YSU names new director

YOUNGSTOWN -- Jef Davis, former director of the international students and scholars office at Drexel University in Philadelphia, has been named director of the Center for International Studies and Programs at Youngstown State University.
CISP recruits international students and scholars to YSU and develops workshops in international education. YSU currently enrolls about 110 international students.
Davis received a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Akron in 1985 and a master's degree in student personnel administration in higher education from Ball State University in Indiana in 1986. He is a Ph.D. candidate at the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College.
Davis said he first became interested in international students as an undergraduate at Akron, where he helped international students learn about the UA campus.
"What I love about working with international students is that I am able to look at the American culture through their eyes," he said.
Davis said he plans to increase international diversity and international enrollment through a strategic recruitment plan that will include assessing and targeting areas where there is the most demand from and for international students. He said he also plans to increase the number of opportunities for students to study abroad.