Being Global 2011: Strategies and Models for Internationalizing Canadian Higher Education

Being Global 2011: Strategies and Models for Internationalizing Canadian Higher Education

Last week, I came across an announcement of a new conference focussing on internationalization in higher education on the Academica list serv last week. The conference will be hosted by the Higher Education Strategy Associates group in Toronto, Canada on January, 13-14 2011 Though you may need to consult their website for more details, proposals are currently sought on the following themes

1)  The Science of Attraction,

2)  World Bound,

3)  Internationalization Strategies: Networks, Policies, and the Bottom Line,

4)  Creating the Global Student.

On their website they sum up the purpose and the importance of the conference as follows:

But Internationalization is about more than just bringing international students to Canadian        campuses. It’s about making “globalizing” our own students, either through study abroad or    through a more internationalized curriculum. It’s about ensuring our campuses are well-  networked with leading institutions around the world. And it’s about finding ways to make Canadian education available around the world, even to students who can’t come here.

As this is a brand new conference the presentations and audience it may attract is difficult to ascertain. However, there is a very interesting line-up of keynote speakers including Dr Grant Harman (University of New England) and Dr Kris Olds (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and I am especially interested in hearing from Dr Donald Rubin, co-author of the GLOSSARI project. I hope that his address will spur greater interest in Canada for some of the multi-institution and longitudinal research like the GLOSARI project, the Georgetown Consortium Study and the Study Abroad for Global Engagement.

However it is very exciting to see a second conference (following the Canadian Bureau of International Education conference) focusing on these issues in Canada. Especially as CBIE this year may make it more challenging for those of us in the eastern and maritime provinces to attend. This conference may also serve as a good warm up for NAFSA which will be held in Vancouver, BC in the 2011. See you there!

World Education Services now Recognized as the Recipient of Verified Chinese Degrees for the United States and Canada

Last night I spent several hours searching through and clearing out my various e-mail inboxes and Google Reader looking for resources that would be helpful for my dissertation research and I came across a recent announcement from World Education Services, Inc. (WES) that I wanted to post about to IHEC Blog.

According to a January 20, 2010 WES press release, they have signed an official memorandum of understanding with the China Academic Degrees & Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC). CDGDC is the “authorized agent responsible for verifying Chinese degrees for the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China and the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council. The CDGDC is the legal entity that provides verification of degree certificates, diplomas and other related educational materials conferred by Chinese education institutions.”

You can read more about this new agreement here.

Canadian Student Handbook on Opportunities in India

Some time ago I learned about the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute and a relatively new publication that they produced that caught my attention and I thought I'd post to IHEC Blog about it.

First, a little something about the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (or L'Institut indo-canadien Shastri). According to their website, the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute is “a binational organization that promotes understanding between India and Canada through academic activities and exchanges and their mission is to improve the quality of life of the peoples of Canada and India by building and strengthening intellectual and cultural linkages through research, dialogue and exchange.” I’m really interested in the work of these types of educational exchange organizations as well as their history so I spent quite a bit of time checking out their entire website to learn more of what they are all about. Check out the work of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute here.

Something that really caught my attention was new publication entitled “Canadian Student Handbook on Opportunities in India” produced by Sarah Hawkins (Communications Officer at the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute). I, like most people working in the field of international education, receive much programmatic literature that I try to at least look at but often times recycle before too long. For me, the "Canadian Student Handbook on Opportunities in India" is different and I found myself reading it and appreciating the value in the information provided. This thirteen page publication is well produced and provides Canadian students with an excellent overview of all of the academic and work/volunteer opportunities available in India. The information is not overwhelming for the students (and people like me) and allows for easy, informative and engaging reading. Check out the “Canadian Student Handbook on Opportunities in India” here.

I don’t see IHEC Blog heading down the marketing advice avenue (I’ll save that for Chris Brogan although I doubt he will delve into the international educaiton profession) but I have, receive and read much literature (both scholarly and practical) that I just may comment on from time to time about it on IHEC Blog.

The Canadian Education Centre Network Is No More

As I was reading Not-So-Foreign: A Bulletin for International Education Professionals (Vol. 8, Issue 24, July 2, 2009) I came across a news piece entitled “Canadian Education Centre Network. 1995-2009 (RIP)” informing that the Canadian Education Centre Network (CECN) closed its doors on July 1st. I must admit that I was familiar with CECN by name only but it is an interesting development in Canadian international education affairs that I only read about in Not-So-Foreign. You can read the full Not-So-Foreign article about CECN here.

Not-So-Foreign: A Bulletin for International Education Professionals is published by Higher-Edge and you can access their past issues as well as subscribe for free here. I really like Not-So-Foreign and highly recommend you request a submission.

Additionally, Higher-Edge also publishes Overseas, Overwhelmed which, after a quick glance through their past issues, seems to be an additional resource that you can subscribe to for free. I just subscribed here.

As you can tell, this post really has less to do with the demise of CECN and more to do with the free publications of Higher-Edge!

Manitoba’s International Education Strategy

my Steinbach has an interesting article on the international education strategy of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. According to the article, the provincial government estimates that international students contributed approximate $75 million to Manitoba’s economy in 2006-2007 and that Manitoba saw the highest percentage gain (102%) of international students among all provinces between 2000 and 2006. Manitoba’s five year international education strategy focuses on the following five areas:

International Student Programs – providing educational promotion, opportunities and support services for international students.

International Education Projects and Contracts – participating in international development projects or securing educational contracts.

Offshore Education and International Collaborations – offshore education may offer components of programs or establish branch campuses overseas. This may be done either directly or by authorizing partners to deliver programs abroad. And collaboration initiatives involve working with Manitoba institutions to recognize, negotiate, expand and assist international collaboration.

International Mobility of Students, Teachers, Faculty and other Educational Staff – providing opportunities for direct international experience.

Internationalization of Teaching and Learning – covering international aspects within academic subjects, professional, technical and vocational training, and introducing an international dimension across the curriculum and within the classroom.

You can access the International Education Strategy of the Province of Manitoba 2009-2013 here.

Three Reports Released on Global Student Mobility

Three very interesting reports on global student mobility from Australia, Canada and New Zealand were recently released and are available online.

The first report from IDP Education entitled “Global Student Mobility: An Australian Perspective Five Years On” is available at: www.idp.com/pdf/GSM_Brochure_Oct07.pdf

The second report from the Educational Policy Institute (EPI) in Canada entitled “Student Mobility and Credit Transfer: A National and Global Survey” is available at: www.educationalpolicy.org/pub/pubpdf/credit.pdf

The third report from Education Counts in New Zealand entitled “International Student Enrolments in New Zealand 2001-2007: is available at: www.educationcounts.govt.nz