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This year, the Global Understanding 
Course and Global Partners in 
Education received two awards 
recognizing its innovation in 
international education and student 
success. In December 2014, the Global 
Understanding program received 3rd 
place in the “Presence Learning” 
category of the 2014 Wharton-QS 
Stars Reimagine Education Awards 
(http://reimagine-education.com/the-
winners).  
 
The Reimagine Education Awards 
recognize innovative higher education 
programs that enhance student 
learning and employability. Twenty-one 
programs out of 427 submissions from 
top universities and enterprises around 
the world were selected to receive 
awards by an international panel of 25 
expert judges. Dr. Jami Leibowitz, 
Interim Director of Global Academic 
Initiatives at East Carolina University, 
US, accepted the award on behalf of 
the program. The work of GPE was 
also recognized by the North Carolina 
Association for International Educators 
(NCAIE) as an innovative and 
exemplary international education 
program.    
 

 
 

 

                   ~ GPE VIII – 2015 ~ 
                        The Eighth Annual Conference of Global Partners in Education (GPE)            
                         was hosted this past May by Shaanxi Normal University (SNNU), in   
                         Xi’an, China. The conference was held on the SNNU campus from 
May 11-13, 2015 and then a cultural excursion including visits to the Terra Cotta 
Warriors, Famen Temple, and Xi’an City Tours from May 14-16, 2015. GPE members 
representing countries including The Netherlands, Poland, Japan, Turkey, USA, 
Brazil, Pakistan, Germany, Russia, France, Mexico and, of course, China  gathered 
to discuss important administrative issues regarding GPE, ways to improve 
programming, and new areas for collaboration.  
 
One key issue discussed was the proposal of a GPE Membership Fee. Those in 
attendance recognized the necessity of a nominal fee and approved going forth with 
the proposal. Other issues discussed included creating universal course objectives 
and improving assessment of the Global Understanding course, the development of 
student clubs, and new technologies that may be explored including the incorporation 
of a Social Network System (SNS). 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
                         

 

For the first year, students also participated in the 
conference. Students from China, US, and Turkey 
were in attendance. Students presented papers 
and added a new perspective to the 
conversations, greatly contributing to the overall 
activity.  
 
In addition to discussing issues relevant to the 
GPE organization and Global Understanding 
classes, our host provided participants the 
opportunity to immerse themselves in Chinese 
culture. Demonstrations of traditional Chinese 
arts and crafts as well as visits to the university 
museum were enjoyed by all.   
 
We look forward to seeing more of our GPE 
colleagues at GPE IX to be hosted by Ural State 
Pedagogical University, in Ekaterinburg, Russia in 
May of 2016. 
 

Promoting Positive Educational Opportunities 

http://reimagine-education.com/the-winners
http://reimagine-education.com/the-winners


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

          
 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Partners 
Currently GPE consists of 64 member 
institutions in 32 countries on 5 
continents. This year, approximately 
4500 students around the world 
participated in GPE programming. We 
would like to welcome those partners 
that joined GPE this past year: 
 
• Faculdade Jaguariuna, Brazil 

 

• Faculty of Industrial Engineering 
Novo mesto, FINI 

   
• Ivan Franko Lviv National University, 

Ukraine 
 

• Puññāsāstra University of Cambodia, 
Cambodia 

 

• Universidad Latina de America, 
Mexico 

 

• University of Talca, Chile 
 

 

 

Announcement 
GPE IX will be hosted  

by Ural State Pedagogical 
University, in Ekaterinburg, 

Russia in May of 2016. 
 We hope to see you there. 
 

~ Global Issues Virtual Student Research Conference ~ 
 Spearheaded through collaboration between Christopher Brighton at Krosno State 
College and Heidi Luchsinger at East Carolina University, this year, GPE held the 
first Global Issues Student Virtual Research Conference from March 23 – 27, 2015. 
Thirty-five undergraduate and graduate students representing 11 partner institutions 
presented their scholarly work on topics including language and linguistics, health, 
film, gender, tourism, education, and business, among others. Faculty members from 
participating institutions served as moderators as students discussed their works with 
conference attendees and other members of their panel promoting a cross-cultural 
dialog on important topics of our time. Students who presented were then given the 
option to submit their papers for publication in a special issue of GPEJ devoted to the 
conference proceedings. 

 
~ Honoring our Founders ~ 
This year marked the 10th year since East Carolina University founded and began 
offering the Global Understanding Program. Since that time, there has been much 
growth and many changes, all guided by our now retired founders, Dr. Rosina Chia 
and Dr. Elmer Poe of East Carolina University along with the contributions of Dr. 
Meng Fanxi at one of our founding partner institutions, China Agricultural University. 
GPE members helped to honor our founders by submitting messages and memories 
of the founders themselves and the program that they developed. These messages 
were then presented to the founders in commemorative boxes at a special ceremony 
during the GPE VIII conference. To ensure that their valuable contributions will 
always be remembered, the names of the Annual GPE Awards have been changed 
to: 

• The Elmer C. Poe Excellence in Technology Support Award 
• The Rosina C. Chia Excellence in Teaching Award 
• The Meng Fanxi Institution of Excellence Award 

 
Additionally we recognized China Agricultural University, Shaanxi Normal University, 
and University of The Gambia for being involved in the program for 10 years. Special 
recognition goes to Bu Lin and Zhang Guangwei from Shaanxi Normal University and 
Pa Sara Drammeh at the University of The Gambia for their personal commitment to 
the program for all those years. 

 
~ GPE Awards ~ 
Congratulations to the 2015 Annual GPE Award recipients.  
After careful consideration the 2015 GPE Awards  
Committee selected the following to receive awards: 
 
 
 
 
 

The Elmer C. Poe Technical Support of Excellence Award 
Antoine Bordeau, François Rabelais University of Tours, France 
Giulliana Abanto, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Peru 
 
The Rosina C. Chia Excellence in Teaching Award 
Adeela Rehman, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Pakistan 
 
The Meng Fanxi Institution of Excellence Award 
Krosno State College, Poland 
 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Although only 3 awards were given, all those who were nominated deserve recognition 
for their outstanding efforts. 

Nominees for the Elmer C. Poe Excellence in Technology Support Award 
• Andy Heath, East Carolina University, USA 
• Autumn Hopkins, East Carolina University, USA 
• Javaid Iqbal, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Pakistan 
• Adnan Kilinç, Istanbul University, Turkey 
• Amit Mahajan, University of Jammu, India 
• Siddharth Patel, East Carolina University, USA 
• The Technical Team of Istanbul University, Turkey (Adnan Kilinç and Berk 
Uzunoğlu) 

 
Nominees for the Rosina C. Chia Excellence in Teaching Award 

• Ricardo Ernesto Buitrago Rubiano, Universidad Rosario, Colombia 
• Heidi Luchsinger, East Carolina University, USA 
• Noreddine Mouhadjer, University Abou Bekr Belkaïd, Algeria 
• Luis Navarro, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Peru 
• Irina Swain, East Carolina University, USA 
• The Teaching Team at Krosno State College, Poland (Christopher Brighton and 

Katarzyna Dziemian)  
• The Teaching Team at Modern University of Business and Science, Lebanon 

(Vanessa Chehade, Rebecca Keedi, and Diana Khalek)  
• The Teaching Team at Universidad Latina de América (Paloma Pardo and Luis 

Vargas) 
 
2015 Award Committee Members: 

• Christopher Brighton, Krosno State College, Poland 
• Alabel Lavalle, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Peru 
• Jami Leibowitz, East Carolina University, USA 

 

 
 

Please submit news about your institution or programs to gpeinfo@ecu.edu 

          
 

 

  

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
For more information visit our website 

http://thegpe.org 
 


