Director, International Training & Professional Development Programs
Montana State University
Janelle Rasmussen serves as the Director of International Training and Development Programs at Montana State University (MSU). She has over twenty five years of experience facilitating diverse exchange experiences for students, scholars, and professionals from around the world, including several U.S. State Department-funded programs, including: ILEP (International Leaders in Education Program); TEA (Teaching Excellence and Achievement); and the MEPI (Middle East Partnership Initiative) Student Leaders Program.
Janelle’s expertise lies in leadership and workforce development, and she strives to bring innovative methods to MSU’s training programs to facilitate up-to-date, relevant training for international participants. She has led projects supporting programming related to leadership development, teacher training, curriculum development, STEM-based learning, community engagement, and civil society advancement.
Through her current role at MSU, Janelle ensures the delivery of high-quality/high-impact training experiences by collaborating with MSU faculty on curriculum design and supporting the overall logistical and budget support for programs. She maintains relationships between MSU and international partners, works with faculty to design custom academic, research, and/or career development programs, creates programming that supports cross-cultural understanding and awareness, manages program teams of up to twenty-five staff members at any given time, and delivers support in areas such as cross-cultural communication, orientations, recruitment-based university informational sessions, monitoring and evaluation/report writing and also provides emergency response guidance.
Janelle is extremely active in the International Higher Education field and has served in several NAFSA Leadership positions, most recently as Co-Chair for the U.N. Member Interest Group.