Developing intercultural communication: A university project

With an increasingly complex, diverse and mobile workforce, the need for intercultural communication and cultural awareness is greater than ever. Yet few higher education programmes presently provide these skills to students. This paper outlines the necessity for intercultural communication within higher education, and describes the process of the creation of a project designed to provide enhancement of the quality of teaching and learning and student support through an intercultural communication staff training programme. The intended long-term outcomes of the project were: 1) the development of a structured resource base for staff to address/alleviate diversity-related conflict; and 2) an enhanced student experience resulting in higher student retention and course satisfaction.