Matthew Walters, a candidate for assistant dean of International Students and Scholars, hopes to use creativity and innovation to increase the numbers of international students at Eastern.
An open student session was held Thursday where students asked questions they had about Walters’ qualifications.
Walters was recently the assistant dean for student affairs and global initiatives at The New School in New York City and he said he looks forward to possibly working at Eastern because of its sense of community.
“To be somewhere where you can have the sense of community, I believe, makes for a stronger future,” he said.
Walters has done consulting work and served on the board of non-profit organizations connected to the United Nations.
In the open session, Walter discussed the importance of communicating with faculty members to help them understand where an international student is coming from and to help international student to adapt to the Eastern community, especially in the classroom.
One suggestion from a student at the open session that stood out to Walters was the possibility of faculty calling their students if they see a problem in their schoolwork.
Walters said he is looking forward to learning what does and does not work when it comes to recruiting international students at Eastern, which currently has about 450 international students.
Walters said he wants to work with the university and Eastern President David Glassman to come up with a strong goal to increase this number.
Because Eastern collaborates well with others and has a strong sense of community, Walter said he would be able to communicate to all levels of people on campus.
“It’s good to have conversations and share ideas between students and staff,” he said.
The other candidate, Nassef Girgis will be interviewed Thursday, July 6. The times for the interview and open student session has yet to be determined.