International perspective for UMUC graduates is the ability to function in professional roles requiring an appreciation and understanding of the interdependency among all disciplines in the global work place.

Students with international perspective have a geographical and historical basis for understanding the interconnectedness and relevance of world events and contexts, and how the world's work force is interdependent. They appreciate the global nature of their profession, can integrate their professional knowledge into a world context and acquire a theoretical background sufficient to be able to pursue an overseas work opportunity in their profession.

• Speak a foreign language and/or describe in detail the cultural components of a foreign culture other than the United States or their home country.
• Define culture and its subcategories, attitudes, beliefs, and values.
• Define and describe differences in cultures' perceptions of power, individual versus collective identity, gender, and risk taking.
• List the challenges and opportunities of working in a multicultural environment that affect the students' specific discipline.
• Compare and contrast how words can have different meanings in different languages and the barriers language misunderstandings can create in effective global communications.
• Describe how viewing the world only from one's own frame of reference can hinder multicultural communications within organizations.
• List and define the ways an organization and its management can view the world and how that view can hinder or help its international perspective.
• Describe the differences or similarities in worldwide professional practices of the students' field of study.
• List and describe the skills needed to participate as a member or leader of a multi-cultural work team in the students' profession.

• Include content relating to how the discipline is practiced in other countries with emphasis on similarities and differences in practices, if any, and how the differences can be mitigated.
• Include team projects whose members are multicultural. The team project might include the opportunity to practice decision-making skills.
• Include relevant technical skills specific to the discipline that are standard practices in global organizations.
• Include content relating to how the discipline is managed in organizations outside the student's home country, and identify best practices on a global basis.
• Include discussions relating to the importance and benefits of students obtaining an international perspective related to their discipline.
• Incorporate the introductory template International Perspectives WebTycho conference into online courses.
• Develop a lecture module to discuss culture and how it relates to the students' profession. Include the following concepts in the lecture and assessment:
  • Definition of culture
  • Attitudes
  • Beliefs
  • Values
  • Cultural orientations
  • Five dimensions of culture
• Develop a lecture module to discuss issues relating to multicultural communications. Include the following concepts in the lecture and assessment:
  • A linguistics model to describe differences between languages in multiple foreign languages.
  • Challenges that multiple languages may present when collaborating with global workers in the students' discipline.
• Develop a lecture module to discuss organizational issues relating to international management of organizations. Include the following concepts in the lecture and assessment:
  • Management orientations
  • Self-reference criterion
  • Expatriate employees
• Invite guest speakers with international experience in the field to address the class or conduct a WebTycho conference.

American Council on Education, International Initiative, available at http://www.acenet.edu/programs/international/index.cfm