Last Friday in Washington, members of the 14th Cohort of ACE’s Internationalization Laboratory
met for their mid-term meeting. The cohort’s 11 members reported on
efforts to transform campus internationalization during large and small
group discussions and networking sessions.
Steven Bloom,
ACE’s director of government relations also gave Lab participants an
overview of recent political developments that may affect
internationalization efforts. Bloom cited student visas and employment,
immigration, travel restrictions, and the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals program as areas Lab members should monitor.
Throughout the day, group discussions focused on the shared successes
and challenges institutions faced in the first several months of the
Lab process. Common successes included the abstract—productive
conversations, high energy and excitement for the process led to a clear
vision early on—and the concrete—institutional commitment in the form
of plans, strategic communications, and goals. Participants also found
that the Lab helped integrate internationalization into a larger
institutional vision.
Shared challenges included barriers to “implementing the pieces” of
internationalization: politics, time, money, data collection,
communications, language and working across boundaries and borders. One
institution noted that resource concerns come from all corners of
campus. A solution the group offered was to make the “ask” for resources
stronger by leveraging existing institutional strengths, pairing campus
initiatives and connecting common goals.
Participants also discussed the CIGE Model for Comprehensive Internationalization, reporting on how they have adapted the model to fit with their individual internationalization goals.
The cohort agreed that the next step in the process, turning
discussion into policy and practice, would be an exciting challenge. As
Senior Associate for Internationalization at ACE's Center for
Internationalization and Global Engagement (CIGE) Barbara Hill noted,
the Lab is “as much about process as it is where it ends up.”
CIGE is currently accepting applications for the 15th Cohort, which
will begin in August 2017 and conclude in April 2019. Interested
campuses should apply soon as space is limited.
For more information, contact Robin Matross Helms, director, CIGE, at rhelms@acenet.edu.