FDU Global Scholars: Producing leaders of and for the world

They’re brimming with ambition. They’re seeking to create meaningful, lasting improvements in people’s lives. They’re eschewing inward-looking propaganda, instead embracing a global outlook of the world. They’re ready to do business, making it not just better and more just, but just as successful.

They are Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) Global Scholars.

An innovative programme at its Vancouver campus, university administrators select the best applicants who wish to make meaningful change in their community and world. These globally minded students who join the unique honours programme form a distinctive community of learners committed to world citizenship and developing global perspective as tomorrow’s leaders.

As Global Scholar Kenneth Malagiere explains, FDU will help him “to become a global leader”.

“The world needs strong, informed and educated leaders. The FDU Global Scholars programme helps us on the road to becoming global leaders,” says Global Scholar Kenneth Malagiere.

The four-year programme combines an intensive multi-disciplinary learning environment with a multitude of cultural experiences on and off campus. With so much to achieve, domestic and international experiential learning starts during freshmen year itself.

FDU Global Scholars

That’s not all. They will also participate in a Global Scholars Seminar, join regular local or international volunteer projects, host two special speaker series at the Vancouver Campus, and take part in international conferences such as the Model United Nations. Global Scholars will also have the opportunity to study a semester abroad or at FDU New Jersey’s campus, where they will have the chance to visit the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Rigorous, yet exciting, this programme is not for the meek. Only 12-15 diverse students are selected each year to be a Global Scholar at the Vancouver campus.

To be eligible, applicants must show an 80 percent average or higher in their final Grade 12 courses at high school or its equivalent; must show interest in school or community activities to create a better future; must demonstrate leadership and organisational skills; and a desire to create a sustainable, peaceful, happy, and healthy world for all.

Tough requirements they may be, but for the best candidates, generous merit-based entrance scholarships await for all undergraduate applicants. At the Vancouver Campus, applicants can choose the following world-class and personalised learning academic programmes leading to Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Bachelor of Arts in Individualised Studies, or Bachelor of Arts in Individualised Studies with specialisation in Hospitality and Tourism Management.

FDU Global Scholars: An award-winning way to see global issues

FDU Vancouver is a truly international campus. At the [Inter-] Connected (-ed) conference hosted by Global Scholars, Dr Gudrun Dreher, Director of the Global Scholars Programme, said:

“With people from over 80 countries, our campus is a micro-cosmos not just of cultures but also of world-views, opinions, and ways of seeing and interpreting the world.”

FDU Global Scholars

At this international learning community, students from Canada and around the world work together to achieve their educational and career goals, with a well-developed international student services team catering to international students’ needs.

Speaking about the broad spectrum of views in FDU classrooms, Dr Gudrun noted how this culturally diverse campus gives students an edge over less diverse institutions by being able to “see things in new ways” and also “see things from more than one perspective at the same time”.

“And it is this simultaneous presence of multiple perspectives that ultimately helps our students to see the larger picture within which all issues (individual, political, social, economic, environmental, etc) exist.”

The proof for Dr Gudrun’s praises are in the series of awards won by the FDU MUN team at the annual National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference held in New York City. These hand-picked talents for NMUN team will be sponsored by FDU Vancouver for their trips.

Such opportunities to go abroad are encouraged for all Global Scholars and FDU students. For the Model United Nations club, they had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be at the same site as their diplomatic heroes, visiting the permanent mission of Malawi to the United Nations and sitting in the UN Headquarters’s General Assembly Hall.

Beating more than 1,000 peers from universities around the world, the FDU team representing Malawi won Best Position Paper, Outstanding Delegate and Distinguished Delegation Award, the third year in a row for FDU Vancouver.

“I believe that the award is a great reflection of our ambition, hard work and amazing teamwork. We cherished our friendship,” says Vi Nguyen, a sophomore.

“NMUN is definitely a learning experience, not only in public speaking and debating, but also in conflict resolution,” adds the club’s president, junior Eduardo Vega. “It teaches you how to work with people from different backgrounds, with different ideas and opinions. It also builds leadership skills and is a global education on the world’s problems.”

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