Office for Global Engagement 2026 Strategic Goals

The Office for Global Engagement (OGE), in collaboration with the Office of Admissions, has partnered with Grok Global Services to support entry into global markets, expand institutional partnerships, and elevate the University’s international reputation. Building on this work, URochester is strengthening its presence in India by pursuing an additional three to four collaborative degree programs across the institution. To further increase the scope and impact of international research and engagement, the OGE will launch a university-wide competitive fund this spring to support innovative collaborations involving early career researchers, students, and staff, while also expanding and deepening formal partnerships with global institutions to enhance research and mobility opportunities for faculty, medical students, and residents across the University of Rochester Medical Center. Together, these efforts advance faculty engagement and retention, increase global connectivity with partners of consequence, and contribute to long-term reputation enhancement, which will be further supported by the launch of an updated Global Dashboard in 2026 to provide clearer visibility into the University of Rochester’s comprehensive international footprint.

The Center for Education Abroad 2026 Strategic Goals

This year, the Center for Education Abroad is advancing several key initiatives to strengthen global learning across the University of Rochester. We’re updating our education abroad framework to broaden program options and ensure students from every discipline can participate in meaningful learning, research, and career-focused experiences abroad. We’re also gathering deeper insights into student perceptions, objectives, and barriers, and will amplify the value of global learning as a proven high-impact practice. As part of our policy work, we will finalize and implement new University of Rochester-wide policies on Program Approval and URochester Programs. On the data front, we’re moving forward with our Data & Digital Roadmap by finalizing data protocols, expanding dashboard use, and creating department-specific mobility snapshots. We will also use a full year of assessment data to enhance advising, marketing, and programming to clearly demonstrate the return on investment of global experiences. Finally, we’re strengthening faculty engagement by launching a comprehensive Faculty Handbook and offering training to support consistent, high-quality faculty-led program development.

The International Services Office 2026 Strategic Goals

The International Services Office’s (ISO) mission is to provide services and programs that support, enrich, and engage the University of Rochester’s international students, scholars, employees, dependents, and the URochester community. While recent administrative changes have led to significant immigration, enrollment, budget, and communication challenges, we remain steadfast in our commitment to serving our international students and scholars. These changes have forced us to think differently about data collection, programming, student support, resources, and office management.

The International Services Office is developing new departmental training modules to help URochester faculty and staff better understand the processes involved in hiring international employees, including physicians, faculty, H-1B hires, and visiting scholars. To improve data accuracy and support international populations across the University of Rochester, the team is also implementing Application Programming Interface tools for real-time, globally appropriate address validation, replacing the current U.S.-centric format. A more cohesive data-collection structure will assist international students across all units and give the ISO better data and reporting. In addition, ISO will launch a survey for international scholars and employees to ensure that the services offered align with their needs and to identify areas for improvement. Finally, continued E-Form development and increased automation will enhance efficiency and strengthen service delivery for international students and scholars.

Student Fellowships Office Updates

Two recent Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETA) illustrate how students from both STEM and humanities backgrounds can leverage the ETA program to shape meaningful global paths.

Shalaka Natu ’23 (Biochemistry), now a medical student at URochester, served as an ETA in Malta in 2023–24 and returned in summer 2025 to lead a refugee health literacy project inspired by her Fulbright experience. Working with Blue Door Education in Valletta, she developed and evaluated a health literacy curriculum for migrant communities—work she later presented at the School of Medicine and Dentistry and hopes to expand through SMD’s Global Health Pathway.