ETSU Global Year: Ecuador

From Appalachia to the World

The ETSU Global Year: Ecuador, 2022-23 program provided an opportunity for comprehensive internationalization of the ETSU campus community through a faculty seminar (2021-2022) and an implementation year focused on Ecuador (2022-2023). This program was the first of its kind at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) and was completed in Ecuador with a partner university, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), a relatively new university, founded in 1988, as a liberal arts college. USFQ has ten academic colleges and a postgraduate college. They were an ideal partner for the first Global Year for several reasons. First, an ETSU faculty member, Dr. David Wood (Quillen College of Medicine) had a 25+ year collaborative teaching, research, and service relationship with USFQ and their medical school. Additionally, USFQ has a variety of academic and social outreach programs that align with ETSU’s academic and service missions. Finally, USFQ was invested in partnering with ETSU and found our programs of interest to their faculty.

Key highlights of the ETSU Global Year: Ecuador include:

  • 200+ People involved in events or opportunities
  • 22 Unique partnerships between ETSU and Ecuadorian entities
  • 9 Faculty seminar participants (representing 4 colleges and 7 departments)
  • 9 Student internships
  • 6 Distinct education abroad programs (15 faculty and 101 students)

Global Year: Ecuador, 2022-23 Impact Report