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Office of International Affairs Brings the
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He’s Got Game

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Paul Landen (L) with U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain Johnny Young (Center) and aide.

When it comes to globalization Paul Landen, director of the University’s Office of International Affairs, thinks we ain’t seen nothin’ yet—although he doesn’t phrase it quite like that. “In the last 50 years of the last century the world internationalized. From 2000 to 2050 I think that internationalization is going to grow exponentially,” Landen says. “Any student, regardless of his or her career, is going to have to know something about the wider world.” Landen is doing his part to assure that students at Ferris State University come in contact with peers from across the globe. Three years ago when the University committed itself to increasing the number of international students, 248 were enrolled. Fall semester 2000 saw 309 foreign students at the University, and in four to five years Landen hopes to see more than 500 international students on campus. While 25 percent of all foreign students live and study in just four major U.S. cities and only two percent of students who come to this country to study are undergraduates, Ferris State has its appeal for this select group. Landen cites the University’s small-town setting, natural beauty and safety record. The latter is of importance to the parents of students coming from abroad who often need as much convincing as the students themselves. And that highlights another factor—the personal attention the International Program provides to students and parents alike. “I’m in very regular contact right now with a mother in Bahrain who’s trying to decide between us and a university in France,” Landen explains. “Sally Nicolai, the coordinator for International Admissions, probably spends a quarter of her day answering e-mails.” Whether it’s a medical records technology student from the Sultanate of Oman or a Kuwaiti studying environmental health, there will increasingly be students at the University challenging the stereotypes Americans might have about other cultures and enriching the educational experience for every Ferris student.

Landen with prospective students in Kuwait.

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