Global Education Faculty PLC Professional Development Series Presents: Educator Preparation Program Recruitment & Support for International Students

Presentation Slides

As part of the Global Education Faculty PLC Professional Development Series, you are invited to join a panel of faculty experts and international scholars as they focus on how to recruit and support international students in educator preparation programs (EPPs). More specifically, the panel will address the following questions:

• How do international students seek out program offerings at colleges & schools of education?
• How can universities support immigrant and refugee students and their families?
• How does a student’s immigration status affect their work options post-graduation?

Join moderator, and recent recipient of the 2023 AACTE Best Practice Award in Support of Global and International Perspectives, Allison Witt (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) along with panelists Chinaka DomnNwachukwu (California State University, San Bernardino), Gilda Martinez-Alba (Towson University), Novea McIntosh (University of Dayton), as they share their research and experience in working with international students. Also joining the panel is Ph.D. student Oumar Abdoulaye Balarabe (Ohio University), who will offer his perspective and insight on the international student experience. An audience Q&A will take place at the conclusion of the webinar.

Moderator:

Allison Witt, Ph.D.
Director of International Programs, College of Education
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Allison Witt is the in the College of Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is an associate teaching professor in Global Studies in Education and is the program leader for the International Education Administration and Leadership graduate program. She is the director of the IGlobal Club, a virtual extracurricular activity that links preservice teachers to middle school students globally in the study of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Witt is a former assistant director of academic affairs at the Illinois Board of Higher Education, where she contributed to state higher education policy in Illinois. She is the author of Shifting Tides in Global Higher Education (2011), published by Peter Lang. Witt earned a Ph.D. in Education Policy Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Panelists:

Oumarou Abdoulaye Balarabe
Ph.D. Student
AACTE Holmes Scholar
Ohio University

Oumarou Abdoulaye Balarabe is a first-generation college student and an international graduate student, born in the Republic of Benin to Nigerian parents. Balarabe is a Fulbright Scholarship Alumnus, and a current Society of Transnational Academic Researchers (STAR) Scholars Network Millennium Scholar and American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) Holmes Scholar. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education, majoring in higher education at Ohio University. Balarabe has also established himself as a multicultural leader on campus and beyond. In addition to a host of shorter-term commitments, Balarabe served as the president of the African Student Union and Fulbright Scholar Association both at Ohio University and president of the Holmes Scholars National Council. He has received several awards and recognitions for outstanding excellence in academics, leadership, and service.

Chinaka S. DomNwachukwu, Ph.D.
Professor and Dean
James Watson & Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education
California State University

Chinaka S. DomNwachukwu is professor and dean of the James R. Watson Judy Rodriguez Watson College of Education at California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB). He exercises the academic and administrative oversight over this college consisting of three departments six teaching credentials, 11 master’s degree programs, and a doctoral program in educational leadership. He also has direct oversight of the Doctor of Education (EDD) Program. DomNwachukwu is actively involved with the community and external constituencies that the university serves in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.  Among the dean’s primary initiatives at CSUSB is a minority teacher pipeline program that focuses on recruiting, training, and deploying African American and Hispanic males into the K-12 classrooms and building a Model STEM Exploration Center at the college.

Gilda Martinez Alba, Ed.D.
Assistant Dean & Professor, College of Education
Towson University

 Gilda Martinez-Alba is the assistant dean in the College of Education at Towson University and the co-chair of the Global Diversity Committee at AACTE. She focuses her scholarship and service initiatives on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI), such as social-emotional learning for multilingual learners globally. It is reflected in her book, Social-Emotional Learning in the English Language Classroom: Fostering Growth, Self-Care, and Independence (an international bestseller). Other books by Alba include English U.S.A. Every Day, which has sold over 7,000 copies around the world and Wordless Books: So Much to Say! (also an international best seller). Most recently, she edited two books sponsored by the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) with the support of the ATE Diversity Committee, Antiracist Teacher Education: Theory and Practice and Antiracist Teacher Education: Counternarratives and Storytelling, which feature a wide range of authors.

Novea Mcintosh, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Teacher Education
Co-Program Director, Urban Teacher Academy
University of Dayton

Novea McIntosh is an assistant professor, coordinator of the Adolescent to Young Adult Program (Secondary education licensure), and co-director of the Urban Teacher Academy in the School of Education and Health Sciences at the University of Dayton. As an Afro-Caribbean scholar-practitioner in teacher education, her courses focus on educating diverse populations in inclusive settings and assessment literacy for undergraduate and graduate students. Her scholarship focuses on culturally responsive pedagogy, intercultural competence, equity, and formative assessment of diverse students. McIntosh’s scholarly work has been published in national and international journals. She coaches, presents at conferences, and provides professional development to in-service and preservice teachers in areas of culturally responsive pedagogy, diversity, equity, and assessment both nationally and internationally.