New Publication Offers More Guidance for Campuses Venturing
Abroad
Nov. 13, 2008
A new publication from the American Council on Education’s
(ACE) Center
for International Initiatives offers insight into programs and
degrees being offered overseas by U.S. colleges and universities.
On the Ground Overseas: U.S. Degree Programs and Branch Campuses
Abroad is a follow-up to ACE’s Venturing Abroad:
Delivering U.S. Degrees Through Overseas Branch Campuses and
Programs published last year. On the Ground features
lessons learned from 10 colleges and universities that currently offer
degree programs or have branch campuses outside the United States.
Those institutions are:
The essay includes reflections shared by representatives from these
institutions who gathered for a January 2008 roundtable. There, they
discussed the challenges and strategies for venturing abroad as well as
the different models for such a significant undertaking.
“Many of the programs represented at the meeting had long and
successful track records, others were newer to the game,” the
essay states. “All made the critical first decision of deciding
that the initiative abroad was consonant with their missions and useful
to the host country.”
One consideration the essay’s authors focus on is that of
faculty, who may be more difficult to recruit than students, they
contend. “Many institutions working abroad draw on their home
faculty to staff their overseas programs, flying them for short teaching
stints to the site abroad. Other institutions have on-site faculty hired
exclusively to teach at the program or campus overseas. Some
institutions use both approaches,” the authors write.
The publication concludes with a review of the risks involved in
setting up degree programs overseas and the arguments against these
initiatives. The appendix offers readers extensive profiles of the
10 institutions.
The publication is available for purchase on the ACE
web site.
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