6 minute read
Mo Goes Global
UCM Mascot Travels the World to Recruit Mules and Jennies
International students' presence and their stories show us that the world is, indeed, small and that learning at UCM is both local and global.
What could be better than getting paid to travel the world?
How about doing it with Mo the Mule?
Two University of Central Missouri employees are lucky enough to have this dream job, although in reality it does require a lot of hard work.
When Phil Hull became director of International Student Services in 2022, he brought with him 15 years of study abroad and international recruiting experience. Previously he served nearly a decade as an English professor.
Greg Holz also joined UCM in 2022 as an international recruiter, bringing 15 years of experience in nonprofit community outreach and teaching English as a Second Language.
Holz and Hull stepped into these positions at a time when UCM’s international student enrollment was experiencing the highest surge in the state.
After a nationwide lull due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Open Doors® ranked UCM as having the sixth highest international student enrollment on its list of Leading Master’s Colleges and Universities in 2022. During the 2021–22 academic year, there were 2,063 international students at UCM representing 35 countries.
A year later, Open Doors ranked UCM as having the third highest international student enrollment among all master’s degree-granting institutions in the U.S. With 3,777 total international students representing 48 countries in the 2022–23 academic year, UCM’s placement was only below Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, which had 4,342 international students, and San Jose State University in San Jose, California, which topped the list with 4,671 students.
Part of the draw for international students to attend UCM is a flat tuition rate for MBA and master’s-level IT programs at the Lee’s Summit campus, proximity to Kansas City, and exchange and sponsored partnerships that permit students with J-1 visas to study for one to two semesters at the university’s campuses in Warrensburg and Lee’s Summit.
While the largest portion of UCM’s international student population hails from India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Korea, Hull and Holz are constantly recruiting students from as many countries as they can visit. This year they took Mo the Mule along on their adventures.
Mo in Asia
Holz lived in Cambodia for 15 years before becoming an international recruiter at UCM. He took Mo to Battambang, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh this academic year, visiting schools and the Australian Centre for Education (ACE), run by IDP Education, a partner of UCM. Based in Melbourne, Australia, IDP operates in 80 countries around the world to place students in study abroad opportunities. Cambodia is the only location for ACE, which provides English language learning programs for more than 20,000 students across Southeast Asia.
Mo joined up with the U.S. Department of State’s EducationUSA East Asia Pacific college fair circuit when visiting Vietnam, stopping in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Han Noi.
Since 2022, UCM has had an articulation agreement with Taylor’s University in Selangor, Malaysia. This allows students to begin their studies at Taylor’s, then complete their master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language within a year on the UCM campus. Also since 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hengshui University in China has allowed Chinese students to complete the final year of their bachelor’s degree at UCM, where they continue on an accelerated path toward earning their master’s. Faculty members serve as visiting lecturers on each other’s campuses.
In 2023, UCM signed an MOU with Hiroshima College of Foreign Languages (HCFL) in Japan, allowing students to come to Missouri to pursue a degree or to utilize opportunities available through UCM’s English Language Institute. The institute offers an Intensive English Program, professional language training and short-term cultural programming to help English language learners develop skills they need to succeed in higher education and in their careers.
Mo in the Balkans and Africa
In October 2023, Mo visited the Balkans and Africa. Places he went in the Balkans during EducationUSA’s Southeast Europe tour included Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Serbia. He also visited the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean, recruiting at one high school on the Greek side and one on the Turkish side and attending an International Studies Fair in Nicosia.
In Africa, Mo went to Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia recruiting high school students at Merton International School, Crawford International School, the Aga Khan Academy and International Community School, to name a few.
UCM has long-standing partnerships in Nigeria and Kenya. Its latest collaboration is an MOU with the government of Kenya’s Makueni County, the South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc and the Global Collaborative Exchange, which is focused on “providing emerging populations with technological infrastructure and modular applications platforms.”
The agreement, launched in January 2021, aims to resolve local challenges through global collaboration. Students at UCM’s Missouri Innovation Campus in Lee’s Summit can work together virtually with students in Kenya toward industry-recognized certifications and accredited degree programs.
As existing partnerships grow and new ones develop, international enrollment at UCM is stronger than ever this spring, with 3,974 total international students from 52 countries. This population accounts for nearly 30% of UCM’s total student body.
Hull credits much of that to word-ofmouth recruitment.
“Good news travels fast,” Hull says, “and our international students have good things to say about their experiences here. ... International students’ presence and their stories show us that the world is, indeed, small and that learning at UCM is both local and global.”
