The College of Communication and Information (CCI) is focusing on international learning with the launch of the CCI Global brand, which plans to promote study abroad opportunities and global resources to students.

Dean of Kent State’s CCI Amy Reynolds will discuss the importance of global communication and learning at the CCI Global launch party on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 10:30 a.m. in Room 330 of the University Library.

Reynolds has created a Global Initiatives Committee (GIC) with faculty and staff in CCI, as well as named assistant professor Stephanie Smith as director of global initiatives for the college.

“Our college focuses on communication, and all communication today is global,” Smith said. “Our alumni and professional partners constantly emphasize the need to have students and graduates who are globally aware, globally experienced and culturally competent.”

Smith said her role would be to “bring together the innovative and robust program of global learning,” along with the committee created by Reynolds.

The launch party will also promote different study abroad resources already in place in CCI.

The First Passport Fund, unveiled this year, reimburses students for their first passports if they need financial support to study abroad, and it is one of the newest initiatives to make international experiences more accessible to all CCI students.

Smith said CCI plans to send students to four continents in the next five months, through opportunities like international summer and spring semester programs; “International Storytelling,” a class offered in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication; and a new Pulitzer Center Student Fellowship focused on crisis reporting.

This new brand will implement “several important activities” which will encourage CCI to “be more global,” Smith said.

Activities in the works include more international content in CCI classes, acceptance of global diversity and networking on a more global stage.

The CCI Global launch party will be holding giveaways and providing refreshments for all who attend.

To learn more, visit the CCI Global Facebook page or Twitter page, and the CCI study abroad website.

Molly Spillman is the CCI reporter, you can contact her at [email protected].