The Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC) is pleased to announce the 13 awardees of the 2026 Texas International Education Fund (TIEF), a grant program that funds new projects bringing meaningful international learning opportunities to students at TIEC member institutions in Texas and abroad.
TIEF offers three grant categories:
- Virtual Exchange Grant supports new international online collaborations for undergraduate or graduate students.
- Study Abroad Program Development Grant seeds new immersive international education opportunities.
- Strategic Internationalization Grant supports initiatives at the university-wide or institutional level to advance internationalization capacity.
This year's awards span 10 Texas member higher education institutions, including public and private universities, as well as community colleges.
Virtual Exchange Grant Recipients: Connecting Classrooms Across Borders
The TIEF Virtual Exchange grant provides direct support for faculty/staff at TIEC member institutions to design and facilitate new virtual, international collaborations for undergraduate/graduate students. In collaboration with partner institutions abroad, awardees use Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), a teaching model built around shared virtual coursework, to connect students in Texas classrooms with peers abroad.
Texas Woman's University
Mikyoung Lee
Course: Foundations of Global Health and Cultural Nursing Practice/ Applied Global Health and Culturally Responsive Nursing Practice
Partner University: Kyungpook National University, South Korea
Texas Woman's University
Siyoung Choe
Course: Introduction to Global Health
Partner University: Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU), Eswatini
Baylor University
Christina Iluzada
Course: Business Communications
Partner University: Christ University, India
University of Houston
Maredil Leon
Course: Introduction to Bilingual Education
Partner University: Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica, Colombia
Study Abroad Development Grant Recipients: Preparing Students Through Global Experience
The TIEF Study Abroad Development Grant supports the development of new faculty-led multi-year study abroad programs. During year one of the award, the grant supports faculty and staff program development costs. In year two, funds help lower student costs during the program's first year of operation.
Angelo State University
Yo-Rong Chen
Course: The Traditional Chinese Medicine Techniques for Sport Injury Management
Destination: Taiwan
Stephen F. Austin State University
Hannah Snavely; Emily Durocher
Course: Music and Cultural Sustainability
Destination: Chile
Sam Houston State University
William Ellegood
Course: Analytics, Information Systems, and Supply Chain
Destination: Ireland
Sam Houston State University
Carly Hoffmann
Course: International Agriculture
Destination: South Africa
Austin Community College District
Blue BlueFeather
Course: The Psychology of Longevity in Costa Rica Pura Vida: Exploring the Nicoya Blue Zone
Destination: Costa Rica
Dallas College
Vergie Brannon
Course: Integrating Global Perspectives in Mental Health Nursing
Destination: Egypt
Strategic Internationalization Grant Recipients: Advancing Campus-Wide Global Learning
The Strategic Internationalization Grant supports institution-wide efforts to build programs and infrastructure that give more students access to international learning and help prepare them for globally connected careers.
The University of Texas at Dallas
Jennifer Hilton Ortiz
Project Title: The Global Capstone Collaborative
Project Overview: The Global Capstone Collaborative (GCC) is a university-wide initiative designed to expand the University of Texas at Dallas’s Global Scholars Digital Badge into a credit-bearing, interdisciplinary global learning experience. The project will create a UNIV-prefix course housed in Undergraduate Education, ensuring access to students across all majors and removing disciplinary barriers to participation.
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M Department of Global Engagement: Trisha Winkle, Dr. Holly Hudson, & Caleb Chapman
Project Title: The Texas A&M System Global Leadership Initiative.
Project Overview: The Department of Global Engagement was established in 2022 to spearhead internationalization across Texas A&M University, and is now positioned to take that mandate across the whole of the A&M university system via a program that trains higher education professionals in designing, coordinating, and sustaining international programs.
Participants will engage in monthly facilitated sessions covering global trends in higher education, cross-cultural leadership, international partnership development, ethical considerations in global engagement, and systems thinking. The program will culminate in a cross-institutional capstone project; teams will identify a real global engagement challenge and develop a strategic proposal with measurable outcomes and present it to senior leadership.
University of Houston
Maggie Mahoney
Project Title: University of Houston’s Global Faculty Institute
Project Overview: The University of Houston’s Global Faculty Institute is a strategic initiative led by the Institute for Global Engagement designed to expand institutional capacity for comprehensive internationalization through faculty leadership and development. The Global Faculty Institute directly addresses critical gaps in faculty engagement, program development, and equitable student access to global learning opportunities. The Institute will align the university’s mission to support and increase student success by promoting, supporting, and fostering a culture of excellence through the comprehensive development of University of Houston faculty.
Congratulations to this year’s awardees! We look forward to seeing these projects take shape and expand international learning opportunities for students.
