The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been selected to receive the 2008 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization, it was announced in February.

The award, presented by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, recognizes the university for “overall excellence in internationalization efforts.”  As a result, Illinois will be one of five institutions featured in the NAFSA report “Internationalizing the Campus 2008: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities.”  Past recipients of the award, first given in 2004, include Duke University, the University of North Carolina, Indiana University, University of Kansas, and Yale University.

Dr. William Brustein, Associate Provost for International Affairs, pointed to Illinois’ status as the only institution in the United States to rank in the top five in three key metrics of campus internationalization as a key reason for the university’s selection. Illinois ranks second in the number of Title VI U.S. Department of Education National Resource Centers (with eight), fourth in international students on campus, and fifth in the number of undergraduates who study abroad.

"The University of Illinois' selection for the prestigious 2008 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization is further testament to our institution's prominence as a leading global university,” Brustein said. “The University of Illinois aims to educate future global leaders possessing the ability to communicate effectively across cultural and linguistic boundaries."

He said the university’s success can be attributed to a supportive campus environment, the leveraging of Illinois’ decentralized international structure, a focus on key strategic international partnerships, and investments in the internationalization of the faculty.

Preceding his death in 2003, Sen. Simon had been working to persuade the federal government to support a new initiative creating education-abroad fellowships for U.S. students. In his foreword to NAFSA's 2003 task force report on education abroad, Simon noted, “If we want to improve our nation and the world, we must be willing to sacrifice a little. This major national initiative and the recommendations of [NAFSA's] Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad can lift our vision and responsiveness to the rest of the world.”