study abroad and Global Gateway. Each department offers services that are uniquely catered to students’ needs and interests.
Mark Bryant, director of International Student and Scholar Services, said the program has several initiatives.
“We collaborate among ourselves and with other offices on campus to do all kinds of programming, to highlight international education, international opportunities for students and for faculty,” Bryant said. “We work with international scholars that come to campus from other universities — short-term and long-term scholars.”
However, Bryant said one of the program’s main roles is assisting international students preparing to come to Baylor, such as helping them get the right documents.
“We have a regulatory role in that most of us in the [International Student and Scholar Services] part of the office have gone through training, and then we have been vetted by the U.S. government to basically look at students’ documents and information and then give them the government forms on behalf of Baylor so that they can then use a visa to come,” Bryant said.
Bryant said another important role of the program is providing support to international students when they first arrive on campus.
“We take them shopping so that they can buy what they need, help them get checked in, help them get ID cards,” Bryant said. “For the first couple of days, we do programs where they can talk to people from banks, talk to the Metrobus transit, talk to people from different offices on campus so that they are aware of the different resources that we have.”
In addition, Bryant said International Student and Scholar Services holds events throughout the academic year and partners with other offices to provide everything from cultural experiences to job-hunting workshops.
“We’ve also collaborated with Baylor Counseling Office to help our students that are going through some struggles with transitioning to a new culture and what that’s like and anxiety, frustrations,” Bryant said. “[We’re also] always working with folks in Campus Living and Learning.”
Meanwhile, Holly Joyner, assistant director for marketing and communications for the Center for Global Engagement, said the center is the hub for study abroad while also featuring Global Gateway.
“[Global Gateway] is for students who are international students, but they didn’t quite make the test scores in English to get into Baylor straight, so they sign up for the pathway program,” Joyner said. “They do a little bit more lower-level English classes. So they’re here at Baylor — they’re still here with Baylor professors — but they’re all kind of English language classes. If they pass and get a certain GPA by the end of two semesters or three semesters, depending on their path, then they get pushed into the regular Baylor experience, and then they can graduate just like anybody else.”
Joyner said she encourages students to check out all the opportunities the Center for Global Engagement offers, as well as some of the events that are held throughout the year.
“We also put on something called International Education Week, just so the whole campus kind of comes together in celebration of all things international,” Joyner said. “Our study abroad fair is in two weeks. It’s on Feb. 8 in [the Barfield Drawing Room in the Bill Daniel Student Center] from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. … We hope that all the students will join us.”
