Leadership in Action

As the landscape of international education continues to weather both internal and external forces of change, the role of capable leaders becomes increasingly critical. Campuses across the globe need effective leadership strategies to manage change, proactively respond to challenges, and influence higher education institutions beyond the international offices.

Toward that end, senior international officers (SIOs) from three different institutions share concrete examples of successful leadership in the face of uncertainty on their campus and in their community.

Vancouver Island University

In August 2018, the government of Saudi Arabia announced its plan to remove the approximately 12,000 Saudi students enrolled at Canadian institutions. Canadian officials had criticized Saudi Arabia’s arrest of female social activists, and a diplomatic dispute between the two countries ensued.

“We woke up one morning to...the news surrounding it and quickly had to decide, as institutions, how we were going to respond,” says Kate Jennings, director of international student services at Vancouver Island University, which at the time hosted around 90 Saudi Arabian students.

There was great uncertainty over whether all Saudi Arabian students would be required to leave Canada, regardless of whether they were sponsored or where they were in their degree program. Students were receiving conflicting information from different sources and had been told not to listen to their universities.

“Initially, things were quite fluid,” Jennings says. “The complexity of this was enormous, not only for the institution, but more importantly, for the students.” 

Jennings worked with colleagues across her institution, as well as peers across