Posted on by m.parsowith

W8, Blog 8: Melissa Parsowith (Article Response)

I found this weeks readings to present fresh new topics on internalization in Higher Education. In the article “Strategic Planning for Internationalization in Higher Education” we are provided with a great overview of how strategic planning originated to where it stands today as a standard feature of college and university administrations. Something that I found very relevant to this weeks readings was my employers own Strategic Plan (found here: http://www.pace.edu/strategic-plan) As some of you may know, Pace University is a private institution located in downtown Manhattan. Although it has a reputable business program, many people are not aware of Pace’s presence in the NYC area unlike more prestigious schools such as NYU or Columbia. In order to help Pace move forward in a positive direction, the University outplayed a 5 year plan (2015-2020) which motivates a “Master Plan” revision for the NYC Campus. In addition to changing some of our programs, a huge goal of the new strategic plan is to revitalize the exterior campus so that it is no longer a “hidden gem” of the city. Although Pace does have international efforts, they are not specifically stated in the Strategic Plan, but are rather dealt with on a department level.  I found it very interesting that Pace is located in a great metropolis and that our current mission and vision for the future does not explicitly state an attention to international affairs.

I loved that we were able to take a look at another very relevant strategic plan from Baruch too! In their 2014-2019 Global Strategic Plan, they outline many interesting points. To begin, Baruch boasts their already firm foundation in the international world, with students hailing from over 160 different countries. It was interesting to me that Pace did not acknowledge the diversity of our students, or make this point as visible as Baruch does. Baruch states that they are committed to growing a global effort through their strategic priorities such as enhancing new opportunities, acknlowding their own strengths and enhancing new efforts, increasing international recruitment and increasing study abroad among others.

When looking at both strategic plans, I found myself questioning why Baruch has a greater presence of an international effort while Pace does not  One of these answers could be that Pace is private while Baruch is public  Furthermore, Pace’s international efforts are done on a department level  For instance, we are setting up a 2-2 exchange program in the Accounting Department with a University in China. While these efforts do receive internal and external announcements, they are not prominent enough to be included into our overall University strategic plan. I look forward to learning a bit more about other Univeristies plans to compare and contrast institutional goals and motivations.

 

 

Posted on by s.ahuja1

W8-Strategic Planning and Internationalization

This week’s readings lead us from external influences on higher education internationalization to internal processed that develop and foster global education:  strategic planning.  For me, the readings this week were compelling and very interesting because we were given a view into how colleges and universities do their own policy and goal setting and how it relates to internationalization.  Strategic planning is a critical foundational component of the internal workings of any higher education institution and seeing its role in global initiatives was very revealing and useful.

The first reading, AEA Occasional Papers Strategic Planning for Internationalization in Higher Education set forth the strategic planning process at colleges in general, then offered twelve principles of successful strategic planning for campus internationalization followed by three case studies of very different types of American colleges and universities.  These case studies made for interesting comparative analysis and showcased models of successful strategic planning that has yielded strong global education programs in a variety of higher education environments and contexts.  An issue I took to heart from this paper, and had not previously given much consideration to, was the call to acquire and analyze data.  The paper highlighted that a successful strategic plan for globalization must be data driven and identify well substantiated and researched goals and deliverable in order to get buy-in and survive implementation.  In addition, the UK case study provided real questions that committees were asked to focus on to develop global strategic plans and I thought these were very useful in understanding exactly what type of analysis higher education institutions can utilize in their internationalization efforts.  The focus on asset mapping and opportunity mapping were particularly instructive.

The second reading, A case study of issues of strategy implementation in internationalization of higher education laid out the implementation challenges a British university faced in achieving its internationalization goals and underscored the fact that often times, many implementation challenges have nothing to do with external issues such as government or education policy but rather, are rooted internally in issues such as marketing and admissions policies.  In this case study, what may seem like minor issues such as the interaction between marketing and faculty turned out to be critical impediments to internationalization which I found to be unexpected and intriguing.  Similarly telling were the faculty’s response to how global initiatives may impact work load or scheduling.  These types of issues underscored the importance of collaboration and stakeholder buy-in highlighted in the first reading.

Finally, and close to home, we were able to get an in-depth view of Baruch’s Global Strategic Plan 2014-2019.  This was a highly instructive document because we were able to review and actual strategic plan, specifically geared to globalization, for an environment that we are intimately close to and invested in. For me, in particular, the Baruch plan struck a chord because it is most similar to the type of college I am administrator with respect to geography and student body.  It also spoke to the role of Legal in internationalization efforts in a very tangible and focused way which I can benefit from in my own work.

In the Baruch plan, of note was also its smooth alignment with the college’s overall strategic plan.  Such effort to overtly align internationalization with the college’s broader goals and strategy evidences that global education cannot succeed unless it works within, and acknowledges, the larger higher education framework it operates under.  The concrete ideas for implementation of the five strategic priorities were very interesting and demonstrated that the key to successful internationalization is in the details and proper planning.  I noted that India is a target country which was surprising to me given the high Indian student population at Baruch and found it interesting the plan conceded that the country has not been paid much attention.  I wonder if this is related to some of the Indian governmental obstacles to internationalization we have read about earlier in the semester.

 

Posted on by Kristen.VanVleck

W8 – Strategic Planning for Internationalization

Strategic Planning for Internationalization in Higher Education, a publication by AIEA, introduces the history of strategic planning in higher education and provides a helpful definition which states: “A strategic plan is ideally developed through an inclusive, collective process through which the participants develop a mission and a set of priorities to move the college or university toward an aspirational, but attainable, future state…” (p 4).  It goes on to stress the importance of strong leadership, faculty input, utilizing data and measurements to inform objectives and track progress, and investing time to develop consensus in a decentralized environment.

A case study of issues of strategy implementation in internationalization of higher education looks at the challenges that a UK institution faced when implementing their internationalization plan.  Focusing on internal challenges such as coordination and fear of change, they conducted one on one interviews with the leadership, faculty, and marketing teams.  Unsurprisingly, “resource allocation” was a concern shared by all three teams, especially financial resources, which is an ever-present constraint throughout many aspects of education.

One thing I thought was interesting was that the availability of staff resources was viewed differently among the different groups.  While faculty, the people on the ground dealing with increased workload, were concerned about having enough manpower and time to complete tasks during the busy times, the leadership team did not think this should be a problem, as they viewed these resources as already having been allocated during the planning phase.   Jiang and Carpenter (2011) sum it up well by noting, “The potential reason for this discord is that the corporate group is responsible for strategy formulation, rather than strategy implementation” (p 9).  I think this example is illustrative as it also encompasses other issues discussed in the reading including cooperation and communication.  Additionally, leadership being unaware of volume and complexity of staff duties is not unique to education.

It is important that institutions apply AIEA’s definition of strategic planning so that it is truly “an inclusive, collective process” where representatives from various departments and levels are involved in strategic planning.  Fear of change, risks to institutional reputation, and external factors such as visa regulations and other governmental policies are also factors that can impede internationalization on campus.  In order to overcome these challenges, the authors suggest more staff training and professional development, increased communication to ensure common values when internationalizing, and more cross-departmental cooperation.

Baruch’s Global Strategic Plan 2014-2019 was easily my favorite reading this week.  Baruch’s comprehensive global plan included initiatives such as international student recruitment, increasing study abroad, and encouraging faculty collaboration.  Not only did we get to see the recommendations from the previous readings put into action, but it is great to know that the institution where I will earn my master’s degree is making the effort to invest in a global strategic plan that is comprehensive and closely linked to the overall strategic plan of the university.  One example suggested by AIEA is the benefit of targeting specific countries for internationalization initiatives, which Baruch did expertly, not only by providing a comprehensive list of current global initiatives, but also identifying “Country Commitments” where future resources and efforts will be focused.   I also liked that Baruch’s internationalization strategic plan ended each section with plans for measurement and evaluation of its goals.

Posted on by Ben Levine

Strategizing International Partnerships

From the readings for this week, it can be gleaned that strategy is now at the forefront of international education policy, as well as higher education in general. Success is usually determined by whether an institute has developed and implemented a sound strategy. The desire for strategic planning can be found in all corners of education; in the finance class, we are learning how budgets are not as simple as adding and subtracting, but puzzles that need to be solved in order to place institutions in solid financial positions. In order for international education programs to get off the ground, and sustain themselves, those in charge must do a lot of analysis and looking to the future.

After reading the three pieces, one particular passage stood out to me, and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. In the case study, the authors point out that choosing an international market is an extremely important decision. Sometimes a choice can be pretty obvious- an institution in a capitalism country probably isn’t going to try to develop a partnership with North Korea (not that it would be able to make any contact in the first place). More often than not, though, deciding which nations and the particular institutions within them to partner with could be a time-consuming activity.  The authors list “culture and languages, governmental regulations and policy, transactional costs, risk, opportunity and market size” as just some of the factors that need to be taken into consideration (p. 6). That’s a lot to think about!

The first example that popped into my head was the Confucius Institute. These centers purport to offer “language instruction, cultural immersion, teacher training, scholarships, and testing,” according to one of its sites in the United States. Unfortunately, Confucius Institutes are generally mired with controversy over their true purpose. In 2008, the Vancouver Sun released an article whose first paragraph sums up a lot of people’s opinions on the Chinese organization: “There are deeply divided views about the Confucius Institute in Vancouver: Some say it’s a goodwill gesture by Beijing to teach Chinese language and culture, while others believe it’s part of a plot by an emerging superpower to infiltrate and influence foreign citizens and their governments.” Whoa. That’s quite the accusation.

That’s a first-world country, though. It’s not too shocking that people in the wester world would be suspicious of Chinese activities. What about other parts of the world? Didn’t we learn at the beginning of the semester that the Confucius Institutes were pretty popular in Africa? Now that makes sense. Going back to strategies for international markets (which is the whole point of this blog), I feel like whoever decided for African-Chinese partnerships did his or her research.

A few weeks ago I mentioned in a blog about how relationships outside of the western world don’t even appear on our mental spectrum because we have absolutely nothing to do with them- but they do exist. The more I think about the Confucius Institutes operating in Africa, the more it seems so obvious. Many nations in Africa have long been subjugated to both colonialism and neocolonialism by European powers. In swoops China, another country that has been affected by the far-reaching grasp of western empires. The Institutes offer to operate in HEIs in various countries, accessing thousands of bright young minds (except for the students who were sent abroad to study). Now that is strategy at its finest- slowly create a generation of educated people who are more likely to associate with China due to their exposure to its language and culture. Why create ties with the western world when there are just as many opportunities to the east.

Perhaps the intentions of the Confucius Institutes are not quite as nefarious as I make them out to be, but still, partnerships in former colonies seem like a pretty good idea. In any case, this goes to show that determining the appropriate international market is a major step in creating a successful international education program.