University of the Incarnate Word




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A Message from UIW President Dr. Louis Agnese Jr.

As advances in technology draw the world closer and closer together, international students will play an increasingly vital part in the globalization of the academic mission of the University of the Incarnate Word. They enrich the learning experience by allowing all of us - students, faculty, staff and administrators - to interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The commitment by Incarnate Word to the international component of our academic mission is visible in many areas. Our international students, who represent more than 30 countries, comprise 9 percent of our student body. The UIW Web site has been expanded to eight languages. We now offer Master's and Ph.D. degrees in international education and entrepreneurship. In addition, we have sister school agreements for reciprocal education with more than 70 universities in over 20 countries (please refer to the study abroad page for a complete listing). Our international commitment reached new heights with the opening in 2000 of the China Incarnate Word campus in Guangzhou, China, where students can earn an accredited Incarnate Word degree without leaving China.

The campus also features the Dr. Burton E. Grossman International Conference Center, a 46,000 square foot facility that bristles with high-tech communications equipment and contains multi-media language and computer laboratories. In the fall of 2001 we opened the Ann Barshop Natatorium, a swimming pool complex capable of hosting both national and international competitions.

There are currently other buildings under construction. One is a 150,000 square-foot, five-story facility by the International Conference Center that will feature an enclosed parking garage, a new bookstore, more dormitories and a banquet hall that will be the second largest in San Antonio. Another is a business-education building that will be the new home of our programs in business and education. Additionally, construction will begin in January of 2003 of a new science and engineering complex.

Location also is an important part of any educational experience. We are fortunate that Incarnate Word is in San Antonio, a dynamic Texas metropolis that is the ninth largest city in the United States. San Antonio offers a rich mixture of cultural heritages derived from its settlement by people from many countries throughout the world including Mexico, Spain, Germany, France and Ireland.

San Antonio's proximity to Mexico - about a two-hour drive from the border - gives the city a distinctive Hispanic flavor as well as a strategic location for unique opportunities in cultural and business exchanges with our southern neighbor. Additionally, Austin, the capital of Texas, is just 70 miles north.

I hope this brief message provided you with a glimpse of what the University of the Incarnate Word can offer international students. We are a Catholic institution that welcomes to its community persons of diverse backgrounds in the belief that their respectful interaction advances the discovery of truth, mutual understanding, self-realization and the common good. I look forward to seeing you here!