- Posted in All University
- Category: Campus News
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – Dr. Dafina Blacksher Diabate, director of the Office of International Programs, is one of just five international education leaders to have been selected as a 2019-2020 Association of International Education Administrators Presidential Fellow.
Selected by a committee of their peers, the AIEA Presidential Fellows program is a highly competitive mentoring initiative for senior international officers serving in the first three years of their current positions.
“Lincoln is such a vibrant place for international education,” said Diabate. “I am honored to be charged with continuing the legacy of what has been achieved before me at this historic institution. The Presidential Fellowship gives me the support and mentorship as I work to expand global opportunities for Lincoln university students.”
At Lincoln, Diabate directs the office whose duties include: expanding and promoting study abroad opportunities; providing services for international students; handling international admissions; managing international university exchanges; and building a globally engaged university community.
AIEA Presidential Fellows are matched with seasoned mentors to provide advice, consultation, and guidance on issues of interest. Each fellow is awarded a small stipend toward a visit to their mentor’s campus, during which they will learn about campus policies, politics and procedures; meet administrators and faculty; and immerse themselves in the day-to-day activities of the institution.
The fellowship affords participants the opportunity to observe how experienced senior international officers and their institutions address international education challenges and solve problems, to learn about national and international issues and how they affect individual campuses, and to become a member of a national network who can serve as a resource beyond the Presidential Fellows program.
Diabate’s mentor will be Hilary L. Link, president of Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Prior to becoming Allegheny’s president on July 1, 2019, she was the dean of Temple University’s Rome campus.
--Terrance J. Young, M.Div.