Mihaela Plugarasu
Associate Teaching Professor
Communication
Biography
Mihaela Plugarasu, M.S., is an award-winning teaching professor in the Global Strategic Communications master’s program at Florida International University. Plugarasu is an educator and practitioner with 20 years of communication, leadership and personal development experience. She is a dynamic facilitator, moderator and presenter on empowering topics related to social media, communication & leadership and conscious living. In addition to her work at FIU and with U.S.-based non-profits, she has led seminars and courses at the University of Palermo in Palermo, Italy and the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Prior to joining the faculty, Plugarasu served as the director of strategic initiatives & communications at FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, where she led all communications, including the school’s marketing, advertising, web and social media and public relations.
Plugarasu won the CARTA Faculty Teaching Award in 2022, and was a Teaching Fellow for the Center for the Advancement of Teaching at FIU.
Plugarasu's past COIL partnerships were with University of Girona ( Spain) and FATEC Sao Paulo and Indaiatuba ( Brazil). Plugarasu's first COIL class with her partner from Spain, Dr. Natàlia Ferrer Roca, was included as a case study in the recently published textbook - The Guide to COIL Virtual Exchange: Implementing, Growing, and Sustaining Collaborative Online International Learning (2022).
Plugarasu's COIL interests include, but not limited to: social media branding, media ethics, social entrepreneurship, Self- Leadership, psychology, Impact of AI ( Artificial Intelligence) on the future of humanity.
Student COIL Artifacts
Education
Master of Science, Global Strategic Communications