The Corte Real building on Memorial University’s St. John’s campus has been renamed the Global Learning Centre.

The Board of Regents approved the renaming at its meeting in December 2019.

The new name reflects the mandate of the Internationalization Office (IO), the building’s primary resident and a hub of services and supports for international and domestic students.

Also located in the building are laundry services for Burton’s Pond residents and the Campus Food Bank.

Natural next step

In fall 2019 university community members gathered to celebrate the re-opening of the IO after building upgrades were completed.

From the new space, located next to Burton’s Pond apartments, IO staff and student employees deliver programming to assist students with transition, immigration and career exploration, support families and discover learning abroad opportunities and more.

The name change was a natural next step in the process of further developing internationalization on Memorial’s St. John’s campus and meeting the goals of the Strategic Internationalization Plan 2020.

“Changing the name of the Corte Real building to a name that reflects the function and activities of the Internationalization Office highlights the importance of internationalization to Memorial’s campus,” said Sonja Knutson, director of the Internationalization Office. “We also hope this change will help bring students to the Global Learning Centre to learn more about going abroad and becoming engaged in internationalization activities on campus.”

Following consultation with the university community, including with international students, it was determined that the building where the Internationalization Office is located should be renamed to reflect internationalization.

“Internationalization is a vital component of most Canadian universities, recognizing that international students add immeasurably to campus experiences and the benefits of global partnerships,” added Ms. Knutson.