Revisiting Readiness for Every New Action - Session 7

As the Academic Support Coordinator in NYU's Office of Global Programs, I help our leadership develop and expand the curriculum at our Global Academic Centers. In order to introduce a new course abroad, we need to work with departments here on the Washington Square campus who ultimately "own" their department's courses. I have seen our office fail to win a department's support in the past due to inadequately assessing and improving a department's readiness.

Our Vice Provost recently wanted to add chemistry and biology courses to the curriculum at NYU Tel Aviv. The departments were reluctant in supporting this effort however, and as a result, we still have not added these courses to the curriculum. The departments have not completely fought against adding these courses, but they have dragged their feet, and slowed the process down significantly. It is clear to me, that our office could have had much more success with this project, if we had focused on improving readiness beforehand.

We currently offer Biology, Chemistry, and Physics at NYU London. The departments here in NY that sponsor these courses are currently worried about the quality of these courses offered abroad. While it is not completely clear whether these concerns are justified, nothing has been done to thoroughly evaluate whether or not there are problems with these courses, and to address these problems should they indeed exist. Our office recognized that these concerns should be addressed, but wanted to first push forward with adding these courses to the curriculum in Tel Aviv. I think this was a major mistake, as we should have recognized, readiness is essential for each new action. If the departments were not ready to support a study abroad initiative, the initiative cannot succeed. We need to first address any concerns the department may have about NYU London, and ensure that they are ready to support efforts at NYU Tel Aviv. Only then, with full readiness, can we hope to achieve success.