The purpose of this certificate is to help students increase their awareness of global affairs, apply their new insights to their academic concentrations, future career, day-to-day life, and contribute to the internationalization of our university. The GPC is open to undergraduate students of any major and class standing. Both domestic and international students at NC State are welcome to apply for the certificate. 

The goal of the Global Perspectives Certificate is to recognize students for their international studies and activities and to encourage students to continue their global interests both overseas and within the United States.

The certificate allows students to document academic, professional, and co-curricular international involvement for future scholarship opportunities, employers, and graduate schools. Upon completion, students will receive a notation on their transcript and an official certificate documenting their global experience during their studies.

To see more about what you will learn in this program, visit the Learning Outcomes website!

Program Coordinator

Kasey Harris
GPC Coordinator
Park Shops 211K
919.513.1937
global-perspectives@ncsu.edu

Program Administrator

Dr. Bret Smith
Senior Associate Dean
University College
Park Shops 308
bhsmith6@ncsu.edu

Website

Plan Requirements

Students must complete four components for this certificate.

I. International Experience

This must take place in any country other than the U.S., and must be educational in some way. Options could include, but are not limited to, study abroad, international internships, overseas volunteer programs, research abroad, being an international student in the U.S., or any other international experience approved by the GPC Coordinator.

II. Academic Experience

To successfully complete this portion of the certificate, NC State students must be in good standing and achieve a minimum GPA of 2.0 overall for the required courses.

• Language requirement: Students must complete either the equivalent of FLx 201 in the language in which they met the university foreign language requirement, or at least three credit hours at any level of study in a new language.
• Course requirement: (12 credit hours), which may simultaneously fulfill GEP or other degree requirements. Four courses with strong international emphases must be chosen from three different categories: European and Eurasian Studies; African, Asian, and Latin American Studies; and Modern Global Issues. Students may substitute a course with U.S. multicultural emphasis in place of one of the required four courses. (International Studies major or minor automatically fulfills this requirement).

III. A. Co-Curricular activities

One important purpose of the co-curricular requirement is to help internationalize the NC State Campus overall, increasing the amount of internationally related activity, and helping those students who choose not to go abroad to nonetheless benefit from global perspectives.

Certificate recipients must engage in co-curricular activities totaling at least 30 points in the GPC system. One hour is worth roughly 1 point. Ten points are awarded to semester-long commitments for certain activities or programs. Students may participate in co-curricular activities within the US and abroad.

Students may receive a maximum of 7 points for attending any single event, and a maximum of 15 points for any one organization or club. Examples of activities within these categories are provided below. Each will fall into one of these categories:

One (1) Point Activities:
The following categories are worth 1 point for attendance at each meeting or event. If a student holds an office in an organization, they may also earn 1 point for each planning meeting:

• International clubs on-campus
• International events on-campus
• International events in the community (in the U.S.)
• OIS Programs
• Lectures

Ten (10) Point Activities:
The following activities require semester-long commitments. Each are worth 10 points total for a semester:

• OIS International Friendship Program
• Alexander Global Village Resident (10 point maximum)
• University Scholars Language Exchange Program (8 week/1 semester commitment required)

III. B. Community Service

Students must also complete at least 10 hours of volunteer service. The volunteer project must have an international focus (e.g. volunteer English tutor, helping immigrants with taxes or visas). Community service may be completed in the U.S. or in another country.

• Note: For some events, students may have the opportunity to volunteer to help set-up, plan, or work (e.g. International Festival). Volunteering is active service to others, and is considered separate from attending an event or being part of an on-campus organization. Attending an event does not count toward volunteer hours. Students must complete 10 volunteer hours in addition to 30 points of co-curricular activities.
• Documentation: Students must provide documentation proving their participation in these activities. This can be in the form of an email to the GPC Coordinator from the leader or president of an organization the student is in, showing the name of the student, the organization, and the number of meetings the student attended. For lecturers or events, students may save a ticket stub or program with the name of the lecture/event and the date. For programs listed on the University Scholars Program (USP) calendar, USP staff has offered to collaborate in the use of their attendance cards.

IV. Capstone

Students must prepare a synthesizing capstone project which answers specific questions about their experience in pursuing the Global Perspectives Certificate. The project may consist of a poster, a paper, powerpoint presentation, video, website, physical display or combination of media. The project is intended to help students reflect on their time and experiences while in the GPC as well as their current and future role as a global citizen.