International Higher Education @Baruch College – Page 3 – Spring 2016

Posted on May 9, 2016May 10, 2016 by m.fernandez · 2 Comments

W13- Global Students and Institutions

This week’s reading speaks on global citizens and global institutions. Last week during the panel discussion, I believe Patricia mentioned that many institutions confuse what global students and global institutions are. It is not when an institution as branch campuses in other countries or when students study abroad and international students come to the home campus. It is important to understand what global student and a global institution is. Carnegie Mellon University complied some information on what global literacy means to them and what course help students understand global issues so than can in turn become global citizens. They created 4 core learning outcomes they wish the students to understand at the end of the courses and speak about how each course will assess the outcomes of the students. http://www.cmu.edu/global/education/global-literacy/

Though these are Carnegie Mellon’s learning outcomes and goals each institution should be able to speak on what they feel are global learning outcomes and goals for their students. One theme brought up in the readings is that study abroad creates global citizens. Due to the different types of study abroad options I believe it depends. If a student only attended a short study abroad experience, they may have not had enough access to the culture, situations and life of the country they visited that they are not able to include new perspectives in their conversations. Longer study abroad options allow student to immerse in the culture and everyday life so that when they return they are more inclined to include their “global perspective”.

There was also another point that Alessia, from our panel last week brought up that is in the readings this week. There is a huge pull for big institutions in other countries to partner with big institutions in the U.S. Institutions are looking to become more globally engaged and therefore positions in institutions have been made to facilitate this idea. Alessia mentioned she was the middleman between the universities in France and NYU. She was to inform each institution of the new programs, any new changes or ideas and vice versa between the schools so they are always aware of where the other institution stands. With the increase of global engagement and global institutions, more positions in the university system It is also mentioned that institutions must be careful who they partner with because if there is not complete transparency between both institutions there could lead to problems in the future and give a bad image to both institutions who were promoting global engagement.

Posted on May 9, 2016May 9, 2016 by J.Gulston · 1 Comment

Week 12- Future of International Higher Ed.

As we are almost at the end of this class, discussing the future of International Higher Education seems pertinent. We have discussed through our blog posts and class discussions the many areas of International Higher Education and specifically the internationalization of Higher Education- student and faculty mobility, Internationalization at home, branch campuses, strategic planning and partnerships, and SIOs. By reading and discussing the theories and framework of International Higher Education we have been able to gain an overview of global education.

This week’s readings helped bring to a close our analysis of the internationalization of Higher Education. The IHE journal featured several articles covering current trends in international education and possible solutions to outstanding issues that could hinder the prosperity of this field. The second reading, Bridges to the Future, gives an overview of the issues and trends in IHE as well as the regional trends of the internationalization of higher education in countries that are not often discussed in that context.

Hans De Wit’s piece in the IHE journal was of interest to me because it examined the trend of International Universities. He mentions that he fears universities “…will refer, in their mission statements and policies, to the fact that they are international university, without clearly explaining what they mean by it.” His fear is warranted, as more and more universities and colleges see the appeal of being branded an international institution, they may put together haphazard strategic plans to incorporate international themes. This will be a disservice to the students. If a university or college categorizes itself as an International University they have to first understand what that means for the intuitions and its population. I think the definition will vary based on the goals of the institution; if the institution is a small community college and the administration wants to internationalization the college, they have to see what areas they can truly achieve international in, whether it be through student and faculty mobility programs or to incorporate internationals themes in the curriculum.

The “Bridges to the Future” includes textboxes that analyze the analyze the internationalization of higher education in regions that are often left out of the conversation or not given enough attention- Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. I have wondered throughout this class; how African institutions have embraced the internationalization of higher education. Of the challenges listed by James Jowi quality and brain drain stand out. The quality of the education that students receive in African intuitions is important because many of the students who may want to stay at home to further their education, don’t stay because they can get a better education abroad- leading to “brain drain”. It will take institutions a while to increase the quality of the education they offer to attract the brightest of students to stay home; however, if they implement a plan similar to the Russian government- where the government will pay for students to study abroad once they commit to returning home and working for the government. African countries could change it to be that an individual has to commit to working at a college or university either as a faculty member or administrator. This will allow those who study abroad to return home to jobs that will contribute to the next generation of students.

Internationalization defined by Jane Knight is “Internationalization at the national, sector, and institutional levels is defined as the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of postsecondary education.” As this class concludes, I think it safe to see that we can agree that this a board definition of internationalization but it does encompass the frameworks of what we call the internationalization of higher education.

Posted on May 9, 2016 by a.ilazarova · 2 Comments

W13- Future of International Higher Education

The Boston College Center for International higher education discusses how the age of technology will be a great change in the way international education is viewed, as well as how students learn in the higher education environment overall. The report also discusses some negative aspects that the higher education is experiencing ,such as funding in public universities.There is not enough money coming in from the government to be able to keep higher education programming afloat hence many can experience a delay in the growth of international higher education aspect in their curriculum. Also, it is important to note that institutional research, as well as student success, seems to be the top priority to colleges for the students. The IHE report is looking at what the next two decades will mean for the colleges in terms of higher education. There is main questions that are asked about how the future of higher education will look and a lot is tied to quality, funds, and change. Resources are the key to being able to drive international higher education in the right direction. Overall the exhibit in some programming actually working to help more students study internationally and others not quite making it due to issues as well as regulations.

The Bridges to internationalization article further dives into the future of international higher education by bringing into perspective its current situation. Most countries do not participate in international education, most of it is driven by the US, Europe, and Australia. The article further goes to discuss that for future of international education to expand and become more inclusive there need to be more changes made at the institutional level as well as the countries level of a better involvement in higher education.

The EAIE also examines the growth of international education on smaller countries which also shows similar issues that may arise when trying to proceed with internationalization since they have even less of an advantage and less funding in their own country. However, the report also shows that if they do end up putting more programming for international higher education then it may help show growth within the country itself. The main focus of the countries should be networking to be able to rise up to the bigger more advanced countries to create a global international learning system.

Posted on May 9, 2016May 9, 2016 by a.johnson1 · 2 Comments

Week 12: Weekly Response (Johnson)

Where is direction of Internationalization of Higher Education Administration headed? Both of the readings for this week offer a great summation of all of the trends, ideas and challenges we have addressed throughout this sesmester such as wealthier students being able to partake in study abroad opportunities more frequently than students from low-income families, (access and equity are major themes and I believe they need to be addressed in secondary and post-secondary schools first before we tackle it within internationalization) lack of financial backing, global rankings, technological advances such as MOOC’s, incorporating detailed strategic plans into the mission of the institution, and forming partnerships. I appreciate one of the articles, Bridges to the Future by Deardorff, De Wit and Heyl mentioning one of the main questions that should be and will be tackled in the future: What principles are most important when creating a foundational base to identify and assess students, faculty, and staff as global citizens? In previous weeks it was established that keeping faculty and staff on board with the international objectives of a program and offering professional development trickles down to high student participation and engagement in study abroad programs. I do not believe faculty should pracitce changing their international courses and lesson plans to make it more attractive to students. Doing so makes it seem like faculty is handling higher education as a business in the classroom and attempting to service customers. A professor should format a course by provididing exceptional and relevant knowledge and tools a student needs, not what they want.

However, the brick and mortar structure of Higher Education needs to be adjusted to keep up with the rapid changing world. The IHE reading pointed out there will be an unbundling of higher education functions with the focus on core functions like teaching and research. This is greatly needed since there has been a vast increase in global enrollments into higher education programs. Students realize obtaining a bachelors and/or masters degree is a critical asset to behold for future success. Yet, as enrollment increases, there has been a massive decline in public funding, shortages of qualified instructors, and private sectors are increasing tuition. It would behoove internationalization innovators to proceed knowing there is a new generation of students raised in an era in which the rate of information is obtained and shared exponentially via social networking platforms, texting, and virtual gaming systems. Future innovators need to take into account that there is a growing popular vote for online learning and students are able to learn in various ways. Solutions have to be cost effective, transparent for faculty, and allow all students the opportunity to participate regardless of income.

Adia

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Natallia Kolbun · 3 Comments

W13 – The Future of International Higher Education

This week’s readings about the future of the International Higher Education summarized the great deal of topics, changes, successes and challenges we have discussed in class over the semester. I also found it thought provoking, as it brought up concerns the new generation will have to face and resolve. Both readings had a number of common themes when it comes to the future of international higher education, and some of those that stood out include the growth of enrollment numbers in the last decades and how this will affect the future, especially in countries like China, quality of massive higher education, the inequalities of access, and the role of rankings/global citizens and global institutions.

Both readings referred a lot to the fact that overall enrollment numbers, especially in Asian countries like China and India as well as in African countries have increased exponentially over the last few decades. Although it seems like a good thing, it also created a challenge of quality of education for the students, as the classes grew in size, taking away from that needed relationships between students and professors. In addition, the nations are having trouble placing all of those graduates to jobs, causing more distress in the country. This seems to be an issue for many developing countries that have seen a growth spurt in higher education, which should be addressed immediately by the countries’ leaders, as it can lead to bigger problems for the national and even international economies.

Similar to the Asian and African countries, where the quality has been diminished due to the sudden increase in enrollment, already developed countries are also concerned about quality, but due to the popularity of mass and online education. More and more student chose this option as it might be more practical and convenient; however the quality is not the same as in person higher education experience. Although with advancement of the technology, it will be difficult to stop the trend, the institutions and professors should be more creative in attracting student with things that cannot be replaced online – the network, the mentorship, and opportunities.

Despite the increase in the overall enrollment, majority of the countries still see the inequality of access to higher education, in many countries that gap keeps growing even further than it used to be. This seems as a major concern that needs to be addressed not just on institutional level, but most importantly on a government/national level. Given the increase of importance of international rankings (not just national or local anymore), institutions, especially those with research or large endowments, concentrate on becoming global institutions, which brings more prestige, wealthy students and more partnerships around the world. Although the strategy might seem harmless as it does help students to become global citizens and enhance their experiences, it is highly concentrated on the wealthier students, leaving those in middle class and lower income families outside of reach increasing the gap even further. In addition, the cost of even public institutions has gone up tremendously, limiting access to higher education for many families. The Atlantic Magazine recently summarized the inequalities in the article mainly in the Unites States, however as already mentioned, these inequalities exist all over the world.

Natallia Kolbun