Bipartisanship and International Education to end 2017!

COMMENTARY: By necessity, Delaware a player in the global marketplace by Reps. P.Baumbach & L.Yearick via @TheStateNews at https://t.co/gxL1Qw5Ssj . Yearick (R) is serving the 34th Rep District & Baumbach (D) is serving the 23rd Rep District in the Delaware General Assembly. pic.twitter.com/b5Cjq1YRLR

— David Comp (@DavidComp) December 29, 2017

Storify of November 16th WES #IntlEdNow Tweet Chat - A Discussion on Career Expectations, Experiences, and Outcomes of International Students

On November 16, 2017, I participated in the second World Education Services (WES) #IntlEdNow tweetchat entitled A Discussion on Career Expectations, Experiences, and Outcomes of International Students.  I also participated in the first WES tweetchat back in June 2017 entitled A Discussion on International Education in a Shifting Geopolitical Climate.

WES crated a cleaned-up version of this second #IntlEdNow tweetchat via Storify and I have embedded their tweet below that you can click through to view the conversation:

ICYMI: Our tweet chat on career expectations and outcomes for int'l students in story form (includes a wealth of great resources!) #IntlEdNow https://t.co/xh26o508FN @DavidComp @ProfJasonLane @pdxnicolle @BryceLoo @SundevilCareers

— WES (@WESPicks) December 19, 2017

A sampling of international education literature found in my Bury Book International Education Library & Archive

These books and more are slowly being moved from my home office to my new office at Columbia College Chicago.

My son is 12 years old and in the 7th grade...he sent the following email message to his science teacher this afternoon!

Dear: Mr.xxxxxxx

Is there like a pamphlet for the Ecuador trip so that my parents can start looking at dates for the summer to see if it is possible for me to go.

Sincerely: Andres

Proud father!!!!

His science teacher (name X'd out for confidentiality) is one of the trip co-leaders for the middle school trip to Ecuador. My now 16 year old daughter went on this same trip in August 2015 just before the start of 8th grade and you can see two IHEC Blog posts about her trip here and here and she had the same science teacher and he also co-lead here trip to Ecuador!

Have awesome hats, will travel...

Putting the final touches on my slides for a talk I'm giving today on the Value of Study Abroad at another local university and created this as my final slide to show off my various GoAbroad.com hats!

Locations going left to right starting at the top and going down:

Chichen Itza, Mexico; Sydney, Australia; Devonport, New Zealand; Bavarian Alps, Germany; Tulum, Mexico; Iguazú Falls, Brazil side; Great Wall of China; Summit of Mt. Wellington overlooking Hobart, Tasmania; Bavarian Alps with Austria in the distance; overlooking Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Bratz Study Abroad! collection (ca. 2015)

While doing some research for a talk I'm giving today on the value of study abroad at another local university I came across the Bratz Study Abroad collection which appears to be from 2015.  Plenty to purchase on Amazon and ebay if you are interested in purchasing! 

You can also learn a little more via the THE BRATZPACK blog! 

I have also embedded the Bratz Study Abroad! commercial from 2015 below for your viewing pleasure.

Congratulations to Jessica Sandberg of Temple University for making the Chronicle of Higher Education's 2017 Influence List for the #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign!

A well deserved recognition of Jessica Sandberg's efforts with the #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign!  I have never met Jessica but I've known about her and her efforts for about a year and have known here electronically for only ~6 months as we were both invited (along with other esteemed colleagues) to participate in the inaugural World Education Services #IntlEdNow Tweetchat which was a discussion on international education in a shifting geopolitical climate back in June 2017. 

I'm such a fan of the work of Jessica and the #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign that I talked/wrote about her and the campaign in my invited talk and stimulus paper at the 2017 IEAA Research Roundtable in Hobart, Tasmania on October 10, 2017 entitled "The Rise of Social Media in Public Influence for International Education".

I just wanted to give a brief congratulations and shout out to Jessica.  Below are two embedded tweets that I saw this evening that alerted me to the Chronicle's 2017 Influence List.

Congratulations to @JessBSandberg on being named to the @chronicle 2017 Influence List! Her #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign was a true inspiration. https://t.co/f3Ku65NqDZ pic.twitter.com/ia0CgXjvOe

— NAFSA (@NAFSA) December 5, 2017

 Who makes @chronicle's 2017 Influence List? Hint: It includes @YouAreWelcome's @JessBSandberg https://t.co/RbUh4EBMka

— Karin Fischer (@karinfischer) December 5, 2017

Received my new business cards today!

The Global Pro Institute - Enrollment Closes Sunday, November 19 at 9:00pm EST

I'm a big fan of what Brooke Roberts has done in the field and with The Global Pro Institute and have promoted her work here on IHEC Blog in the past.

Brooke is again offering the Global Pro Institute and will offer two coaching packages:
 

GPI 101: Self Study which is exactly what it sounds like. Students will get the core content of the program but no direct guidance from Brooke or the GPI community. 

GPI Masterclass: Coached This option includes weekly group coaching from Brooke for the 4 week program, access to their Facebook group for support, AND 1-on-1 coaching with Brooke. 

If you are interested in learning more you can do so via the Global Pro Institute website here.

Note:  IHEC Blog and David Comp are affiliate partners for the Global Pro Institute.

#IntlEdNow Tweetchat by World Education Services - A Discussion on Career Expectations, Experiences, and Outcomes of International Students on November 16th at 1:00pm EDT

Join @DavidComp, @ProfJasonLane, @pdxnicolle, @SundevilCareers, and @WESPicks this Thursday as we discuss career expectations and outcomes of #intlstudents! pic.twitter.com/tgmXvgcdTC

— WES (@WESPicks) November 14, 2017

This coming Thursday, November 16, 2017 at 1:00pm EST I will be participating in the second World Education Services #IntlEdNow tweet chat.  I participated in their first #IntlEdNow tweet chat back in June, 2017 (you can read the Storify of that tweet chat here) and I'm very excited to participate in their second tweet chat as well.

This tweet chat will be a discussion on career expectations, experiences, and outcomes of international students.  I will be approaching this discussion from a U.S. perspective.

If you are able to follow along and contribute to the discussion that would be wonderful.

IIE 2017 Open Doors Briefing and Discussion (recording of Facebook Live stream) November 13, 2017 #OpenDoorsReport

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the National Press Club in Washington, DC for the Release of 2017 Open Doors Report on November 13, 2017 #OpenDoorsReport

#OpenDoorsReport Tweets

Betsy DeVos, U.S. Secretary of Education, message on International Education Week 2017 #IEW2017

Follow the Twitter Backchannel During International Education Week 2017 - November 13-17, 2017 #IEW2017

#IEW2017 Tweets

IIE to Stream the Open Doors Report Briefing Live from the National Press Club in Washington, DC at 9:30am EST on Monday, November 13, 2017

Don't Forget! We'll air the #OpenDoorsReport Briefing LIVE on https://t.co/p6mBMbpuoU starting at 9:30 a.m. ET on Monday. If can't join live, you may view the video on IIE's Facebook page and at https://t.co/yvE17gcDOC later in the day. #IEW2017 pic.twitter.com/DLuF8eUHuC

— IIEglobal (@IIEglobal) November 10, 2017

International House on the University of Chicago campus at 4:47pm on November 9, 2017

Seems a new Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) will be in place on Monday, November 13th!

Farewell and thank you, #Mongolia!
Starting November 13, please follow me @ECA_AS. https://t.co/3n0AlELkUn

— Jennifer Z. Galt (@USAmbMongolia) November 9, 2017

Thanks @Scott_Johnsn for the tip!

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the CIEE Annual Conference in Austin from November 8-11, 2017 #CIEEConf

Tweets about #CIEEConf

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the Tri-Regional NAFSA Conference in Denver from November 3-8, 2017 #NAFSAtri2017

 NAFSA Regions I, II and IV are all participating in a tri-regional conference in Denver, Colorado. You can learn more about this conference here.

#NAFSAtri2017 Tweets

IHEC Blog Endorsements!

While IHEC Blog is a niche blog I still receive a fair amount of SPAM comments on a daily basis so I thought I would share some of the recent complimentary ones below to demonstrate the impact that
IHEC Blog has across the globe (or for your amusement!). 

"Excellent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too excellent. I actually like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you are stating and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it sensible. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is actually a tremendous site.."

"It provides comprehensive knowledge of the subject. Everything written in this blog is close to satisfactory level. I am sure no one can raise any issue about all the information delivered here."

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"Mesmerized article written on this blog with other relevant information. It is straight to the point that how we can improve our skills as well as how we can be represented to a new stream of professionalism"

"I am confident you have an adoring fan stalking out there"

"This blog let me felt delighted with its sensible writing. When I started to read first line I got to know that there is something to learn when I will touch its bottom. And yes I learn a lot."

"This is actually good to read content of this blog. A is very general and huge knowledgeable platform has been known by this blog. I in reality appreciate this blog to have such kind of educational knowledge" 

"I am grateful for this blog to distribute knowledge about this significant topic. Here I found different segments and now I am going to use these new instructions with new enthusiasm"

"creativity of writer is purely impressive. It has touched to the level of expertise with his writing. Everything is up to the mark. Written perfectly and I can use such information for my coming assignment"

A Very Nice Tweet from @IDPDRIE

The rise of #socialmedia in public influence for #intled, @DavidComp's #AIEC2017 @IEAAustralia RRT discussion paper https://t.co/EcquwuRVCb

— IDP Database (@IDPDRIE) November 2, 2017

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the 2017 Global Learning Conference: Transcending Boundaries through COIL in Chicago from October 30-31 #GlobalLearning17

You can learn more about the 2017 Global Learning Conference here.

Tweets about #globallearning17

GoAbroad & Lonely Planet Launch Volunteer Abroad Scholarship

GoAbroad and Lonely Planet have teamed up to offer a $2,500 scholarship to one lucky international volunteer, as well as weekly giveaways of Lonely Planet’s guide on volunteering abroad. 

Check out all the details here: http://ow.ly/fgSz30fVtC1

This is a great opportunity to pass on to your students and participants! Here are some social posts and an email template to do so: http://bit.ly/VolunteerBookPromo

For any questions, please reach out to Kayla Patterson at kayla.patterson@goabroad.com.

 

 

 

My thoughts on Meaningful Travel, Family, and Working in the Field from my Interview with GoAbroad.com

A short time ago I was interviewed by GoAbroad.com about my thoughts on meaningful travel and working in the field and you can access the interview here.  I'm a huge fan of GoAbroad.com and the contributions they give to the field but also because of the type of company they are.  I was honored to be asked to answer their questions!

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the 2017 Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET) Annual Conference in Indianapolis from October 18-20, 2017 #CSIET2017

#CSIET2017 Tweets

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the 2017 Australian International Education Conference from October 10-13, 2017 in Hobart, Tasmania #aiec2017

#aiec2017 Tweets

ORD-LAX-SYD-HBA-SYD-AKL-LAX-ORD

LIVE WEBINAR - Defending the Value Proposition of Education Abroad with Dr. Anthony Ogden at 2:00pm EST on October 13th!

Melibee Global has an excellent live webinar coming up at 2:00pm EST on October 13th with Dr. Anthony Ogden.  During this webinar, Dr. Ogden will critically examine the value proposition of Education Abroad and ask whether we need to rethink how we articulate the purpose and goals of our work.

 Thanks to the generous sponsorship by CISAbroad, Melibee Global is able to offer a full time student and underemployed/unemployed rate of $99.

You can learn more about this Live Melibee Global webinar with Dr. Anthony Ogden here.

*A portion of the proceeds from the webinar will be donated to The Fund for Education Abroad.

Disclaimer:  I receive no compensation for this post.  I am also a board member of the Fund for Education Abroad.

Starting New Position as Assistant Provost for Global Education at Columbia College Chicago

After 17 years at the Univ. of Chicago last Friday was my last day. This coming Monday, October 2nd I start a new position as Assistant Provost for Global Education at Columbia College Chicago.

After 3 days of work I fly to Australia as I was invited to speak as well as sit on a panel at the IEAA Research Roundtable (full program available here) in Hobart, Tasmania and I will stay the rest of the week to attend the AIEC conference. This opportunity is not related to my work at Booth nor Columbia College but is, of course, international education related. After the conference I will be heading home to hire a new director of study abroad and a new director of international student and scholar services!

I'm very excited for this new professional opportunity but incredibly sad to be leaving some really great people that I have grown very fond of and will miss dearly!

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the 2017 IIE Summit on Generation Study Abroad from October 1–3, 2017 in Washington, DC #IIESummit2017 #GenerationStudyAbroad

#IIESummit2017 Tweets #GenerationStudyAbroad Tweets

75% of two year MBA programs at U.S. business schools experienced a decline in international applicants

US business schools are struggling to recruit international candidates from CNBC.

Apply Now is Too Late in Education Abroad

The following is a guest post from Samantha Martin, CEO and Founder of Via TRM.

In a time where international educators are called to increase participation in education abroad at the institutional and national level (e.g. Generation Study Abroad and 100,000 Strong), the message of “Apply Now” comes too late for eligible students who were interested at one time but who had little or no engagement with education abroad messages prior to the call to apply.

 “Apply Now” is the student decision phase that offices have historically been able to support operationally. However, the lack of a strategy, resources, and supporting systems for the “just curious” and interested student is a missed opportunity and means genuinely interested students are not adequately tracked, understood, or engaged.

The challenge is that education abroad offices are not equipped to scale, operating with limited staff and inefficiencies such as tracking student interest on paper and across multiple systems. Given that support for education abroad is inconsistent across academic departments, most colleges and universities lack a cohesive strategy for early-stage academic planning for education abroad as well.

What can be done to reach the early-stage interested student?

In addition to aligning education abroad and the home campus curriculum and following well-established best practices, education abroad practitioners can build, cultivate, and provide value to students far before an application decision is reached. This requires an openness to learning new models, developing professional skills in ethical sales & marketing tactics, and support from leadership to define success metrics around engagement and not just applications.

Practically speaking, education abroad offices can reach new student populations and create more consistent advising and application experiences by establishing a distinct brand identity, defining the target audience, and tailoring messages to specific student segments prior to the big ask of “apply now”.

Education abroad offices might consider doing away with gate-keeper policies that require students to attend in-person group sessions or clearly define academic and professional goals before speaking to a full time advisor. An alternative is building an advising culture defined by availability and service to all students, regardless of application readiness.

There is, of course, not just one way to build an all-inclusive advising culture that aims to reach not only every demographic and academic segment, but also across psychographic and behavioral segments that can be defined in one way by a student’s “readiness”.

Shifting advising targets to serve the entire pipeline (sometimes also referred to as a “funnel”, see diagram below) means clearly defining advising roles & responsibilities, creating a strategy & plan that includes serving early-stage students, and implementing systems to track interest and engage students prior to an application. 

If the education abroad office accepts that their core mission is to help every student make an informed choice about education abroad opportunities, the most important metric of success is not the number of applications and participants, but the number of students who were reached.

Takeaways:

●     The message of "Apply Now" as a primary (or sole) call to action excludes key populations of interested students from starting the education abroad process.

●     Growth in education abroad (as in all industries) relies on cultivating the entire funnel, and not just focusing on people close to the 'conversion point' (i.e. submitting an application)

●     Create a marketing and advising strategy to engage the "just curious", first-year, and unsure student. Resource that strategy with new and/or updated technology systems and cross-departmental collaboration.

Samantha is the CEO and founder of Via TRM, next generation software for education abroad. Previously, she developed & facilitated online courses for students and staff and worked as a Study Abroad Advisor at SUNY New Paltz and as a Program Coordinator at IEP at Jacksonville University. Samantha completed an MA in peace and conflict studies from the University of Ulster in Derry, Northern Ireland on a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. Her original inspiration for starting a career in international education was a semester study abroad program in Cyprus on a Gilman Scholarship. 

Links to 300+ #DACA statements issued by institutions of higher education and 30+ associations, program providers, and joint statements

Links to 300+ DACA statements issued by institutions of higher education and 30+ associations, program providers, and joint statements compiled by Soren Peterson available on GeoAnth Research at http://www.geoanth.com/daca.

The PIE News published an interesting article entitled "What could the rescission of DACA in the US mean for international education?" that readers may find of interest.

Many thanks Soren for your work on compiling this important list!

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the 2017 European Association for International Education (EAIE) conference in Sevilla from September 12-15, 2017 #EAIE2017

#EAIE2017 Tweets

Many institutions of higher education in the U.S. issuing statements on #DACA

...and someone should compile a list as it won't be me this time!

Update September 17, 2017:  The Soren Peterson DACA statement list now links to 259 college and university statements and links to 32 associations, program providers, and joint statements.  List available on GeoAnth Research at http://www.geoanth.com/daca.

Update September 15, 2017:  Links to 130+ DACA statements issued by institutions of higher education and associations compiled by Soren Peterson available on GeoAnth Research at http://www.geoanth.com/daca.

Many thanks to Soren for your work on compiling this important list!

Update September 6, 2017:  Soren Peterson from the Center for Academic and Global Engagement at the University of South Dakota has taken on this project of compiling links to institutional statements on DACA. Links to additional statements can be sent to him at research+daca@geoanth.com.

Here is a sampling of schools that have issued statements on DACA:

University of Chicago
The University of Texas at Austin
Harvard University
Stanford University
Yale University
Indiana University
Boston College
Princeton University
Brown University
Cornell University
Amherst College
New York University
Duke University
University of Miami
University of California Los Angeles
Northwestern University
Kansas State University
University of Michigan
Michigan State University
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
New York University
University of Pennsylvania
Dartmouth College
University of Texas at El Paso

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA)

Back on January 29th I compiled a Running List of University/College and Higher Education Organization/Association Responses to President Trump's Executive Order Entitled "Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Entry into the United States by Foreign Nationals" Issued January 27, 2017 on IHEC Blog.  That was an enormous task and I don't have the time this week to compile a list of institutional statements on DACA.

The IHEC home office is quite busy these days!

My dining room is a bit messy!  More info forthcoming on some exciting things happening!
https://davidcomp.wordpress.com/

[Video] U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, Scott Brown, Encourages U.S. Students to Study Abroad in New Zealand

Still time to register for the 2017 IIE Summit on Generation Study Abroad being held in Washington, DC from October 1–3, 2017 #IIESummit2017 #GenerationStudyAbroad

There is still time to register for the 2017 IIE Summit on Generation Study Abroad and you can do so via the registration page here.

Last year I was invited to attend the 2016 IIE Summit on Generation Study Abroad on a press pass for IHEC Blog and it was an excellent experience.  There were many great sessions and the networking opportunities with both old and new friends and colleagues ere plentiful.  I would love to attend the Summit again this year but my work schedule prevents will prevent me from attending this year (more on this in a future IHEC Blog post).

I'm a huge supporter of IIE's Generation Study Abroad initiative.  I was honored to be invited by IIE to attend the Generation Study Abroad Think Tank with other leaders from the public, private and educational sectors at their New York headquarters on March 12, 2014 to discuss what it will take to double the number of students studying abroad and to launch the Generation Study Abroad initiative.

Disclaimer:  I make no profit or receive any other benefit for this post.

U.S. suspends all nonimmigrant visa operations in Russia on August 23 due to Russian government cap on U.S. diplomatic personnel

More via the U.S. Mission to Russia at https://ru.usembassy.gov/u-s-mission-russia-statement/

Live Feed Today - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to address State Department Student Programs & Fellowships participants at 10:10am EST

Updated August 19, 2017

Below is the talk by Secretary Tillerson yesterday:



I assume this live feed of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addressing State Department Student Programs and Fellowships participants will be held at 10:10am EST via https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/USDOS.

It also appears that it will be recorded should you be unable to watch the live feed.

12 students from Gaza who are participating in the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program visited and bowled at The White House

On Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 12 students from Gaza who are participating in the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program visited and bowled at The White House.  A key figure who appears to have worked with the Government of Israel to bring these students to the United States and then welcomed them to The White House was Jason Greenblatt.  Greenblatt is Assistant to President Donald Trump and Special Representative for International Negotiation.  I have embedded four of Greenblatt's tweets pertaining to the visit by these students below:

Thanks to the Government of Israel for working with my office to get travel permits for these students. pic.twitter.com/zjkwLoZf0B

— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) August 17, 2017

After, the students and some of our staff went bowling at the @WhiteHouse Truman Bowling Alley. pic.twitter.com/eQque20SCg

— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) August 17, 2017

These students will spend the next year in the US at high schools. I know they and their hosts will learn much from their experiences. pic.twitter.com/DIVXcuqaJU

— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) August 17, 2017

Today, I helped welcome 12 students from Gaza who are participating in the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program to @WhiteHouse. pic.twitter.com/AZPvXq1vj6

— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) August 17, 2017

A Change in Senior Leadership at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)

It appears (via @ECA_AS on Twitter) that Mark Taplin has left his role as Acting Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State yesterday and has handed the reins over to Alyson Grunder. Grunder is currently Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  It's unclear if Grunder will be Acting Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs or if she is a permanent replacement.

Many thanks to Mark Taplin for his service to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and welcome to Alyson Grunder to her new role!

Study in the USA! - New EducationUSA video launched today #EdUSAForum

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the 2017 EducationUSA Forum - July 31 to August 2, 2017 #EdUSAForum

#EdUSAforum Tweets

"Foundational Reading for Education Abroad Scholar-Practitioners" by Anthony Ogden, Ph.D.

Recently, Dr. Anthony Ogden, Executive Director of Education Abroad and Exchanges at Michigan State University, posted to SECUSS-L informing the field of his updated Foundational Reading for Education Abroad Scholar-Practitioners resource.

This nine page resource is an extraordinary compilation of literature and resources that every colleague in the field of education abroad should read or at least have knowledge of their existence.  Are you trying to break into the field of education abroad or more broadly into the field of international education?  If so, pick a reading off this list and start consuming!  Are you teaching a course on the internationalization/globalization of higher education?  If so, at a minimum link to and highlight this resource but more importantly you can find your required readings among the 77 listed readings and six key references.

Ogden breaks the readings down by the following 21 major knowledge areas followed by the key references:

1. Comprehensive Internationalization
2. International and Comparative Education
3. U.S. Education Abroad History
4. Evaluation and Assessment
5. Student Success
6. Curriculum Integration
7. Student Learning and Development
8. Student Advising and Support
9. Ongoing Orientation
10. Intercultural Competency
11. Global Citizenship
12. Cultural Learning and engagement
13. Diversity and Underrepresentation
14. Career Development and Employability
15. Academic Engagement and Development
16. Language Acquisition
17. Experiential Learning
18. Global Health Programming
19. Short-Term Education Abroad
20. General Research and Scholarship
21. General Professional
Key References

The list of authors of these foundational readings are a who's who of scholar-practitioners in the field and there are many colleagues that I have collaborated with on projects, co-authored book chapters or as the book editor, committees and task forces, presentations and workshops or in other endeavors such as Skyping in to a graduate level course as a guest speaker on international education.  Some of these authors are good friends and we have collaborated more in depth while some of these authors and I have only shared a microphone during a conference panel presentation and haven't collaborated beyond being invited to and showing up to the panel.  To be sure, there are many authors of these foundational readings that I know well but have yet to formally collaborate and there are others I have yet to meet in person or formally interact with electronically via email or Twitter or via some NAFSA online discussion forum but I hope to some day!  A list of the authors who I have collaborated with, large & small, follows (in no particular order):

Anthony Ogden

Gary Rhodes

Martin Tillman

Darla Deardorff

Bruce La Brack

Hans de Wit

the late Tony Adams

William Gertz

Michael Woolf

Bill Hoffa

Davina Potts

Bernhard Streitwieser

Gayle Woodruff

Michael Vande Berg

Martha Johnson

Margaret Wiedenhoeft

Mell Bolen

Lilli Engle

Victor Savicki

Richard Sutton

Gerald Fry

Elizabeth Stallman

John Hudzik

Jae-Eun Jon

I've been very fortunate to cross paths with so many wonderful people and contributors to the field of international education!

NAFSA's Voice on the National Security Education Board

Nice to see that Dr. Esther Brimmer, Executive Director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, was appointed to the National Security Education Board. My guess is that she was appointed by President Obama during the last months he was in office as the announcement that she was to become NAFSA's Executive Director and CEO was made in late September 2016.

You can learn more about the NSEB and see the see who are board members at:

https://www.nsep.gov/content/national-security-education-board

This is of interest to me as I wrote my dissertation on the National Security Education Program (NSEP).

AAPLAC (Association of Academic Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean) seeks session proposals for its Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 21-24, 2018

The following IHEC Blog post is a copy and paste (with permission) of a SECUSS-L post by Søren Peterson of the Center for Academic and Global Engagement at the University of South Dakota.

AAPLAC (Association of Academic Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean) seeks session proposals for its 29th Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 21-24, 2018. The proposal submission deadline is November 15, 2017.

Proposals should support the conference theme—Study Abroad: Meeting the Challenges of Cultural Engagement—and mission of the association. We are especially interested in proposals that address the following topics:

• New Orleans after Katrina: The impact of the growing Hispanic population which came to help with rebuilding and has since stayed on.
• Interdisciplinary Institutional Content Assessment: How to best track what students are doing overseas and the benefits for our campuses.
• Global Partnerships through Peer Collaboration: How we can better work with institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Research Collaborations – US-Latin America: Faculty led/student participation in on-site studies.
• Anglo-Hispanic Challenges: Cross-cultural understanding through experiential learning and study abroad.
• Strategic Partnerships: How we can enhance protocols between our schools in the US and those in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Strengthening AAPLAC Relationships through Inter-Organization Mentoring: How we can enhance protocols amongst our schools in the US.
• Latina Empowerment: There are more women on study abroad programs: How can we take advantage of this bond between women of the North and the South
• Rethinking Mobility: How is the student’s identity compromised/enhanced abroad?
• Community-Based Partnerships: How students can learn as they engage with local communities in working type environments.
• Crossing Borders: The eternal quest for a global space as students interact with the other.
• Global Xenophobia on the Rise of Brexit/Trump? What is our role?
• Cuba: Future US Relations – Impact on Study Abroad.

For additional information and guidelines, including the proposal template, please visit http://www.aaplac.org/conference/call-for-papers.

U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis interview with Teddy Fischer of The Islander (student newspaper of Mercer Island High School) and how International Education was part of the Discussion

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis granted a rare interview with Teddy Fischer of The Islander (student newspaper of Mercer Island High School).  On June 20, 2017, The Islander published the full transcript of the interview and an answer to one particular question caught my attention as it relates to the value and importance of international educational exchange.  I have posted a screen shot of Teddy's question and Secretary Mattis' answer below that I refer to:

It's nice to see another U.S. Secretary of Defense to understand the value of soft power and talk positively about international educational exchange.