Columbia’s aspirations to become a “global university” will count a tangible achievement in 2010 when Global Centers are scheduled to launch in Mumbai, India and Paris, France.
And this time, the globalization project is targeted towards undergraduates.
In addition to launching the Arabic Summer Program at the Columbia University Middle East Research Center in Amman, Jordan, the Center for Career Education will also work with the University’s offices in Beijing, China. This collaboration will provide summer internship opportunities in Beijing overseen by the Columbia Experience Overseas program. For the first time, students will also be able to apply for internships in Shanghai, China and in Singapore.
In the past, CEO participants have found internships by networking with the web of alumni living in their cities of interest. Now, CCE administrators argue that Columbia’s physical presence in Beijing will facilitate connections with local professionals, keep interns closely connected to the University, and—as in all other centers, according to CCE—help to raise the University’s profile in the region.
CCE’s initiative is not a deliberate attempt to support the expansion of Global Centers in what is still the program’s fledgling period, but it came about naturally in response to administrative interest.
“We want to grow the number of opportunities and locations these programs will be provided in,” Kavita Sharma, dean of CCE, said. She hopes that, as students take jobs at multinational and local companies in Asian cities, they will assist in familiarizing corporations and nonprofits with the University while strengthening the role of local alumni associations.
Heather Perceval, director of experiential education and student enterprises, described the “interconnectivity” of companies with offices in New York, Asia, and other global cities, which has enabled CCE to form bonds with new partners.
“When we’re working with an employer in London, in Beijing, in Shanghai, we’re talking about the larger picture,“ Sharma added, noting that an internship with undergraduates can easily lead to calls for employment after graduation for both undergraduate and graduate students.
CCE kicked off its overseas internship program for undergraduates in 2005. The number of offerings has increased since 2007, now including posts in Hong Kong and London. Students apply for positions during the school year, undergo interviews at Columbia, and are then selected by recruiters overseas who obtain recommendations from the University. In the 2008-2009 academic year,
CCE received 500 applications for 90 positions. While some of the new internships in Asia will require language proficiency, these are separate from study abroad and language learning programs. Perceval said that CEO is organizing internships for eight to 10 students in each of the Asian cities.
But while the Beijing center hosts networking events for students, Sharma said, CCE’s presence there will add to an already growing set of University services. The Beijing Center currently hosts an intern who is studying abroad and has begun to serve as a gathering place for alumni.
“CGC Beijing organized a social for the Columbia in Beijing program [a Chinese language summer program], visiting CU students and alumni in August,” Beijing center director Xiaobo Lü told
Spectator in an interview in October. “Some 60 people came on a hot summer night.”
CCE also assigns each CEO intern an alumni mentor during the intern’s time abroad. Aileen Yan, SEAS ’11, said that while she was in Hong Kong this past summer, alumni reached out to her and her fellow interns—inviting them to dinner, introducing them to the city’s nightlife and corporate sector, and intermingling at the Ivy Ball, where everyone sang the Columbia fight song.
“It’s interesting to see that when overseas, people are much more spirited about their Columbia background,” Yan said. Nayia Moysidis, CC ’11, and Graham Johnson, SEAS ’11, reported similar experiences from their internships in London.
In attempt to further utilize the Global Centers for undergraduate purposes, the Office of Global Centers is teaming up with the Office of Global Programs, which supervises study abroad opportunities. One possible project would be to launch study abroad programs lasting less than a term at the Global Centers, according to professor Kenneth Prewitt, director of the Global Centers.
The office has not yet announced who will head the Mumbai and Paris Global Centers, though Prewitt says the office is in conversation with prospective directors. The office is also considering opening three or four centers around Africa and setting up an additional office on campus to monitor all of the Global Centers’ administrative work on the African continent.
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