Katherine Hammett, candidate for executive director of international affairs, wants to globalize campus

Executive Director of International Affairs candidate Kathy Hammett talks with faculty, Wednesday, in the Lake Superior room at the Student University Center.
(Brooke Mayle/Staff Photographer)

Katherine Hammett, a candidate to become Central Michigan University’s executive director for foreign affairs, wants to use her position to add international curriculum to all students education.

Hammett is the director of international education at Carroll University in Wisconsin and has also held positions in the international student offices of Xavier University and Louisiana Tech University. She spoke at an open forum at Central Michigan University Wednesday about her passion for international education.

She said what excites her most about the position of executive director for foreign affairs at CMU is its place on the Council of Deans, something she would use to her advantage.

“To be able to insert international education into everyday life on campus will be smoother because of that position,” she said.

The executive director for foreign affairs will lead the campus in creating an international curriculum by working with faculty, staff and administrators. They will work to enhance international research, exchange programs and have a hand in the globalization of campus.

Hammett said she would first spend time learning about people and their lives on campus and use that knowledge to move forward, if she were chosen for the position.

“The study abroad office and the position of executive director for foreign affairs are so tied. It would be interesting to find a balance and something that works well for the two,” Hammett said.

Hammett said she would work with faculty and students to help everyone see the role they could play in helping international students on campus, and in making CMU more global.

“We are part of a global society, and to ignore that fact is perilous,” she said. “We have to engage globally. We have to get students thinking broadly.”

Hammett is the last of three candidates for the position of executive director for foreign affairs to speak at CMU.

Claudia Douglass, the interim vice provost of academic affairs and the head of the search committee for the job, said a decision concerning the position should be made by the end of October.