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“��������now has more than 180 sites around the globe, and we put faculty and staff on the ground to allow servicemen and women to continue on their educational journey, including in conflict zones like Vietnam and Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq,” said Lloyd “Milo” Miles, ���ѳҰ�’s senior vice president of Global Military Operations. “Most universities wouldn’t do what we do. The cost would be tremendous, the infrastructure would be tremendous, the challenges would be tremendous. But ��������has been willing to do it since the beginning.”

In military-speak, ��������puts its boots on the ground, and its impact is felt far beyond the classroom.

In alignment with its promise to “meet students where they are,” the university continues to expand its physical footprint, both overseas and stateside. It has followed servicemembers to their assignments around the globe, in peace and in war, most recently adding a location at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

At the same time, stateside, ��������is driving an ambitious expansion that now includes Education Centers in 11 states and the District of Columbia.

This global footprint only underscores the fact that education can no longer be presented as “one size fits all,” and university stakeholders have embraced this reality.

��������staff who teach in far-flung regions have volunteered to help at pivotal geopolitical moments, offering support, for example—as have servicemember students—during U.S. military and civilian evacuation efforts in Afghanistan in 2021.

In fact, ��������staff and military students were among the first to assist in the evacuation, working in Kabul or from support stations in Qatar.

In response to a call for assistance from the Air Force, ��������staff at Ramstein Air Base in Germany set up cots and helped prepare for incoming flights of evacuees. The only civilians working alongside the military, they also coordinated closely with the USO to greet arriving evacuees, distribute food and water, and support ��������students in social work classes who were helping with children and Red Cross placements.

Other ��������servicemember-students also played key roles.

“When Operation Allied Refugee first kicked off last year, I assisted by setting up cots and chairs, handing out food, and directing people,” said student Devon Bechtel. Later, her company took charge of one of the living quarters for evacuees, setting up beds and directing evacuees to showers and bathrooms, distributing supplies from the Red Cross, and ensuring that refugees were fed.

Bechtel noted that, at the same time, there were concerns about the spread of COVID-19, because many of the evacuees had not been vaccinated. Nonetheless, she said, interacting with the refugees “was the best thing I did.”

Involvement like this is possible because ��������leverages technology to transcend geopolitical borders and brick-and-mortar classrooms. It had developed a virtual learning infrastructure long before the COVID-19 pandemic forced other universities online, and now—as it works to refine that infrastructure—it is poised to lead in a re-envisioned higher education landscape.

“If a student e-mails their instructor to say they are being mobilized, receives permanent change-of-station orders, or is deployed overseas on short notice, that is different from the experience of other adult learners,” said Nicole DeRamus, ��������assistant vice president of Veterans Programs. “We believe Green Zone training closes a gap in knowledge for those who may not have served in the military or who may not have a family member who served.

“We think this training helps others better understand those students, while also creating an environment where military-connected students have a sense of belonging,” she added.

Through Green Zone training and other initiatives, ��������is also raising awareness of the diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and accessibility issues that are part of the university’s DNA.

“It is important for ��������to provide a global leadership voice, particularly in the areas of DEI and accessibility, given our years of experience successfully operating in a global environment and serving diverse students,” said Patricia Jameson, acting associate vice president and deputy director for . “It is our social responsibility to share our expertise and knowledge to help educate our communities.”

Jameson directs ���ѳҰ�’s overseas diversity and equity programs in Europe and Asia, and explained how, in the past year, ��������has entrenched DEI learning through conferences, webinars, discussions, and activities.

In June, the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference: Cultivating Inclusive Competence” offered members of the ��������Europe community the opportunity to present research linked to their undergraduate or graduate studies. The conference was held in Germany, at the Sembach Education Center, and broadcast live via Zoom.

A few months earlier, ��������supported a Diversity Day at Ramstein Air Base and partnered with the military garrison in Stuttgart to host a webinar—also broadcast live on Zoom—on gender equality. Similar events were presented in partnership with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council and Gender Equality Committee of the U.S. European Command and U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden.

In October, a faculty event on diversity was broadcast live to American Forces Network (AFN) leadership teams at 14 satellite sites throughout Europe, helping foster a deeper understanding of how diversity and inclusion matter in the workplace. And to mark the new Juneteenth holiday in the United States, Jessica Stock—a professor of English literature and member of the university’s Diversity Council—selected Ralph Ellison’s book Juneteenth for the ��������Europe Book Club she facilitates.

��������students in Europe have also taken up the torch. MBA students in the Leading in the Multicultural Global Environment course spearheaded a diversity and inclusion discussion in December focused on “Cultural Intelligence in Business Leadership.”

James Cronin, vice president and director of ��������Asia, points out how these efforts are both necessary and a natural fit for UMGC.

“When I joined the U.S. military at 21, for the first time I worked and lived side-by-side with people from all races and backgrounds, and it really opened my eyes to what we should be,” Cronin said. “The military has always had a diverse workforce, and inclusion was a necessity—and we see that in the demographics of our student body. As diversity, equity, and inclusion is necessary for the military, it must also be for UMGC.

“Our students must be able to use our academic programs to help them succeed in this global world and diverse workforce,” he added. “It is vital that ��������helps to deliver a positive message of inclusion from the perspective that it is essential and not optional.”