Intercultural Competence Mentorship Certificate (ICMC)

The Intercultural Competence Mentorship Certificate (ICMC) provides graduate students with a mentorship skillset specific to intercultural competence development.

Intercultural competence has been defined as "a set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics that support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts" (Bennett, J.M., 2008). It entails attitudes, knowledge, and skills such as openness, curiosity, self-awareness, empathy, communication, knowledge of cultural worldview frameworks, emotional resilience, and much more. 

The ICMC program will support those who complete the certificate to lead the development of others they may supervise, teach, or mentor and will ultimately benefit the sectors in which they work, from engineering to education, management to health care, etc. The learning outcomes of the certificate will also personally enrich graduates of the program because mentoring others effectively demands a commitment to life-long learning.

The certificate is open to non-degree seekers who enroll solely in this program, currently-enrolled Purdue graduate students, and students who wish to include it as a component of an interdisciplinary graduate degree. If you will be a new graduate student at Purdue, it is important to ensure that you have space in the plan of study for your degree to enroll in the required courses for this program. 

To apply for the ICMC, go to the Application Management System on the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars website.

Materials to submit include a current transcript, a statement of purpose describing your interest in intercultural competence mentorship along with any relevant educational or experiential background, and other general information.

Deadlines

Apply by July 1 to be admitted for fall semester.
Apply by December 1 to be admitted for spring semester.

Specific Course Requirements

For-Credit Courses
  • 3 credits – one or more courses totaling at least 3 hours of credit that align with the learning outcomes for worldview frameworks and/or cultural diversity. Because courses offerings shift frequently and many courses may count, CILMAR does not maintain a list of courses that meet this requirement. Rather, you are asked to fill out the ICMC Worldview/Diversity Course Proposal Form for each course you would like to count toward this requirement. The form elaborates definitions and criteria. 
  • 3 credits – one or more courses totaling at least 3 hours of credit that align with the learning outcomes of attitudes, skills, and knowledge relevant to mentorship. Because courses offerings shift frequently and many courses may count, CILMAR does not maintain a list of courses that meet this requirement. Rather, you are asked to fill out the ICMC Mentorship Course Proposal Form for each course you would like to count toward this requirement. The form elaborates criteria. 
  • 3 credits – GRAD 60000 Mentoring Intercultural Growth: Theory and Application. Please see the sample syllabus.
Not-for-Credit Components

Applied Learning Requirement (Register for 0-3 credits) – an experience constituted by 40-80 contact hours in which you mentor the intercultural development of others in a formal, structured program, course, or project, which could include an eligible study abroad/away program, internship, TAship, research project, community service learning, practicum, clinical. Prior or retroactive approval of experiences by CILMAR is required, as is a letter from the supervisor confirming number of hours and description of your role.

Portfolio Requirement –

  • For each of the 3 courses:
    • 1-2 artifacts that demonstrate your growth/learning
    • Brief (1-2 paragraphs or a short recording is fine) critical reflection on your growth as a mentor of intercultural competence through the course. 
    • Feel free to borrow from work you submitted for courses and information you submitted on Qualtrics about the Worldview/Diversity course and the Mentorship course.
  • For the Applied Learning Component:
    • List of activities and hours logged
    • Critical reflection on your growth through the experience
  • Capstone:
    • Written or filmed reflective narrative in which you summarize your strengths and growth edges as a mentor, bring in future goals, personal insights, etc. 
    • You are encouraged to consider future employers as the audience.
Course Created for this Certificate
GRAD 60000 Mentorship of Intercultural Competence. Please see the sample syllabus.

Student Learning and Assessment Outcomes:

1. The ability to apply a deep understanding...
...of cultural worldview frameworks (from the Intercultural Knowledge and Competence AAC&U VALUE rubric) and awareness of cultural diversity (from the Global Learning AAC&U VALUE rubric) to a variety of personal and professional settings;
2. The facility to excel as a mentor...
...in guiding the individual developmental processes of others, for example by exhibiting skills in leadership, interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, individual reflection, classroom management, and group dialogue facilitation; and
3. The capacity to design, implement, and assess...
...theoretically-grounded and research-informed formal and informal intercultural learning opportunities for groups and individuals, in person and in virtual settings.

Updated September 26, 2023