Communications

Almost 40 Monterey Institute faculty, staff, students and alumni participated in the recent NASFA Association of International Educators conference. Photo: Lars Schlereth.

The Monterey Institute made its presence in the field of International Education Management felt at the recent NAFSA: Association of International Educators Region 12 conference in San Diego. Thirty-seven students, one staff and two faculty members from the International Education Management program attended the conference.

With record attendance, this conference offered professional training for international education practitioners in the areas of study abroad design and administration, training in international student immigration regulations and strategies for marketing and student recruitment. Students and faculty took the opportunity at the conference to deepen their knowledge of the field, expand professional networks, and identify organizations interested in hosting students during the professional practicum that is part of their master’s degree program.

Eight Monterey Institute community members presented their research or facilitated sessions at the conference. They included:

• Juliet Tyson (MAIEM ’14) and Anessa Escobar (MAIEM ’14) “What’s Up with Culture?”
• Kirsten Greene (MAIEM ’13) and Alex Nichol (MAIEM’14) “Mentoring in International Education: Strategies for Success”
• Alisyn Henneck (MIIS staff member and MAIEM ’13) “EducationUSA: Global Student Mobility Trends Go Local”
• Alisyn Henneck and MacKenzie Hizon (MATESOL ‘06) presenting “Building Your Institution’s Brand: Using Video to Showcase the Student Experience”
• Jay Ward (MAIPS ’83)) presenting “Professional Development Opportunities with the International Education Administrators Fulbright Program”
• Dr. Katherine Punteney, professor and IEM program chair also co-facilitated a nine-hour training on J-1 immigration regulations

“I really enjoyed attending the Region XII NAFSA conference in San Diego last week,” says Chanel Bell (MAIEM/MPA ’15). “Being new to the field, it was great to network with other professionals and learn about the topics affecting international education. I also appreciate how much support and encouragement the IEM faculty gave us in preparation for and throughout the conference. I am looking forward to attending the national conference next May.”

Matt Jira (right) with his father and cousin in Baghdad

“After visiting the Monterey Institute, I was all in,” says Matt Jira (BA/MPA ’13), a veteran of the U.S. Army who is on the verge of launching a new career in international development. “I was drawn to the international community but especially to the pragmatic focus of the academic program,” he shares, adding that now, as he prepares to graduate, he is confident in his skills and “feels fully prepared to transition from military service to a career in development.”

Matt enlisted in the Army at the age of 17 and served for fourteen and a half consecutive years. He served as a military police sergeant at the Camp Delta Terrorist Detention Facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and as the leader of the only Department of State-certified High Threat Target Protection unit in Bagdad, Iraq in 2008. In the latter role, he was responsible for the daily security of U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, as well as visiting dignitaries such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, then-Senator Barack Obama, and King Hussein of Jordan during their official visits to Bagdad.

Encounters with extreme poverty during his overseas military service led Matt to seek a career in development, and he can think of no better place to prepare for that than MIIS. He is already on his way, with a paid internship and several positive job prospects on the horizon. He and his family feel “so blessed to be here” in Monterey, where they have enjoyed living by the ocean and being part of a “great community.”

Students like Matt enrich the Monterey Institute’s small international community with their wealth of experience and knowledge. The Institute is proud to be recognized, yet again, as a Military Friendly School for supporting and embracing military service members, veterans and spouses as students.

The Monterey Institute Veterans Association will host a celebration in honor of Veterans Day at the Irvine Auditorium on Monday, November 11 at 6:30 p.m., with a panel discussion featuring veterans from four different Monterey Peninsula schools and a reception. “Based on who is attending, it promises to be a great event,” says Mike Sanford, president of the MIIS Veterans Organization.

Lucy Jodlowska (left) with Jose Lopez-Cantal, Morgan Tucker, Monica Kelsh, and members of the Las Tias Board of Directors.

Spark Ventures is a Chicago based non-profit organization that partners with grassroots organizations in developing countries to provide children in poverty with healthcare, education, and training. Their director of partnerships, Lucy Jodlowska (MPA ’10, MBA ’11) was intimately involved with finding their first partner in Latin America, the Asociación Las Tías, a non-profit dedicated to serving vulnerable children, founded by eight women merchants in the town of León 23 years ago.

This summer when it came time to move the project further, Lucy wanted to make sure to do it right. She decided to recruit students from the Monterey Institute to work on proposals for a sustainable business that would provide a revenue stream for Las Tías to pay for the expansion of their programs benefitting children in their area, providing meals, basic healthcare, and vocational training. “I came back to MIIS because I was looking for a specific blend of characteristics and skill sets,” she says, explaining further that she was specifically looking for experience working in developing countries, high language proficiency, quantitative and analytical skills, sensitivity, humility, and adaptability to working in a challenging context.

Three current students, Jose Lopez-Cantal (MBA ’14), Morgan Tucker (MPA ’14), and Monica Kelsh (MAIPS ’13, MBA ’14), took on the challenge and gained valuable professional experience. They started by analyzing the Nicaraguan legal and business environment and then worked in two teams to explore opportunities in agriculture and tourism. MIIS alumnus Andrew Leighton (MBA ’12) also assisted the team remotely. The Spark Ventures board recently agreed to move ahead with an investment into agribusiness, as per the agriculture team’s recommendation. Jose Lopez-Cantal says the experience of working closely with the boards of Spark and Las Tías, as well as numerous professionals from the academic and business world in Nicaragua, was “unbeatable.” And Lucy couldn’t be happier with the result: “I wanted the whole package and knew I could find it at MIIS.”

For more stories about the Monterey Institute community check out the newest edition of the Communiqué.

Monterey Institute alumni Jess Paulson, Ayse Uygur-Hay, Andrew (Andy) Hay, Tyler Hoffman at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.

Monterey Institute alumni know that they can bump into each other in just about anywhere in the world, but for four alumni from the same era to find themselves working to strengthen U.S. – Turkey relations at the same time is quite a coincidence! The MIIS contingent in Ankara came together for a photo when Secretary of State John Kerry visited the country earlier this year.

Andrew (Andy) Hay (MAIPS ’05), his wife Ayse Uygur-Hay (MAITP ’05), and Jess Paulsen (MAIPS ’05) all graduated in 2005, while Tyler Hoffman (MACD ’03) finished two years earlier. Andrew is first person to ever hold the position Transatlantic Diplomatic Fellow for the U.S. State Department in Turkey. He will be seconded to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working closely with Turkish diplomats. Ayse works as an analyst for the Department of Defense, stationed in the Embassy, where Jess Paulson is the agricultural attaché. Tyler Hoffman works for the State Department as an export control and related border security advisor responsible for Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. They are all also happy to stay in touch with fellow alumnus Dr. Sebnem Udum (MAIPS ’01), a prominent professor of international relations at Ankara’s Hacettepe University.