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Furman’s Global Visitors Center joins National Council of International Visitors


Last updated February 17, 2016

By News administrator

GREENVILLE, S.C.—The Global Visitors Center at Furman University has been named a member of the National Council of International Visitors (NCIV), a network of universities, organizations and individuals that supports citizen diplomacy.

The Global Visitors Center at Furman was established in October 2011 and joins more than 90 CIVs in 45 states. The Center is a program of the Riley Institute and Office for Study Away and International Education at Furman.

NCIV members design and implement professional programs, provide cultural activities, and offer home hospitality for foreign leaders, specialists and scholars participating in the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) and other exchanges. Launched in 1940, the IVLP is a professional exchange initiative that seeks to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations.

Serving as a Council for International Visitors (also known as a Community Organization), the Furman Global Visitors Center matches Upstate resources with the needs of international visitors. The Center coordinates appointments for visitors with their industry counterparts, sets up meetings with students and faculty from Furman and other Upstate schools, and arranges opportunities for visitors to experience southern culture and social life. In turn, Upstate community and business leaders learn about best practices and cultures of other nations.

The Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics, and Public Leadership is a multi-faceted, non-partisan institute affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Furman University. Named for former governor of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education Richard Riley, the Institute is unique in the United States in the emphasis it places on engaging students in the various arenas of politics, public policy, and public leadership.

The mission of the Office for Study Away and International Education is to enhance the vitality and academic quality of faculty-led travel study, affiliate and exchange programs, and to enroll academically well-qualified and intellectually engaged students from different parts of the world.

For more information about the Furman Global Visitors Center, contact program manager Bianca Walker, 512-689-4222 or biancawalker68@gmail.com.

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