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Sharmila Udyavar

Associate Director for Global Education
udyavar@unc.edu 
+1 919-962-4504
3008 FedEx Global Education Center
she/her

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Sharmila Udyavar is the associate director for global education at UNC Global Affairs. She has served in this role since 2022. Sharmila supports internationalization at home efforts by developing opportunities for all Carolina students to pursue a global education in their coursework and outside the classroom on campus. She manages Carolina’s growing COIL program, which stands for Collaborative Online International Learning, and is a crucial way to offer meaningful global engagement and intercultural learning for faculty and students. She leads efforts to recruit and support faculty to incorporate COIL into their curricula. Sharmila also manages Carolina’s Diplomacy Initiative, equipping students with resources and skills to pursue careers in global affairs. In 2024, under her leadership, the Diplomacy Initiative received the Institutional Leader Award from the North Carolina Association of International Educators. 

Previously, Sharmila worked at Fayetteville State University (FSU). There, she earned the Fulbright HBCU Institutional Leader award three times. Before entering the field of internationalization in higher education, Sharmila was a social researcher and faculty member in sociology at FSU. During that time, she taught courses that incorporated COIL experiences. Sharmila moved to the U.S. in 1999 from Mumbai, India. Growing up in the cosmopolitan financial capital of India exposed her to many languages and cultures, instilling a passion for cross-cultural learning. 

Sharmila earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bombay University and her doctorate in education from FSU. She loves to travel and cook. In the past, she owned and operated an Indian restaurant, and today she loves to teach others how to cook Indian cuisine. In the future, she hopes to lead culinary travel experiences. Sharmila has two daughters and two granddaughters, and she lives with her husband near Chapel Hill. 

 

Hometown
Bombay, India

Education
B.S., Nutrition and Dietetics, Bombay University
M.A., Sociology, Bombay University
Ed.D., Higher Education Leadership and Administration, Fayetteville State University

Languages
Hindi
Marathi
Konkani
Gujarati
Bengali 

Awards
State Service Recognition, 20 years, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2019, U.S. Embassy in Mexico and U.S.–Mexico Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (COMEXUS) and Education USA Education Partnership Tour of Mexico|
2014, University Administrators Tour to China, Confucius Institute