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Advancing and Sustaining Internationalization: Persistent Challenges and New Opportunities

An impending Washington blizzard didn't stop 116 higher education leaders from across the country from attending the American Council on Education's International Collaboration Annual Meeting. Now it its 10th year, the Collaborative is a network of 114 institutions that provides a forum for teams of faculty and administrators to share ideas and help further advance internationalization on campuses. This year's theme was: Advancing and Sustaining Internationalization: Persistent Challenges and New Opportunities. Attendees explored topics including how leaders working with constrained resources make the case for internationalization. The meeting, which took place Feb. 4–5, also highlighted three approaches to sustaining and advancing internationalization, including fostering inter-institutional collaboration, innovative uses of technology, and effective assessment and evaluation of internationalization.

Highlights from the 2010 Meeting

Workshop A: An Integrated Approach for Advancing Comprehensive Internationalization
This workshop was designed for participants who are new to the ACE Internationalization Collaborative and would like to learn more about an integrative approach for internationalization. This strategy integrates attention to inputs (through an internationalization review and strategic planning process) with attention to outputs (through the articulation of learning outcomes and the development of an assessment plan). Representatives from institutions who have worked closely with ACE in piloting this integrative strategy offered lessons learned and helped participants think about how these processes might be applied at their respective institutions. This workshop drew upon the ACE publications Building a Strategic Framework for Comprehensive Internationalization (2005) and A Handbook for Advancing Comprehensive Internationalization: What Institutions Can Do and What Students Should Learn (2006). These ACE publications will be provided to workshop participants. Facilitators:

Stephanie Doscher & Hilary Landorf, Florida International University

Workshop B: At Home in the World: Educating for Global Connections and Local Commitments
This workshop was designed for participants who are interested in developing a conceptual framework and a set of learning outcomes to guide their institution's efforts to promote synergy between internationalization and multicultural education. The workshop will drew from the ACE publication, At Home in the World, and good practices shared at the ACE 2008 symposium, "Cultivating Collaboration Between Internationalization and Multicultural Education" and the 2009 summer institute, "Educating for Global Connections and Local Commitments." Facilitators:

Workshop C: Internationalization for Chief Academic Officers
This workshop was designed to assist Chief Academic Officers in understanding and leading campus internationalization. The CAO, along with his/her administrative team of deans and faculty, leads internationalization in several ways: through articulating the importance of internationalization, defining internationalization for his/her institution, and developing a strategy for comprehensive internationalization. This workshop showcased effective strategies for leading internationalization and provided a forum for senior leaders to explore shared challenges as well as emerging opportunities. Facilitator:

Opening Remarks: Global Trends in Higher Education
In her opening remarks, Madeleine Green, Vice President for International Initiatives at ACE outlined emerging trends in postsecondary education worldwide. In her presentation she explored the rising global demand for higher education and the resulting consequences for student mobility, campuses abroad, growth, and privatization.

Good Practice Plenary #1: Fostering Inter-Institutional Collaboration
This panel explored the ways in which institutions can pool resources and leverage human and financial resources to further internationalization. The presenters highlighted consortia and networks that enhance research, study abroad, and international partnerships. Facilitators:

Winners of the ACE award competition for the innovative use of technology to enhance internationalization, "Bringing the World into the Classroom"

Good Practice Plenary #2: Using Technology to Enhance Internationalization
This panel showcased the winners of a recent ACE award competition, "Bringing the World into the Classroom." Panelists described innovative courses and programs that infuse an international dimension into the curriculum through the use of technology and facilitate personal interaction between U.S. students and international students, scholars, and citizens. Facilitators:

Good Practice Plenary #3: Assessment & Evaluation of Internationalization
This panel explored the ways in which institutions are constantly challenged to evaluate the status of internationalization and appropriately assess student international learning outcomes. The presenters highlighted good practice in assessing learning outcomes and evaluating internationalization indicators. Facilitators:

Closing Keynote Address
In his closing keynote remarks, Larry Johnson, CEO of the New Media Consortium, addressed the challenge of capitalizing on cutting edge technology to enhance student learning. Johnson contended that increasingly, "Users are the content," and higher education, like all sectors of the economy, need to adapt to the new ways in which information is created, disseminated, and captured.

Please direct questions about this page to:
international@ace.nche.edu
This page was last updated on 03/19/2010