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Instant connectivity with global concerns today has created a
new urgency and greater awareness of the international dimensions
of education, but not necessarily a greater awareness of what
to do about it, said Humphrey Tonkin, president emeritus of the
University of Hartford (CT), during a Presidents Institute address.
Tonkin raised a number of questions about international programs
and made proposals for what presidents can do to improve the programs.
“The world is changing far faster than our education system,”
Tonkin said. “Young people today will have to negotiate their
way in this new world. They’ll have to stand on their merits and
know how to modify and change or defend their beliefs and values.
We need to provide them with the tools they need to succeed.”
He posited that a substantive, international program should provide
students with solid academic content, social adaptation skills,
and self-understanding.
In light of these needs, presidents and other campus officials
ought to ask themselves some hard questions: “Are we providing
citizens and leaders of tomorrow what they need to know? Specifically,
is the academic content of our international programs worthwhile?
Are we addressing the new challenges of an interconnected world
as we tackle curricular reform? Will the overseas experience compel
“social adaptation”—seeing the world as someone in another society
sees it? Will the time away from the U.S. be long enough to afford
an adolescent deeper self-understanding—and recognition of “authentic
disagreements” about what it means to be human?
College and university presidents must take a leadership role
in emphasizing the international dimension of education, Tonkin
stressed, citing statistics of U.S. institutions losing ground
in international education. European Union activities involve
31 countries and hundreds of thousands of students in study abroad,
and this pattern of cooperation is likely to expand. The United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization estimates
that in 2000, 1.7 million students were educated in countries
other than their home. Now it is more than 2 million, and by 2025,
8 million will be educated internationally. However, the U.S.
share of international students is declining. More universities
in non-English speaking countries are offering programs in English
to attract international students, which will create a much stronger
competition for U.S. institutions in the future. “We’ve been living
on borrowed time as far as international students are concerned,”
he emphasized.
Globalization is “a fact of life in higher education that we must
pay attention to,” Tonkin said, both in terms of attracting international
students and providing excellent study abroad programs. “There
is ample room for expansion of foreign students in our institutions.
We have to lower barriers, be more receptive to the needs of foreign
students, and think about how to build programs that are hospitable
to foreign students.”
“How do we get started? Behind our thinking should be the firm
ideal of global competence.” Tonkin outlined four steps that presidents
should take to improve international education programs:
1. Conduct an inventory of your assets. Get
a full sense of your institution’s international efforts. Ask
“What do we know about faculty members’ foreign language knowledge
or connections with international institutions? What is the
extent and range of the international experience of students
and faculty members? Commission a study to answer these questions,
and when it’s complete, set up an institution-wide committee
to make use of the findings.
2. Remove obstacles. Make sure that if you
encourage students to study abroad, you don’t create enrollment
management or financial problems. Get enrollment and finance
managers to work together with study-abroad advisors. Create
a reserve fund to deal with financial imbalances if study-abroad
students take their financial aid with them. And for international
students coming to your campus, be sure that you integrate them
into the campus community and provide them with a good, diverse
educational experience.
3. Create a facilitating mechanism. Appoint
a person who is dedicated to the international program—someone
whose first priority is the international program, and who can
bring people together. Provide the necessary resources; a small
amount of money can have a big effect. Look at language departments
to ensure they are delivering what is needed and change them
if they are not.
4. Get buy-in from the campus community. Ensure
that all campus constituents are on board with the internationalization
of the campus. The role of the president is important to gain
grassroots support and mobilize good will for maximum effect.
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