Grant Sisk

Background

About Grant Sisk

I hold a Ph.D. in Modern American Literature and over twenty-five years’ experience in higher education as both professor, administrator and, in various roles, international engagement coordinator. My first ten years were spent in the classroom; the past few have been administrative, though I remain connected to students by lecturing occasionally here and abroad. In 2011 I became Academic Dean of World Languages at Brookhaven College, in Dallas, Texas where I also served as Interim Director of the Multicultural Center. As Dean, I oversaw close to fifty fulltime and adjunct faculty of the Foreign Languages, ESOL and Intensive English programs, a support staff of six, and a fluctuating number of foreign-language tutors and lab personnel. I was responsible for a budget of 1.6 million dollars and planning, scheduling, maintaining quality in our programs, evaluating faculty performance, interviewing potential faculty, and ensuring SACS compliance. As Director of the Multicultural Center, I oversaw a staff of nine and all operations including budgeting, international student recruitment, student advisement, assessment, degree planning and transfer information for all foreign nationals and second-language English speakers, as well as SEVIS, and F-1 visa creation and status. That same year I was invited to join the board of Global North Texas,(GNTX) an entity that worked with the US Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program,(IVLP) to create and host visits from people that staff the US embassies around the world had identified as "up and comers" to come to the US and explore issues such as the rule of law, treatment of marginalized populations, violence against women, religious freedom, and others to foster "grass roots diplomacy" and project US values on a global scale. In 2019, GNTX merged with the World Affairs Council, Dallas to become the IVLP standing committee, on which I still serve. In 2012 I began teaching academic and creative writing at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam during the winter break. A Fulbright Scholar,(Russia 2017) I am heavily invested in the transformative value of study abroad, international engagement and grass roots diplomacy.