Global COIL Initiative

Ohio University’s Office of Global Affairs and International Studies with the support of the deans, regional campuses, and over 12 international partners launched the Global COIL Initiative (GCI). 

The initiative is led by the Center for International Studies with the support of the Office of Instructional Design and Regional Higher Education and has two main goals:

1. To leverage OHIO’s institutional relationships and partners as part of an integrated global engagement strategy from globalizing the curriculum to funding capacity building (global connections program) and seeding new projects in research, education and experiential learning (global engagement fund).
2. To address the need to engage students and faculty not currently involved in global opportunities, with the desired outcome being to create multiple entry points for student’s faculty and staff to increase their engagement in global activities.

The COIL model brings together faculty and students from around the globe to collaborate within and across academic disciplines on a joint virtual project. COIL faculty create learning environments in which participants broaden and deepen their understanding of course content while building cross-cultural relationships through academic and personal engagement enhanced by the perspectives of their global peers. These projects range from 3 to 10 weeks and become part of existing courses being taught by the collaborating faculty partners.

COIL is ideal as there are minimal costs as classrooms are connected via the internet so no travel costs for students are necessary and there are no credit transfer or curriculum modification as assignments are part of an existing course. The hope is participants will use this opportunity to incorporate in their collaborative projects a focus on sustainability in line with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ohio University’s Strategic Pathways and Priorities, and the issues that affect the communities in which we reside and work locally that could benefit from a shared international perspective.

The GCI is a three-year program where participants will develop and teach a COIL class at least twice during the three years. It will include:

1. Enrolling in the OHIO COIL Learning Course, a high-end experiential learning course for faculty to gain the knowledge and experience needed to integrate COIL into their academic activities.
2. Participating in the COIL Symposium/Training workshops.
3. Matching of partner member with compatible assignment goals and subject matter interests.
4. Attend the COIL National Conference.
5. Submit a joint short report (template will be provided) after each COIL project, describing the COIL project within the course(s) taught with the collaborating partner
6. Complete and submit individual pre and post evaluations.

The current COIL cohort includes faculty and staff members from the following universities:

Africa

• University of Botswana - Botswana
• University of Cape Coast - Ghana
• University of Ghana- Legon - Ghana
• Garden City University College - Ghana
• Kenyatta University - Kenya
• Rhodes University - South Africa
• Stellenbosch University - South Africa

Asia

• Gopikabai Sitaram Gawande College - India
• Chubu University – Japan
• Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) – Malaysia
• King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi – Thailand

Europe

• Leipzig University – Germany

Latin America

• Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE) – Ecuador

Ohio University Participating Colleges

• Arts & Sciences
• Business
• Education
• Engineering
• Fine Arts
• Health Sciences & Professions
• Honors Tutorial College
• Regional Higher Education