Vision

Georgia Tech's international activities will embody its motto of Progress and Service, empowering students and faculty to provide solutions to global challenges. These activities will instill in our students the conviction, social courage, and intercultural sensitivity needed to collaborate across geopolitical, cultural, and linguistic boundaries to become effective leaders.

Excerpt from the Global Positioning Strategy

As Georgia Tech’s impact and reach continue to grow, we are constantly asked to partner with universities and institutions around the world.  We should be selective in targeting and selecting high-impact collaborations, eschewing partnerships where our efforts are spread so think so as to garner little impact.  We should continue to foster an entrepreneurial climate of faculty-driven engagement.  We must find the right balance between being strategic and seizing new opportunities. As we do so, we must follow four basic principles.

 

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

1. The international activity enhances Georgia Tech’s academic activities.

The proposed initiative must:

  • Enhance the student experience, advance Georgia Tech’s existing strategic goals in our academic, research, capacity building and/or economic development missions.
  • Demonstrate clear value to the Institute, enable unique opportunities, and benefit the Atlanta campus and the State of Georgia.
  • Be consistent with Georgia Tech and University System of Georgia policies; Georgia Tech’s ethical values (integrity, respect, community, accountability, adaptability); and principles around academic freedom and inclusion. 

2. The international activity is sustainable long-term.

The proposed initiative must:

  • Have a strong leader/advocate (preferably a faculty member), as well as institutional support (School, Dean, International Initiatives and campus leadership).
  • Follow an articulated strategy and plan, and have appropriate objectives, budget, and deliverables.
  • Emphasize longer-term partnership and commitments, over short term, one-off initiatives. We should not outsource research and educational delivery.

Institutional partners should be of a high caliber, so that the partnership reflects and enhances the Institute commitment to the highest quality.

3. The international activity brings clear benefits to Georgia Tech, and is resource- and opportunity- positive.

The proposed initiative must:

  • Be financially and intellectually sustainable, self-supporting, faculty-driven, and net resource-and opportunity-positive to others on the Atlanta campus. It should be viewed through a lens of ROI in terms of finances and time. It should not only protect, but also enhance the Georgia Tech brand. 
  • Expand Georgia Tech’s competencies and capabilities in ways that would not be possible without the international initiative.
  • Leverage Georgia Tech’s existing hubs (Lorraine and Shenzhen) and not create opportunities that compete with them.

Start small and establish proof of concept before jumping into large scale and risky initiatives (crawl, walk, run). A physical facility is not a pre-requisite to creating a presence.

4. The international activity thoughtfully manages and minimizes risk. 

The proposed initiative must:

  • Carefully assess potential financial, reputational, export/HR/legal, safety, and political risks.
  • Develop risk mitigation plans to address and minimize identified risks, address political and social sensitivities, and ensure open access to all.

Any identified risks should be proportional to the anticipated benefits. Activities where the risks cannot be reasonably managed to achieve the maximum benefits should be declined.