Contact: Joy Washington, jwashington@southalabama.

edu, Associate Director, and Libi

Jacobs, Marketing and Communications Student Assistant, (251)-460-6211.

Release Date: June 8, 2017

USA Students Go Global

University of South Alabama students built long-lasting relationships at the
Going Global Conference in the United Kingdom this summer.

Dr. Krista Harrell, associate dean and title IV coordinator, along with immediate
past president of the USA Student Government Association Joshua Crownover and
Shaun Holloway, chief of staff for SGA recently traveled to the UK for a study tour and
the Going Global Conference 2017: Global Cities: Connecting Talent and Driving
Change, in London, England. They served as delegates for South Alabama.

The conference was hosted by the British Council, where they met with
administrators in higher education from around the world. Crownover and Holloway
were among very few undergraduate students to attend the conference. They got an
opportunity to hear keynote speakers and attend sessions from higher education scholars
and leaders from around the world.

The Going Global conference hosted by the British Council was extremely
educational and perspective-broadening, Crownover said. it brought together some of
the brightest minds in higher education to one place to discuss and debate how we move
forward into an era of hyper-globalization.

Following the conference, the trio traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet with
students at Stirling University and Forth Valley College. They learned more about the
student experience and university system within Scotland.

This was a great opportunity for us to gain international perspective on issues,

trends and best practices in higher education student engagement with the new Global
Connection Partnership, Holloway expressed. It was great to visit with other students in
another part of the world and be inspired by their experiences.

According to Harrell the idea of this trip to the U.K. for Joshua and Holloway
started about one year ago with the intent to bring together the student government
representatives of South Alabama, University of Stirling and Lehigh University. They
started building a relationship monthly via WebEx meetings.

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 Each University partner gained knowledge and context for the processes and
approaches, Harrell explained. We shared concerns, challenges and successes from
each campus along with new initiatives and resources. We also shared ideas/solutions and
developed an international collaboration.

The goals of the Global Connection Partnership:

To improve staff and student leaders through exploring the implementation

of new ideas.
To share leadership development ideas, opportunities and experiences to
improve our respective provisions.
To discuss arising issues, with consideration to current trends in Higher
Education and the wider political domain.
To innovate new tools and resources, on a tangible network platform.
To establish a sense of what others are doing

The Its a Small World After All Global engagement Web Conference helped
prepare the USA delegation for the international conference.

I learned a lot about how a citys experience, culture and atmosphere can have a
big impact on how successful a higher education institution can be, Holloway said.
Connecting USA and SU will show that it is possible for Universities to have sister
institutions in other countries. It would be amazing to see more schools involved in
this trend.

Harrell and South students experienced new cultures and an understanding of

national issues, customs, and global togetherness during their travels in the U.K.

There is a very structured and concrete system in place for student

representation across the nation, Crownover noted. Every community college and
university in Scotlands collegiate system is required to have a students' union,
representing the interests of students.

This abroad trip is the beginning of a new partnership between South Alabama
and Stirling University. The Global Connection Partnership provides an opportunity
for the two universities establish strong international relationships and grow to
reach other institutions around the world. During the trip, Harrell said she had the
chance to meet Aromar Revi, director of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements.
He spoke on Sustainable Cities, at the conference in London. She is hopeful he will
be able to travel and visit South Alabamas campus one day.

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OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

AD 250 | 307 North University Boulevard | Mobile, Alabama 36688-0002
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 In addition, the USA delegation got a chance to see the historic sites, such as the
Edinburgh Castle and the fortress on Castle Rock, while walking the 1,000 year old
cobblestone streets. They walked the steps through the city up to the top of Arthurs Seat,
around Grassmarket and had lunch. They toured the University of Edinburghs Teviot
Row House, which is the oldest build student union around in the world.

It was an incredible opportunity to learn and be inspired to continue to build our

global networks and partnerships. Harrell said. We are working to develop a sister
union agreement between the University of South Alabama and the University of Stirling.
Our intent is to work to develop this into a course supported by study abroad in order to
bring back a small group of student leaders to visit and tour throughout Scotland in the
near future.

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OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

AD 250 | 307 North University Boulevard | Mobile, Alabama 36688-0002
TEL: (251) 460-6211 | FAX: (251) 460-7827 | SouthAlabama.edu