Brett Berquist will join the staff of the Padnos International Center, in August, as director of global programs.
Berquist, a native of South Dakota, is currently the director of international development at the Institut Superieur du Commerce, a graduate school in Paris, France. His duties include coordinating faculty-led short-term programs, foreign internships, and English as Second Language courses.
He graduated from the University of Missouri at Kansas City with a bachelor's degree in music and French literature, then earned a master's degree in linguistics from the University of Kansas.
At GVSU, Berquist will help faculty members plan new and existing short-term programs to foreign countries. Currently, there are more than 20 such programs, which range from one to four weeks in length.
When a program is short-term, you need to have something in place to make sure there is learning involved, and you're meeting course objectives, Berquist said. If you don't make sure of a program's structure, it will be perceived as a junket.
Wendy Wenner, interim associate vice president for Academic Affairs and acting dean of International Affairs, said, Berquist's talents and expertise are just what we need to move GVSU to the next level in our development of strong international programs.
