APLU honors Virginia Tech for advancing global teaching and learning | Virginia Tech News

That collaborative spirit is evident in the global network supporting the university’s efforts. Units such as the Global Education Office (GEO) and the Steger Center for International Scholarship — both part of Outreach and International Affairs — partner closely with the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies (TLOS), and academic colleges such as the Pamplin College of Business. 

In announcing the award, APLU cited the university’s leadership in broadening global learning opportunities and integrating them across disciplines. A central example is the Global Teaching Scholars initiative, hosted at the Steger Center in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. This place-based faculty development program helps instructors design high-impact international courses, integrate local contexts into global challenges, and connect study abroad opportunities with on-campus teaching. More than 65 faculty members have participated to date, collaborating with peers in Switzerland, Ecuador, and beyond. 

“These efforts illustrate how Virginia Tech is reimagining what global education looks like for a land-grant university,” said Sara Steinert Borella, executive director of the Steger Center. “We’re building a culture where global engagement emerges as a shared responsibility — one that begins in our classrooms and extends across communities and continents.”

The Global Teaching Scholars program has also sparked a wave of new initiatives, including Collaborative Online International Learning modules, co-taught international courses, and expanded faculty-led study abroad programs. To open more opportunities for STEM students, who often face scheduling hurdles that make study abroad difficult, the Steger Center launched a monthlong summer program called Pathways to the Steger Center. The program enables students to complete general-education requirements while engaging in immersive, place-based learning without delaying graduation.

Pamplin offers another model for universitywide global engagement. Its Global Business Perspectives program, also based at the Steger Center, removes financial barriers by covering all student costs — including passports — for participants. Students meet with business leaders and government officials in Switzerland and Italy while developing projects that explore global markets, culture, and sustainability. Back in Blacksburg, Pamplin’s Global Mentor Program pairs international and domestic students to foster belonging and cross-cultural understanding.

“Collaboration across units, together with deep commitment to our goal of engaging our students with the world, has been key to our success,” said Theresa Johansson, director of the Global Education Office. “By connecting the extraordinary individual expertise found in GEO, CETL, TLOS, and our academic partners, we’ve created an ecosystem that supports faculty innovation and helps students see themselves as part of a global community.”