SU President Named to AASCU International Education Committee

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University President Janet Dudley-Eshbach has been appointed to the Committee on International Education for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).

“We are pleased that she has accepted this appointment, which is recognition of her expertise and strong interest in the field of international education,” said Chris Bitters, AASCU vice president for membership services.

“President Dudley-Eshbach has also been a very effective member of the association’s board of directors for the past three years,” Bitters added.

The committee helps AASCU’s 420-member institutions respond to globalization and its implications for faculty, students and curricula. Chaired by Northern Arizona University President John Haeger, the committee is comprised of 30 presidents and chancellors from across the nation.   The group next meets during AASCU’s upcoming annual conference in Charleston, SC.

A Latin American scholar who is fluent in Spanish, Dudley-Eshbach earned her Ph.D. from El Colegio de México.  Her B.A. in Hispanic Literature is from Indiana University, where she recently returned to deliver the 15th annual Merle E. Simmons Distinguished Alumni Lecture for the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.  Her address was titled, “Sign Seen at Water’s Edge on a Beach on Isla Mujeres: ‘You Are Not Away.’”

A champion of study abroad, Dudley-Eshbach founded SU’s Center for International Education to encourage global experiences for all academic disciplines. Through diversity and other initiatives, including the recent establishment of SU’s English Language Institute, she also is bringing more international students to campus.

In March, she traveled with students and faculty to Aguascalientes, Mexico, for a global service alternative spring break program that involved helping a community with clean water and sanitation projects.  In October, she announced a personal $10,000 commitment to create the Dudley-Eshbach Study Abroad Scholarship to support immersion experiences for SU students in Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.

Dudley-Eshbach was elected to AASCU’s board of directors in 2008 and has represented it on the American Council on Education’s board of directors.  Her latest committee appointment is a three-year term.

AASCU and its current 15-member board are dedicated to promoting appreciation for public higher education and to analyzing policy.  The association also offers professional development, as well as leadership and support to encourage academic excellence, innovation, and access and inclusion.

For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.