2011 Global Forum on Borderless Higher Education Vancouver, Canada - May 25-27, 2011

The following is a copy and paste job of pertinent information related to the 2011 Global Forum on Borderless Higher Education that I recently received in an e-mail from the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education and obtained from their website:

Speakers invited to participate in the 2011 Global Forum include:

· Brenda Gourley, former Vice Chancellor, The Open University (UK);

· Choon Fong Shih, President, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia);

· Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Vice Chancellor, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Malaysia);

· Lou Anne Simon, President, Michigan State University (USA);

· Svava Bjarnason, International Finance Corporation (World Bank); and

· Lloyd Axworthy, President, University of Winnipeg (Canada).

The 2011 Global Forum will delve into a variety of critical topics that are transforming borderless higher education.  These include:

A. Global Regionalism

The emergence of regional higher education networks for building partnerships, facilitating interregional student mobility, and fostering greater awareness and connections of common cultural, social, language, and heritage across the region.

B. Private Partnerships

What are some of the emerging trends in private partnerships in tertiary education? How do they affect the internationalisation strategies of universities? What role does geography play in forging private partnerships?

C. Student Mobility

As student migration is changing at a dynamic pace, an understanding of the factors influencing where students study is critical for success. How can higher education institutions attract more international students? What is driving the decision of many youth to study outside their home countries? How can universities increase the outbound mobility of their students?

D. Open and Distance Learning

Global applications of open and distance learning systems in borderless higher education at the regional and global levels. Moreover, the use of ODL delivery systems to provide HE access to underserved student populations, working adults, and geographically isolated rural communities and cultures.

E. International Quality Assurance

The shifting and changing landscape of quality assurance and assessment models for ensuring quality in borderless higher education programmes. Will the challenging fiscal environment for higher education be a catalyst for more diploma mill providers and low-quality providers attempting to take advantage of this depressed market?

F. The Transnational Student Experience

The services that enhance the holistic student experience for international students and successful models for providing these services. How are issues of culture, language and social 'norms' of international students addressed in curriculum and assessment?

You can learn more and register for the 2011 Global Forum here.  The 2011 Global Forum coincides quite nicely with the 2011 Annual NAFSA conference which is also taking place in Vancouver from May 29-June 3, 2011 which you can learn more about here.

Photo credit:  JamesZ_Flickr