The college and university president in the United States fills many roles. He or she serves as salesman, lobbyist, educator, philosopher, cheerleader, and corporate executive. All too often, presidents fill these roles without a sense of the larger context in which they operate. They, too, must think globally even as they act locally in serving as academic presidents.

Our students will graduate and likely supervise or be supervised by someone of a different ethnic, national, racial, or religious group. Their neighbors will represent these different groups. Sources of institutional revenues are now multinational; even states have set up international trade offices with priorities for local investment. More students should study in other countries in order to benefit from the cross-cultural fertilization of ideas and be prepared for careers and citizenship in the next century. Finally, organizational issues in colleges and universities are quite similar worldwide, and we can learn from discussing these issues with academic leaders in other national settings. While the issues of governance, student preparation, resource development, technology investment, and curriculum are similar internationally, local traditions and circumstances dictate different responses. By comparing information globally, we can improve our strategies locally.

I have been fortunate in my presidency to be involved in several activities that have helped me develop these cross-cultural perspectives. As a member of the American Council on Education-Council of European Rectors Trans-Atlantic "Dialogue," I have been able to participate in cross-cultural discussions about planning, governance, curriculum, and finances. With University Mobility Asia Pacific and UNESCO, I have been able to participate in the development of policies for the exchange of academic credits, credentials, and scholars. With the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, I have been involved in the discussion of cross-national studies on key issues facing institutions of higher education.

Opportunities such as these are available to academic presidents through bodies such as the American Council on Education, the International Association of University Presidents, and UNESCO, among others. In fall 1998, UNESCO will sponsor a conference on the theme of "Higher Education in the 21st Century." Every academic president should read the preparatory information.

Preparing Citizens for 2020
Chief executive officers in academic settings, as well as in commercial settings, must comprehend and be able to work in an intercultural environment. If we are to prepare our students for citizenship as well as careers, we must have answers to the following questions. What are the best learning goals for undergraduate students, and what should undergraduates know about the natural world, the cultural world, and the ethical systems by which one mediates between and among them? What are the ways in which institutions of higher education can assist the broader society in developing sustainable environmental communities? And finally, what are the ways in which campuses themselves might become models of sustainable environmental communities? Only by learning how others in different cultures approach these questions from the vantage points of time, place, and circumstance, can we truly fulfill our roles as academic presidents with international responsibilities.

Points of Leverage for a "Global" President
While change can be difficult and slow to accomplish, the academic president has a variety of tools available to foster international consciousness on the campus. I call these tools my "points of leverage." The touchstones on every campus are the mission statement and the strategic plan. Include "international awareness" or "global literacy" in these documents and they become important points of reference.

Add global literacy to annual goals for the president, senior officers, and deans, and further leverage can be gained. Include global learning in the periodic review of administrative units and academic programs, and in hiring and trustee selection, and a president has given high priority to the topic. When international education is a constant in the fund-raising case statement, presidential speeches, and cultural programming, its priority is reinforced. When faculty rewards such as promotion, salary, and tenure include contributions to global learning as a criterion, then the points of leverage are fully engaged.

Thinking Globally While Acting Locally
The college or university president fulfills responsibilities with a global perspective in a variety of ways. Indeed, the president's responsibilities for cultural understanding extend beyond the curriculum to include student activities in this and other countries, the composition of the faculty, and institutional governance. In particular, the president needs to lead in strategic planning and in the accomplishment of annual goals by seeing to it that the campus focus is on what students should learn about a culture other than one's own, the natural world, and ethical systems. The president uses strategic points of leverage to prepare truly global citizens.