Global Learning

Opportunities at home and abroad
Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Greetings from China!

I am accompanying a delegation from Appalachian on a fast-paced excursion to China. We are visiting universities with which we have longstanding relationships — including Beijing International Studies University and Shaanxi Normal University. On the trip are University of North Carolina Board of Governors member Philip Byers, Appalachian State University Board of Trustees Vice Chair John Blackburn, Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff Hank Foreman, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs J.J. Brown and Walker College of Business Dean Heather Norris.

For more than 20 years, Appalachian has had healthy and productive engagements with universities worldwide — from Brazil to Mexico to Australia — and we are eager to continue and expand these types of collaborations.

  • With study abroad opportunities on nearly every continent, Appalachian students have access to approximately 200 foreign sites in 52 countries for short-term, semester, summer and year-long programs of study.
  • Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa, associate vice chancellor of international education and development, received a Reciprocal Exchange Award — a component of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders — and will travel to Nigeria in April to conduct two grant writing workshops.
  • Just two weeks ago, Chief Sustainability Officer Dr. Lee Ball and Dr. Barbara Howard, associate professor and program director in the Reich College of Education and faculty senate chair, traveled to Russia to begin an informal exchange with the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education, also known as Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University (NovSU).
  • Each year, Appalachian awards about $130,000 in student scholarships for study abroad — an increase in funding of 136 percent since 2012-13.
  • There also are many opportunities for global learning that do not require a passport. Students can share international experiences here on campus through such programs as Global Exchange, the International Friendship Program, iPALS, the upcoming Diversity Celebration and the Global Film Series, to name a few.

I look forward to sharing outcomes and educational opportunities that result from this exciting journey.


Appalachian will participate Wednesday evening, April 4, in a nationwide commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death 50 years ago. Beginning at 7:07 p.m., the university chimes will ring 39 times — signifying Dr. King's age at his death. Members of the Appalachian Community are invited to congregate by 7 p.m. on Sanford Mall for this collective moment in honor of Dr. King's legacy. I will be with you in spirit.


March in review:

/s/ Sheri Everts

Sheri Everts, Chancellor