Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Karl W. Deutsch on Nationalistic Responses to Study Abroad

I'm currently reading:  "From the NAFSA Archives, Nationalistic Responses to Study Abroad" by Karl W. Deutsch (from the Spring 1997 International Educator).  This was the address that Deutsch gave at NAFSA's fifth annual conference in 1952.  It is a great article on many levels and it is as relevant today as it was in 1952.

Deutsch begins his address with the following question "Does Foreign Travel-Does Foreign Culture Contact-unite people?  Towards the end of his address Deutsch talks about the "actual results" of the encounters between foreign students and the civilization of the United States and indicates that they have been better than expected."  Deutsch describes four types of individuals who come to the United States to study:

1.  The Future Americans, those students who stay and become Americans
2.  The DeracinĂ©s, those students who go back to their own countries, but [who] have lost their roots at home and are now at home in no country
3.  The Rebels, those students who go back to their own countries and remain critical or hostile to the United States
4.  The Bridge Builders, those students who go back to their own countries and stick to their own people and to help to link them to the Western world and the United States [perhaps the most valuable group]

In reference to the Bridge Builders, Deutsch asks "how can we help these men [and women...]?  His response is of much interest to me as this is a question I wonder about often [and was going to focus my dissertation on until I realized that finding the answer will take more than a dissertation]. Deutsch argues that our task is "to encourage the identification with us, without destroying their identification with their own personalities and memories and with their own people at home."  He further asks "what can we do to help?" and then answers that "the first think we can do for them is to organize research; to follow up the experience of returned students and to see what positions they find at home. What are their attitudes, their influences, and what is the sociological depth of their contacts at home?  The second thing we can do is to stress the positive and cooperative aspects of the world in general, and the creative and cooperative aspects of American culture in particular.  We can show them what the United States has learned from the other peoples of the world.  We can emphasize the creative contributions they and people like them might make in the future.  We can treat them as resources and friends.  We can get them together on or campuses, not only with the technical and instrumental parts of the curriculum that are offered, but also with our most creative and imaginative courses, teachers, and students."  What do you think about Deutsch's comments?

Karl Deutsch was one of the most well know political scientists/international relations theorists of the 20th Century.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

New Look for IHEC Blog!

Recently I spent a few minutes changing the look and feel of IHEC Blog.  I liked the previous look and feel but after three years in operation I thought it was time for a change!  There are still some bugs to be worked out but I think I like the new layout and colors and in particular, light blue on brown!  From time to time you may notice small changes but hopefully they will be small enough that you won't even notice.  I would love to hear your thoughts on the new design!  Please feel free to leave a comment if you have a moment.

Photo credit:  David Reece

Monday, March 29, 2010

Study Abroad and Curriculum Integration – University of Minnesota Style

Check your calendars and hold this Thursday, April 1st at 12:00pm (EST) if you can because The Chronicle of Higher Education is hosting a live chat for their "Innovators in Internationalization" series with University of Minnesota colleagues Gayle Woodruff, Director of Curriculum and Campus Internationalization, and Martha Johnson, Director of the Learning Abroad Center.  I know Gayle and Martha and am excited to hear what they have to say!  The following description of this Innovators in Internationalization chat was posted to SECUSS-L by Karin Fischer from The Chronicle of Higher Education and I am posting it below with her permission:

Most colleges wrestle with low study-abroad numbers. How do you convince students, and professors, that taking time away from the campus is both feasible and beneficial to a student’s academic career? The University of Minnesota has developed a method for success by working closely with departments to map out a realistic timetable, and appropriate international partners, for dozens of majors.

Learn how Minnesota did it, and get tips for your own college, by joining a Chronicle of Higher Education live chat with Gayle Woodruff, director of curriculum and campus internationalization at the university, and Martha J. Johnson, director of the learning-abroad center there. It will be held on Thursday, April 1, at noon Eastern at
http://chronicle.com/article/Live-Chat-Innovators-in/64820/.

You can read a related article from the March 28th The Chronicle entitled “U. of Minnesota Integrates Study Abroad Into the Curriculum” here.

Photo credit:  blmurch

International Education and the Immigration Reform Debate

NAFSA’s latest blog post on the immigration debate caught my attention and I thought I would post about it to IHEC Blog. In her post entitled “International Education Is Key to Making Immigration Reform Work for America” Heather Stewart, NAFSA’s Counsel and Director of Immigration Policy, explains the pivotal role international education plays and specifically addresses the need for policies to attract more international students and scholars in order to boost our economy, competitiveness, and ability to connect with the global community.

Heather also pleads the case for a productive national conversation on immigration. She says, “Historically, immigration reform is an issue that cuts across party lines, only succeeding with bipartisan cooperation” and “Immigration reform is a moral and economic imperative, not a political football to be fumbled or kicked down the field. When our members of Congress treat immigration as a game, we all lose.”

Have a thought about this? If so, please visit NAFSA’s blog and leave a comment.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Twitter + NAFSA’s Advocacy Day: A Perfect Match



The following is a guest post by Frank J. Merendino who is the NAFSA Region VI State Rep-Ohio.  I got to know Frank only a few short weeks ago as I was following the NAFSA Advocacy Day activities via Frank’s live tweets of updates and photos he took.  I like what Frank was tweeting so much that I invited him to serve as a guest blogger to share his experiences during NAFSA’s Advocacy Day.  Frank’s post follows:

When David asked me to be a guest blogger on the IHEC Blog I was thrilled for several   reasons. 1) IHEC Blog is such a valuable resource for international educators—it’s a great site for one stop shopping about past and current events in international education so I am honored to be a contributor, 2) I have the opportunity to share my wonderful experience at NAFSA’s Advocacy Day with a larger audience, and 3) I get to blog for the first time ever!

Yes, you read that correctly. I am on the boundary line between GenXer and Millennial (born in 1980) and I have never written a blog post before...hard to imagine, eh? Speaking of blogging, let’s stick with the new media conversation and talk about the benefits of Twitter. Live tweeting is also something I have never really done until Advocacy Day 2010. I’ve had a Twitter account since 2008 and been following a few people for a while (I have even made an occasional tweet every once and a while about nothing important), but it was my interaction with Twitter on my mobile device during Advocacy Day that allowed me to truly understand what all the fuss was about.

I’m certainly not comparing the importance of my tweeting during Advocacy Day with what Iranian citizens were doing a few months back when they made their voices heard during the election protests in a way their government couldn’t block (at first).  However, there is some similarity in that I was able to share a live event I was participating in while it was happening with interested followers. It was a very empowering feeling. Thank you to all my “tweeps” for their encouragement and feedback throughout the Advocacy Day event. Tweeting about what was happening throughout my brief time in DC greatly enhanced my own experience and also allowed me to feel like I was sharing something important with colleagues.

This was my second year attending NAFSA’s Advocacy Day and my hope is that I am able to continue to attend throughout the years. If you only take one message away from this post, it’s that you should absolutely attend Advocacy Day at some point in your career. I’m dead serious. I have had several different NAFSA “experiences” so far in my relatively short time in the field--attending state, regional, and national conferences, attending a regional leadership team meeting, and in my new position as the Region VI State Representative for Ohio, I am currently experiencing the joys of planning Ohio’s state conference—but bar none, Advocacy Day takes the cake as my favorite NAFSA event.

I spent a whirlwind 32 hours in our nation’s capital cramming information into my brain about immigration reform, the ACTION Act, and why lifting the travel ban to Cuba is in our best interest. When it was all said and done, and I had given my pitch about the many benefits of international education to two Senator’s aides and one House staffer, I was exhausted...but it was well worth it. Advocacy Day is a great venue to increase your overall understanding of international education. Seeing the “big picture” and where your own specialty in international education fits into the spectrum is just one of the rewards. You get to listen firsthand to public policy wonks speak about current issues affecting student visas, meet and interact with international educators from across the country, share your stories about the positive impact of studying abroad, and most importantly, take an active role in the democratic process and help to determine the future of international education policy by letting your voice be heard.  Regardless of your role in international education—whether you advise domestic students on studying abroad, help international students and scholars maintain their visa status, teach English, or work in recruiting and admissions—attending NAFSA’s Advocacy Day is an incredible opportunity to help make a difference for students, fellow international educators, and hopefully the United States of America.

I’ll see you in Washington DC in 2011!

If you have any questions, or would like to chat more about why NAFSA’s Advocacy Day is a worthwhile experience, feel free to drop me a line at region6.ohiorep@gmail.com.

Regards,

Frank J. Merendino
International Student Advisor

My thanks to Kari Lantos and NAFSA’s Public Policy team on all of their hard work in putting together another great Advocacy Day.

Photo Credit:  All photos were taking by Frank via his mobile device and posted to TweetPhoto (via Twitter).  To see all of Frank's photos from NAFSA Advocacy Day please visit here.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Back to Castilla – Video of the Week

In searching for videos to highlight in future video of the week segments I thought I would search for Forum on Education Abroad as I thought it might be good to highlight the Forum on the last day of the conference!  I came across a great video created by John Aslanian during the Crossing Borders, Creating Culture: Digital Storytelling & Study Abroad workshop at the Forum conference on Wednesday.  I really like this video and wish I had the skills to put something like this together!  Perhaps I’ll be able to get back on the Forum conference circuit next year and take advantage of this workshop should it be offered again next year.  Additionally, I studied abroad in Valladolid, Spain and visited many of the sites shown in the video!  



Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Plenty of Free International Education Materials to Download on the Internets

It's a busy week this week as my two older kids are out of school on spring break and I'm home with them all week.  Additionally, I have a draft of my dissertation proposal due soon so my time to focus on IHEC Blog posts and navigating in other spaces is limited.  The following are some quick links where you can download several great resources related to international education. Happy reading/researching!



NAFSA Region XI Archives (subject of recent IHEC Blog post)

Photo credit:  fontplaydotcom

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

NAFSA TLS Award for Innovative Research and Scholarship in Internationalization

In case you didn’t catch word of this new and exciting award coming out of NAFSA’s Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (TLS) Knowledge Community in the various discussion forums and listservs that my colleague Bryan McAllister-Grande, Research/Scholarship Network Leader of TLS, posted to I have reposted here with Bryan’s permission:

NAFSA’s Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (TLS) Knowledge Community is very excited to announce the creation of a new award honoring research excellence.

The *Award for Innovative Research and Scholarship in Internationalization* will be given for the first time by TLS at the 2010 Annual Conference in Kansas City. The inaugural award winner will be Prof. Josef A. Mestenhauser, distinguished international professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota and former NAFSA President (1987-88).

Prof. Mestenhauser will be giving a short talk on the "state of research innovation” in international education. The talk and award presentation will take place during the TLS Knowledge Community Update, Tuesday, June 1, from 1:15 – 2:15 p.m. in the Kansas City Convention Center. All conference participants are welcome to attend. A flyer for the event can be accessed at http://issuu.com/globalaffairs/docs/tlsawardflyer

*About Prof. Mestenhauser*

Prof. Mestenhauser is the author of over 120 publications on international education spanning over six decades, including recent work on the relationship between internationalization, the academic disciplines, and critical thinking. At the University of Minnesota, he served in numerous positions, including as professor and mentor of graduate students in the Department of Educational Policy and Administration, College of Human Development. He has been honored with many previous awards including NAFSA’s Marita Houlihan Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Field of International Education. In 2009, Prof. Mestenhauser delivered several new lectures, including the inaugural “Josef A. Mestenhauser Lecture on Internationalizing Higher Education” at the University of Minnesota http://www.international.umn.edu/news/events/mestenhauser.php

*About the new award*

The Award for Innovative Research & Scholarship in Internationalization is the first award given by the TLS Knowledge Community (http://www.nafsa.org/knowledge_community_network.sec/teaching_learning_and/), the creation of which Prof. Mestenhauser was a driving force within NAFSA. TLS helps NAFSA members gain the knowledge, research, and skills they need to infuse international, intercultural, and global knowledge into the ethos and outcomes of their own work, and more broadly, the work of their organizations.

The new award will honor those who have made contributions on research and scholarship questions that could apply across the content areas of several Knowledge Communities. The primary criteria points will be individuals (or research teams) who have done path-breaking, innovative work that asked the hard questions or have “broken the frame;” and/or individuals (or research teams) who have investigated how international education transforms the core teaching and learning activities of higher education.

Monday, March 22, 2010

#Hashtags and other New Media Tools at the Forum on Education Abroad Conference

This week the Forum on Education Abroad annual conference will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina and I'm sad to say that I am no longer able to attend.  I have attended every Forum on Education Abroad conference and I was scheduled to present but due to a required meeting about my dissertation proposal that overlaps the conference I had to withdraw from my session.  Now that I have a phone that is smarter than me I was planning on a heavy social media presence at the Forum conference that included posts to Twitter and IHEC Blog's Facebook page as well as video uploads (perhaps interviews) for IHEC Blog's YouTube channel.  Additionally, I planned to blog frequently from the conference.  I guess this will all happen at the upcoming NAFSA conference (more on this as the NAFSA conference approaches). 

I encourage everyone who will be attending the Forum conference and who are using social media tools to actively use them to commnicate and inform others in attendance and those of us who are not in attendance.  I've been following the "back channel" conversation of several recent and upcoming conferences on Twitter such as the Comparative and International Education Society (#CIES2010 on Twitter), NASPA (#NASPA2010 on Twitter), ACPA (#ACPA2010 on Twitter) and NAFSA (#nafsa10 on Twitter) as well as NAFSA's Advocacy Day (#nafsaAD) and I have found the dialogue to be quite interesting and informative.  Will anyone be posting to Twitter from the Forum conference and if so do you have thoughts on a #hashtag to follow?  Last week I started asking in various new media spaces on what the #hashtag should be for the Forum conference and some suggestions from colleagues have been:  #FORUMX, #FEA10, #Forum2010 and #2010Forum.  What are your thoughts?  Last week I also argued (in 140 characters on Twitter) that conferences should set their own #hashtags for people to follow.  Thanks @NAFSA for setting your own #hashtag for the 2010 annual conference a few weeks back and for making the Twitter feeds visible in the Conference Connection!  Whatever the #hashtag used for the Forum conference I will be following from Chicago!  All this #hashtag talk is probably confusing to most people because you may not be on Twitter and are thinking "What?" or you have seen me post to Twitter and other spaces about my dislike for the #hashtag!  I like #hashtags with &purpose...but that is an entirely different conversation I'm having with some great colleagues!
 
If you plan to be using any new media tools from the Forum conference (aside from Twitter as we hopefully can all agree on a #hashtag to use), please let me know and I'll update this post to include links to your blog, YouTube channel, Facebook page or to all three!  I do know that Missy Gluckman over at Melibee Global will be blogging frequently from the Forum conference.  You can read more about Missy's plans here.

On a related note, I found the following two articles on social media use at conferences to be quite interesting and think that they can be very helpful for colleagues in field of international education to read:

Conference Humiliation: They're Tweeting Behind Your Back” from the November 17, 2009 The Chronicle of Higher Education
An Open Letter from the People with Cell Phones out (for a purpose) during Sessions” from the March 9, 2010 NASPA 2010 Annual Conference Blog

Friday, March 19, 2010

Study Abroad as an Unexpected Expense - Video of the Week

For this Video of the Week I embedded this Bank of America commercial about unexpected expenses.  This is a pretty good commercial to start with but what I really like is that the idea of study abroad is brought up (two 2 second snippets of the commercial so you have to watch the entire 0:37 of video) as an unexpected expense .  It is great that the concept of study abroad was brought up in this commercial but what is really important about the commercial is that the student and parents are African American.  This is important because African American students have traditionally been underrepresented in the U.S. study abroad study abroad population as demonstrated by the most recent Open Doors data showing that only 4.0% of U.S. students studying abroad in 2007-2008 were African American.  Including an African American student discussing studying abroad in France with his parents in the commercial is a small, but welcomed, step in showing that students of all backgrounds are interested in studying abroad and that we as a field need to continue our efforts to diversify the U.S. student profile studying abroad.
To all parents out there...be prepared for your student to come home some day and tell you that they want to study abroad!  As much as possible let's make study abroad a necessary expense for our students rather than an unexpected expense!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Shanghai Expo Learning Component for Purdue University Students Studying Abroad

I recently learned about a very interesting study abroad program initiative at Purdue University called the Shanghai Expo Learning Component and I think it is a great example of innovative programming in the field. In conjunction with Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China, nine Purdue summer study abroad programs (each with different objectives, dates and faculty leaders) will meet up in late May to take in elements of the Expo. Additionally, they will also be meeting with representatives from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Purdue alumni during this period. The programs range from Aviation Technology to Health & Kinesiology. You can learn more about the Shanghai Expo Learning Component at Purdue University here.

Similar to Purdue, the University of Southern California is also focusing on Expo 2010 and their U.S.-China Institute has partnered with USA Pavilion to create the Student Ambassadors Internship Program. You can learn more about this Student Ambassadors Internship Program here.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A Brief Synopsis of Recent Literature on U.S. Students Abroad

It has been some time since I have had a guest blogger here at IHEC Blog and I’m pleased to publish this post by my colleague Emily Gorlewski, Assistant Director in the Office of Study Abroad, Center for International Studies at Western Illinois University. In this post, Emily provides a brief synopsis of three recent articles on U.S. study abroad:

Salisbury, M.H., Paulsen, M.B., and Pascarella, E.T. (2010) To see the world or stay at home; Applying an integrated student choice model to explore the gender gap in the intent to study abroad. Research in Higher Education (in press, retrieved March 9, 2010 from www.education.uiowa.edu/crue/publications/index.htm)

Salisbury, M.H., Umbach, P.D., Paulsen, M.B., and Pascarella, E.T. (2009) Going global: Understanding the choice process of the intent to study abroad. Research in Higher Education 50, 119-143.

Stroud, A. (2010). Who plans (not) to study abroad? An examination of U.S. student intent. Journal of Studies in International Education, 1-18. Doi 10.1177/1028315309357942

As a study abroad professional with big ambitions to increase participation at my university, I am thrilled to see quite a number of new research articles about what influences students to study abroad or not. When I worked as a study abroad adviser and was also a graduate student, this was my primary interest. I wanted to know why our students weren’t going abroad. Were they too poor? Didn’t they know about study abroad? Were they just not interested? The literature at that time (Spring 2006) was not as extensive as it is today, thanks to these new resources.

These studies support some previous research findings and commonly-held beliefs about study abroad while challenging others. For a practitioner like me, they point out the similarities in factors influencing students to study abroad, while also highlighting areas in which more research is needed in each particular institution. This research is a huge contribution to understanding participation in study abroad.

April Stroud’s (2010) sample was from one institution, University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Stroud found that female students were more likely to intend to study abroad than male students, which is in line with the Open Doors statistics on students who do go abroad. She also found that students who attended college farther away from home were more likely to intend to study abroad, as were students who indicated a strong interest in learning about other cultures. She found that students who lived at home while attending school and those in engineering or professional majors were less likely to intend to study abroad, while parents’ income level and education level did not appear to be related to intent to study abroad.

Salisbury, Umbach, Paulsen and Pascarella (2009) and Salisbury, Paulsen and Pascarella (2010) had a sample drawn from 19 different institutions. Because of the diversity of this sample compared to Stroud’s or that of any single institution trying to study its own students, it is possible that some would consider the results more generalizable to the US undergraduate population as a whole. However, as the researchers point out, the institutions sampled represented a disproportionate number of liberal-arts colleges. In the 2009 study, women were found to be more likely than men to intend to study abroad. This finding is studied in more detail in the 2010 article. The data on racial background and majors was interesting; the authors suggest that the fact that certain student groups are underrepresented is not due to a lack of desire or intent to study abroad. The 2010 analysis focuses on gender, finding relationships among this factor plus, race, income, parents’ education levels and other variables. There’s too much fascinating information to summarize here; you will have to read the article!

All of these articles are full of implications for further research, and they are just a sample of the research that has appeared recently on this topic. As the field continues to grow, I hope that the momentum in this area can be maintained, and more answers can be found for those of us who are asking why more students don’t take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad. It’s important for each of us to remember, however, that each institution has its own unique student population, and in order to serve that population’s needs, we need to look inward and focus on what drives our own students.

Photo credit:  austinevan

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Women as Intercultural Leaders: Imagination, Innovation, Integrity – Extended Call for Proposals

I’m posting the following with the permission of my colleague Elaine Meyer-Lee, Director of the Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership at Saint Mary's College.  I know the deadline is quickly approaching but I wanted to psot about this great opportunity as soon as possible.

Women as Intercultural Leaders: Imagination, Innovation, Integrity
Second interdisciplinary conference exploring the intersections of women's studies, international and multicultural education, entrepreneurship, and leadership development hosted by

Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership
Saint Mary’s College
Notre Dame, Indiana USA
September 30 – October 2, 2010
(Thursday noon to noon Saturday)

Call for Proposals
EXTENDED DEADLINE: March 20th, 2010

In 2010 the Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership (CWIL) marks 10 years of fostering the intercultural competence critical for the next generation of women leaders across the Saint Mary’s campus, connecting with communities at the local, state, national, and global levels. This interactive conference brings together theorists, scholars, professionals, educators, community activists, practitioners, and students. Participants have opportunities for networking, sharing best practices, and joining a national conversation about emerging work on the following conference themes:

• Thinking in new ways about women’s leadership and promoting women as change agents
• Developing women’s entrepreneurship
• Articulating ethical and spiritual foundations
• Internationalizing and interculturalizing the curriculum and co-curriculum
• Building collaborative relationships between colleges and communities and across disciplines

Visit CWIL’s conference website http://www.saintmarys.edu/~cwil/Conference/CFP.php to download the Conference Proposal Form. Additional conference information will be posted on CWIL’s Web site as it becomes available.

The Current State of Diversity in Global Education - Free Webinar

I don't know if there is still space in this free webinar on diversity in study abroad but I thought I would forward just in case.  I simply copied and pasted the brief description of the webinar below.

Join Andrew Gordon, founder of Diversity Abroad, as he discusses the current state of diversity in global education, the future outlook and a new resource for higher education professionals to collaborate on diversity related issues in global education. 

The webinar is scheduled for this Thursday, March 18, 2010 from 2:30pm to 3:30pm (EDT)

You can register for this webinar here.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Video of the Week - Fulbright Scholar Discusses making of her documentary “Which Way Home”

n this video, filmmaker and 2005-2006 Fulbright Scholar Rebecca Cammisa discusses how the Fulbright helped her complete her 2010 Oscar nominated documentary “Which Way Home”.


You can learn more about “Which Way Home” and order your own copy at http://www.whichwayhome.net/

Thursday, March 11, 2010

New Book of Interest – “The Twenty-first Century University: Developing Faculty Engagement in Internationalization”

The Twenty-first Century University: Developing Faculty Engagement in Internationalization (Complicated Conversation: a Book Series of Curriculum Studies)
I want to highlight a new book by Lisa Childress that I think many IHEC Blog readers may be interested in checking out. Published in 2010 by Peter Lang Publishers, The Twenty-first Century University: Developing Faculty Engagement in Internationalization "identifies what successful institutions have done to overcome endogenous challenges and successfully engage faculty in the internationalization process. Examining two exemplary cases of internationalization, this book extrapolates strategies for colleges and universities to adapt to their unique institutional cultures, histories, and priorities, to support faculty in internationalizing their teaching, research, and service. In addition to in-depth analysis of each successful institution, the book analyzes cross-case findings and implications, presenting a new conceptual model and typology of faculty engagement in internationalization that can be used both by university administrators to expand faculty involvement in the implementation of their institutions internationalization plans and by faculty to advance their knowledge of internationalization."

Following are three reviews of The Twenty-first Century University by scholars that I greatly respect and admire and I felt that it is important to incorporate their words into this post.

Academic leaders, policy makers, faculty and scholars will benefit from the insightful analysis and pragmatic approach to enhancing faculty engagement in the internationalization process. This important and welcomed book helps to fill a major gap in research and practice and demonstrates that faculty are the true 'engine of internationalization' when their involvement is supported and recognized." --Jane Knight, University of Toronto

"Grounded in theory and full of practical advice, The Twenty-first Century University: Faculty Engagement in Internationalization represents an important addition to the literature on internationalization. It provides enormously useful guidance for chief academic officers, deans, and campus internationalization leaders as they work to engage the faculty in the important work of internationalization." -- Madeleine F. Green, Vice President for International Initiatives, American Council on Education

"This study on faculty engagement in internationalization provides insight into a crucial aspect of internationalization policies in higher education that has received too little attention before: how to stimulate faculty interest and involvement in internationalization strategies and activities in institutions of higher education. Her analysis, cases studies and recommendations will be of relevance for colleges and universities in strengthening their internationalization objectives. " --Hans de Wit, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences; Editor, Journal of Studies in International Education

Information about the author: Lisa K. Childress is an internationalization consultant, who has served as an internationalization leader at universities in the United States and Japan over the past two decades. Her teaching and administrative leadership span institutions including Duke University, University of Virginia, and Kyushu University in Japan. She received her doctorate in education from George Washington University, where she partnered with the American Council on Education in her internationalization research. Dr. Childress received her master of education from Harvard University and her bachelor of arts from the University of Virginia. Her scholarship has been published in leading academic journals including the Journal of Studies in International Education and the Journal of Global Initiatives.

For more information about this book please click on the image of the book cover.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE®) now offers online training, E-Learning!


Back in the fall of 2000 the Office of International Affairs at the University of Chicago took a chance and hired me as an Assistant Director. I was immediately thrust into one of my primary roles as the Fulbright Program Adviser for the U.S. Student Program and three weeks after I started my position the campus application deadline was upon me! While the Fulbright was (and continues to be) a significant part of my work at Chicago I was also charged with issuing visa eligibility documents to all international students admitted to the University and evaluating all academic credentials for every international graduate student admitted to the University. I was fortunate to register for an introductory credential evaluation workshop at the NAFSA Region V conference held that November and the workshop was lead by Marybeth Gruenewald of Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE). That workshop is perhaps one of the best workshops I have ever attended and formed the foundation for my knowledge of credential evaluation and of education systems across the globe! Since that workshop I have paid close attention to ECE and what they are all about and I must say that they are the first company that comes to my mind when I think of evaluating academic credentials. ECE was founded in 1980 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by James Frey (I’ve read his dissertation entitled The development of a criterion instrument for evaluating agency-sponsored study abroad program (1976) from Indiana University) and someday I will visit their office with the hope of sneaking a peak at their reference library that houses more than 35,000 volumes related to international education! ECE is a charter member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) and NACES is an important stop when selecting credential evaluation services.


ECE has launched a new E-Learning training program and I’m very excited about this new professional development opportunity for the field. The following is more information about their new training program:

E-Learning is an online training program for international admissions professionals, recruiters, credential evaluators, and anyone interested in education completed outside of the United States. Part lecture, part interactive, and very practical, our sessions will be facilitated and taught by the experienced, knowledgeable, and trusted evaluation staff of ECE. All that is needed are a computer and a telephone. 
http://www.ece.org/ecelearning
Questions? contact Christina at cberg@ece.org

India Practical Grade and Credit Conversions
10 March 2010
1:00-2:30 p.m. CST
$150 USD
The determination and reporting of student academic achievement in India
Reading and understanding Indian documentation, with sample educational documents
Ensuring complete, correct documentation
Converting Indian marks to U.S. semester hours of credit
Converting Indian marks to U.S. grades, and GPA calculation

Introduction to Credential Evaluation Practices and Resources
17 March 2010
1:00-2:30 p.m. CST
$150 USD
Basic Principles of Credential Evaluation
Accreditation and Institutional Recognition
Levels of Education with Benchmarks
Documentation Issues
Resources: Fee-based, Free, Print, Online

Advanced India Credential Evaluation
14 April 2010
1:00-2:30 p.m. CST
$150 USD
Non-university education in India
Exceptions to the “rules” of Indian credential evaluation
Evaluating post-graduate diplomas and other atypical credentials
Current trends and changes in Indian education

The Basics: Learning to Read Chinese Educational Credentials
28 April 2010
1:00-2:30 p.m. CST
$150 USD
Numbers
Biographical Data
Basic Educational Terms
Language Assistant Resources
Practical Exercises with sample credentials

Credit and Grading Practices Worldwide
12 May 2010
1:00-2:30 p.m. CST
$150 USD
U.S. Credit System
Different Types of Quantifying Reporting Outside of the United States
Overview of Grading Systems Worldwide
Examples of Credit and Grade Conversions with sample exercises

Advanced: Evaluating Chinese Credentials
19 May 2010
1:00-2:30 p.m. CST
$150 USD
Identifying Levels of Education
Institutional Recognition
Analyzing Educational Programs and Grade Reports
Authenticity Issues
Transnational Programs
Practical Exercises with Sample Credentials
Resources

Authenticity and Fraud
9 June 2010
1:00-2:30 p.m. CST
$150 USD
What is Fraud?
What are Red Flags?
Document Safety Features
Dealing with Suspected Fraud
Resources

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Two New Publications by The Forum on Education Abroad

The Forum on Education Abroad has made available two new publications for download in their Standards Toolbox. The two new publications are:

Alignment and Accountability in Education Abroad: A Handbook for the Effective Design and Implementation of Qualitative Assessment Based on Student Evaluations (2010) was developed and written by Lilli Engle and Patricia C. Martin.

Strategies for Education Abroad Advocacy on Campuses (2010) was prepared by the Forum on Education Abroad Advocacy Committee.

I have read most of these two new publications and think they are excellent contributions to the field. To access the Standards Toolbox you must be a member of the Forum on Education Abroad.

If you or your institution/organization are not currently members of the Forum on Education Abroad you might want to consider joining. You can learn more about Forum membership here.

Photo credit:  vinmarshall.  For the curious, this photo is of a book binding machine

Monday, March 8, 2010

IHEC Blog's Facebook Page

The other night I figured out how to add a PDF tab on IHEC Blog's Facebook page (however, can't remember how I did it).  What's nice about this feature (in addition to being able to add docments in PDF format to my Facebook page) is that you can get code to embed into any webpage you want.  So, this is my first attempt to embed a PDF document in an IHEC Blog post.  I imagine that I will imbed more documents into IHEC Blog in the future assuming this attempt is successful.  The following document is a simple one page flyer on my services through International Higher Education Consulting (my little side business).  You can access my website here.  Since I'm a very small operation (although I do have a part-time associate I can call upon from time to time on certatin projects) and I have three little mouths to feed in my household I haven't been able to upgrade my website and domain name to better integrate all of my research and work.  That will come in time and most likely will be a reward to myself for completing my dissertation.

International Higher Education Consulting Flyer

Friday, March 5, 2010

Capacity Building for Undergraduate Study Abroad - “One-time Competitive Grants Program“ by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

I was alerted to the following Request for Grant Proposals (RFPG) from the March 5, 2010 HEI e-News by Education USA. This “One-time Competitive Grants Program – Competition A –Academic Programs” includes a component on “Capacity Building for Undergraduate Study Abroad.” I have generously copied and pasted the relevant information from the HEI e-News announcement below:

The purpose of this component of the competition is to build the capacity of U.S. institutions of higher education and of potential host institutions abroad to provide study abroad opportunities for U.S. undergraduate students. Proposals should follow one of three models:

(a) U. S. institutions with substantial experience providing study abroad opportunities may partner with international counterparts with limited experience receiving U.S. students in order to expand the capacity of the foreign partner to host U.S. students, particularly in locations that have been underserved by traditional study abroad programs.

(b) U.S. institutions with substantial experience providing study abroad opportunities may cooperate with less experienced U.S. partner colleges and universities to enable the less experienced institutions to develop programs with international counterparts or build their study abroad offices through professional visits of administrators, faculty and/or students.

(c) U.S. institutions with limited experience administering study abroad programs may seek to strengthen their study abroad offices or expand their capacity to administer such programs. Budgets for proposals submitted in this category should not exceed $60,000.

Anticipated award amount will be $250,000 on average. The deadline for submissions is April, 12, 2010. You can link to the full text of the RFGP to learn more at http://exchanges.state.gov/grants/open2.html

Photo credit: Killfile

Video of the Week - Breaking Barriers Video: Non Traditional Students Before and After Study Abroad

This week I’m highlighting a seven minute excerpt of an excellent video (31 minutes) entitled “Breaking Barriers” that was created and produced by San Francisco State University. Breaking Barriers premiered at the 2008 NAFSA annual conference. You can learn much more about the Breaking Barriers video project as well find information on how to order a copy for your office and/or personal library collection at http://allabroad.us/diversity_videos.php


Thursday, March 4, 2010

The IHEC Blog International Education Bookstore

Recently I created the IHEC Blog International Education Book Store via Amazon.com and had a soft/quiet launch about three weeks ago. The little activity and traffic that I can track has been positive.  I mentioned previously in a post that IHEC Blog is now an Amazon Associate (you can read more about that here). I’ve now taken this a step further and have created an international education book store on Amazon.com. All books that I have and will review or highlight on IHEC Blog will be linked to Amazon for people to learn more about the book and to purchase if they would like. Additionally, all books reviewed and highlighted on IHEC Blog will be added to the book store. The book store is currently divided into the following five sections to assist with searching for books:
- International Education and Exchange
- IHEC Blog Kindle Edition (reminder that all proceeds will be donated to UNICEF)
- Resources for International Careers
- Public/Citizen Diplomacy
- Higher Education

If you have a book that you think would be a good addition to the IHEC Blog International Education Book Store please send me a message via e-mail at international.ed.consulting@gmail.com or via Twitter at @DavidComp with information about the book and I’ll check it out. While I am open to including almost all relevant books in the book store please note and understand that I may decide not to include a certain book. Additionally, if you have a book you would like me to review please feel free to contact me so we can discuss and coordinate.

You can link to IHEC Blog's International Education Book Store at http://astore.amazon.com/interhigheedu-20

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Helping Chile

The recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile was the seventh strongest in recorded history and according to a SPACE.com article on Yahoo! News it was so strong that it shifted the Earth’s rotation and shortened the length of a day by 1.26 milliseconds. The devastation to Chile was tremendous with at least 800 people killed and perhaps as many as 2 million people displaced.

The U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy has put together another webpage of resources that will be helpful to you in keeping up with the developments in Chile as well as information on what you can do to help. You can access The Center’s website at http://www.uscenterforcitizendiplomacy.org/misc/chile/

Photo credit:  pablo/T

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

America’s Black Colleges: Redefining International Education for the Next Decade

Sometimes I wish I lived in Washington, D.C. so I could attend great conferences, meetings and other gatherings related to international education. For example, I recently received an invitation from my colleague LaNitra Berger from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher education (NAFEO) about a one-day dialogue on international education they are hosting entitled “America’s Black Colleges: Redefining International Education for the Next Decade.”

This day-long session will examine how the current international education models can be modified to better serve students and faculty at black colleges and other minority-serving institutions. It will discuss ways to increase participation in international education through service learning, civic engagement, social justice, and crisis response.

The session will be held on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 and it is part of NAFEO’s 36th National Dialogue on Blacks in Higher Education, America’s Black Colleges: Fostering Success and Global Competitiveness. Following is the schedule:

7:30 am Continental Breakfast- Sponsored by the ONE Campaign
Discussion: Civic Engagement and International Education—the ONE Campus Challenge Program

10:00 am Finding and Funding Research Partnerships & Exchanges at Black Colleges

12:00 pm International Day Luncheon- Sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security

2:00 pm Higher Education and the Rebuilding of Haiti

4:00 pm Building Linkages between Black Colleges and African Universities

6:30 pm Reception Honoring NAFEO Presidents for Outstanding Achievement in Campus Internationalization

One-Day Conference Fee:  Regular Registration: $150.00 and Faculty: $50.00 (Includes all meals, sessions, and receptions)

Registration online at www.nafeo.org/nafeoconf

For more information, contact: LaNitra Berger at international@nafeo.org

Monday, March 1, 2010

The NAFSA Region XI Archives


Those who know me either from my work on the NAFSA: Association of International Educators Teaching, Learning and Scholarship (TLS) team and other NAFSA Task Forces and Subcommittees or via IHEC Blog will know that I have a strong interest in the history of the field of international education. Yesterday, my colleague Bryan McAllister-Grande from Brandeis University and the Research/Scholarship Network Leader for NAFSA posted some really exciting news to the Research/Scholarship discussion forum (if you’re not subscribed now is a good time). Specifically, NAFSA’s Region XI has set up an online archive and there are some really great documents in PDF format with some dating back to the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is important to note that most of these documents have a national focus on international education and are not specific to Region XI. A brief listing of what you can find in the archives:


News from NAFSA (1958)

Foreign Students: Exchange or Immigration? (1964)

A History of Study Abroad (1966)

A Letter to NAFSA from Lyndon Johnson (1968)

The Professionalization of the Foreign Student Advisor (1976)

The Impact of the “Buckely Amendment” (1976)

While they are mentioned on the Archive website I think it is important to highlight and thank the Region XI Archive Committee members for their invaluable work on this project! The committee members are:

Bob Chudy – University of Connecticut
Steve Harvey – Southern New Hampshire University
Michelle Kort – University of Connecticut, Babson College.
Richard Lazzerini – University of Hartford
Don Ross – Salem State College
Jennifer Stephens - Consultant
Alice Thayer – St. Michael’s College

You can access the Region XI Archive here.