going big globally in a world gone small
College and university boards are facing the challenges and promises of what some call the defining element of today: globalization. How can they best prepare their students to thrive in a miniaturized world and shape it for the better? A little over a decade ago, New York University (NYU) offered a handful of study-away sites in Europe and had established exchange programs with a number of foreign universities. Today, with 16 sites on six continents, a comprehensive liberal-arts campus in Abu Dhabi, and a third campus set to open in Shanghai next year, NYU has moved beyond a constellation of programs to forge a new model of university: the global network university. While each college and university will develop its own response to globalization, the story of the evolution of NYU as a global network university--its strategic thinking, discussions among its board and the broader university community, and the nuts and bolts of establishing NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD)--may be helpful for other boards that aspire to expand international education at their institutions. There are several lessons to be learned from NYU's experience in creating the global network university: (1) create a thoughtful strategy to engage the entire university community; (2) find the right international partners; and (3) aim high. (ERIC)