DECATUR, Ill. – Maret Matthew has been named Millikin University's Dean of International Education, effective July 1, 2024. Matthew will oversee Millikin’s Center for International Education (CIE), the recruitment process for international students, and is responsible for fostering an organizational culture and climate that fully supports global education.
The Dean of International Education is a new position at Millikin after a restructuring of international student recruitment following the retirement of International Enrollment Director Carmen Aravena in the spring of 2024. Additionally, a search is underway to fill the Director of International Recruitment position.
"I am very excited about this opportunity to help grow and expand Millikin’s international student population. I hope to diversify the countries our international students come from, and I want to increase the support available to students and faculty who want to study and teach abroad,” Matthew said. “There's so much that students can get culturally and in the classroom from the international experience. We live in this global world where cultures are interchanged, and it’s best we prepare them now at the college level so that when they enter the workforce, they're ready.”
Matthew is completing her Ph.D. in Student Personnel Leadership from the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., and has a Master of Science in Training and Development from Eastern Illinois University.
Matthew comes to Millikin after serving as Assistant Director of International Enrollment Management & Global Operation at the College of Southern Nevada, where she oversaw the international student application process. She also served as Assistant Director of International Student and Scholar Affairs at the University of Notre Dame and held positions in International Admissions at Parkland College.
“Most of my experience comes from the community college space and universities are much different from the community college world with greater international access for students, and that excites me,” Matthew said. “While community colleges often have study abroad programs, they are very small, and it is hard to keep the momentum going since students typically only attend for two years. I’m really excited about the opportunities that come with a private university, being able to grow and build upon our international partnerships and giving students greater access to opportunities to study abroad.”
While Matthew couldn’t study abroad during her undergraduate experiences at Parkland College and Eastern Illinois University, international education played an essential role in her family.
“I was a non-traditional student, so I didn’t have the experience of studying abroad. However, my father, Bishop Nkereuwem Matthew, came to the U.S. to Urbana High School as an international student from Nigeria,” she said. “International education has always been big in our household and the cultural exchange has always been important to me.”
The CIE will hold the annual Global Opportunities Study Abroad Fair on Thursday and Friday, September 19 and 20, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Oberhelman Center for Leadership Performance (OCLP) on the first floor of the University Commons. Students considering their study and travel abroad options can get more information about upcoming 2025 trips to the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and South Korea.
