By returning to the College of St. Joseph's education department for her second stint as its division chair, alumna Dr. Maria Bove said she's come "full circle."

CSJ President Frank Miglorie's hoping the Peru native will also help take the school international.

As one of five international education experts picked to present at a Latin American summit in Antigua, Guatemala, the week of Oct. 4 sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Bove's already making significant strides toward that goal and continuing the work that for years has been her passion.

"This is an honor because the impact of this summit extends beyond this summit and internationally," said Bove, a tiny, fast-speaking woman who was brimming with energy during a recent visit to her office on the second floor of St. Joseph Hall.

The summit, which will attract education ministers and general and special education directors from throughout Latin America, is focused on making education inclusive for all students, namely those who are deafblind or blind with multiple disabilities, which is also the mission of Perkins International's Hilton/Perkins Project, an offshoot of the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass. Their work has been funded in large part by a donation from the Hilton Foundation, the charity of the Hilton Hotel chain.

Inclusive education, particularly the area of universal design for learning, on which she'll present at the summit, is also largely the focus of Bove's expertise, she said. She's worked with Hilton/Perkins for about two decades, bringing both her expertise and her Latin heritage to bear on training Latin America's educators and changing Latin countries' cultural perception of how children with deafblindness and multiple disabilities are perceived, according to Stephen Perreault, the Perkins Latin America Regional Coordinator.

"You could go to any country there and say her name and people will smile and say how she's really influenced the work," Perreault said.

And the extent of that work has been significant since Hilton/Perkins arrived in Latin America in 1990. Then, they were in only six schools, serving no more than a total of 120 students.

Now, Hilton/Perkins trained educators are in more than 400 schools working with 10,000 children. Additionally, more than 300 teachers throughout Latin America now hold master's degrees in the field.

"That's a big impact and a big part of the work Maria has done with us," Perreault said. "Her having a doctorate and the background of being from Latin America was the key component in connecting these systems. If we tried to bring in someone without the Latin background we would have just created more barriers to overcome."

Despite Bove's far-reaching influence, she was only away from Vermont's academic setting for about seven years. After graduating from CSJ, Bove earned a master's degree from Boston College and a doctorate from the University of Vermont before returning to CSJ as a professor, where she remained until 1988. After that, she spent time at both Green Mountain College and Castleton State College before pursuing international consulting work.

She said she was drawn back to CSJ when the division chair opened this summer, and Miglorie is thrilled to have her. He said Bove's in the process of a full-scale evaluation of CSJ's education curriculum, which he knows will be overhauled to include a focus on bilingual programs and training in English as a Second Language.

"She's an outstanding resource given the work she's doing on the international level," he said. "She's also a very creative, progressive educator who clearly sees what's on the horizon."

stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com