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Salute to the Class of 2008, Abu Dhabi
 
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A Conversation about Educational Globalization
 

 

A Welcome to the U.S. Secretary of Education
11/03/2008

Thank you and good afternoon students, faculty, and distinguished guests.

Secretary Spellings, you honor us with your visit and thoughts this afternoon. Thank you, thank you, thank you; the NYIT community here, in New York, and around the globe welcomes and salutes you.

On behalf of New York Institute of Technology, I want to express our appreciation to all our friends at the Higher Colleges, especially His Excellency Sheikh Nayahan Mabarak Al Nahayan and Vice Chancellor Kamali. Five years ago, the three of us and others began coming together to share a vision of the creation of human capital and global education as a key agenda for this century and this world. Today, we continue to build on that vision and friendship, and are bringing it to fruition in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere. Proof of our commitment is that NYIT is the first licensed American university in Abu Dhabi, where we are offering the same curriculum and degrees we offer in New York and all the opportunities and values that go with that. To date, nearly 300 students have earned an NYIT degree in Abu Dhabi, and as we build and grow, we expect many, many more.

I also want to say hello to the many thousands of members of the NYIT community who will share in this afternoon's program and the Secretary's words via the Web and digital broadcasts.

Before today, the last time I was in the same room as the Secretary was this past April in Washington, D.C. when she invited college presidents from the U.S. and abroad, as well as corporate and foundation leaders, to a Higher Education Summit for Global Development sponsored by the Departments of Education and State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

It was a lively two-day meeting of minds, formal in the seminar rooms and in the hallways. At that time the Secretary shared some thoughts that echo my own and I suspect those that all of us share:

She asserted, and I quote, that: "Knowledge has become the single most valuable currency in this changing world. And education continues to be the surest path to opportunity and prosperity. It's not a panacea, but a necessary foundation upon which progress is built."

In the global knowledge economy, higher education in particular has gone from nice-to-have to a must-have, for individuals as well as for societies. We all must educate more students to higher levels than ever before-and we need to do this in the context of the broader world.

And she noted that when it comes to higher education, nations around the world are facing many of the same challenges:

* developing human capital by expanding access to a broad range of postsecondary learning opportunities

* equipping students to meet the demands of a competitive world

* ensuring that postsecondary education is affordable for all

* making our institutions more responsive and accountable to the needs of customers

How true. Many of us at NYIT have been saying much the same thing for a while now; indeed, we've long recognized the power of education … both to improve people's lives wherever they may be and to promote understanding and harmony between people and nations. We know the forces of technology and democratization of education are leveling the barriers that separate nations, peoples, and economies. Education promises to be the great equalizer.

In a global economy driven by knowledge, corporations will go where the smartest people are … not necessarily where labor costs are lowest. With access to education, people anywhere in the world can compete in the global economy. Ideas can come from anywhere.

And as I have repeatedly said, with five-sixths of the human race not yet living in a developed economy, we must educate on a global scale.

NYIT is playing a significant role in the globalization of educational opportunities; it is part of our founding mission of creating access to opportunity for all qualified students.

Many universities are now increasingly promoting a global understanding and experience as part of their collegiate experience. And that is a good thing. For a decade now, NYIT has gone a step further. We, too, respect study-away programs and sites, and cooperative agreements for research and exchange between universities. Collaboration is very good. But what we have further envisioned is a new class of university, a global university, where students, faculty, research, curricula and ideas flow freely from one campus or site to another of that same university around the world. Our NYIT students, faculty and researchers are increasingly living that vision-in New York, Abu Dhabi, Jordan, Bahrain, China and Canada-promoting access to 21st-century education, ideas and opportunities. And while anchored on physical campuses, we at New York Institute of Technology live up to our "last name"-technology-and exploit it as a communications and community-building vehicle without borders.

Our speaker today, Secretary Spellings, has been a leader in reform to make education more innovative and responsive. The first mother of school-aged children to serve as Education Secretary, she has a special appreciation for the hopes and concerns of families.

From the White House and the statehouse to the school board and college campus, Secretary Spellings has been involved with education policy at every level. Her dynamic leadership and dialog this past decade will continue to shape America's-and I believe the world's-education agendas for decades to come.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome United States Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.