Resources and Best Practices in International Education

It is an honor to join you to talk about “Resources and Best Practices in International Education.” I will take a moment to explain our perspective.  

As you may know, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, is the largest and most comprehensive association advancing international higher education with over 10,000 members around the world.  Based in the United States, we have members in the U.S. and over 130 countries.

Founded in 1948, we provide professional development programs, products, and services that support professionals in international education.  

Many of our members are on campuses, but they span the wide range of people in the field.  We are guided by the values in our Strategic Plan.

We publish a range of books, reports, and monographs as well as International Educator magazine.  We have a very active public policy department and we are ardent supporters of the field of international education.

For over 70 years, NAFSA has been committed to strengthening the U.S. and the international community through international education, academic mobility, and global learning. Every day our members work to provide global opportunities for all students.

Today, I will comment on international education resources and best practices in three areas :

• Policy and regulatory 
• Professional development
• Internationalization

Of course, today we are discussing resources and best practices, but doing so amid a worldwide crisis. The pandemic is having a profound and tragic impact around the world.  In my remarks, I will note resources relevant to issues exacerbated by the pandemic.

Policy and Regulatory Issues

The challenges of dealing with the pandemic require that institutional leaders work with policy-makers to shape actions that will help people survive this crisis.  NAFSA has very active public policy and regulatory practice departments that work closely with allies and partners across the education, immigration, and policy communities.  We talk regularly to congressional leaders and their staffs, and to the executive branch.  NAFSA publishes the Advisor’s Manual 360, a comprehensive reference work that assists on-campus officials in meeting their regulatory obligations.

Just this month NAFSA joined with other associations to file an amicus brief in support of the case brought by Harvard and MIT requesting a change in the proposed SEVP guidance to international students.  As you know, that proposed guidance was reversed.  The strong voices of a wide coalition of institutions, associations, organizations and even international students and scholars themselves, delivered a successful outcome rolling back the proposal.  The voices of presidents and other leaders were crucial to helping policy-makers understand the importance of international education.

Part of making the case for international education was reminding policy-makers of the economic impact.  We were delighted that figures from NAFSA’s International Student Economic Value tool were widely cited.  That analysis showed that in the 2018-2019 academic year, international education contributed $41 Billion to the United States economy creating 458,290 Jobs.  Factual information is crucial to good public policy.  

We would like to note the great service to the community that IIE provides in publishing the annual Open Doors report that contains vital data for the field.

This year, NAFSA has worked to post timely information to help campus officials deal with international education issues created by the pandemic.  On our website we provide several pages of resources directly related to ongoing regulatory issues and also resources relevant to addressing COVID-19's impact on international education. 

We are monitoring the impact of the crisis and the outlook for the fall semester.  NAFSA is expecting a decline in international student enrollment for the 2020-2021 academic year.  We do not know what the fall will look like, but we already know that there has been a significant financial impact on institutions. NAFSA conducted a survey in early April of senior leadership at U.S.-based higher education institutions and international education organizations to gauge the financial impact of COVID-19 on the field of international education. 

Results of that survey indicated that U.S. higher education overall had potentially lost nearly $1 billion due to shortened or canceled study abroad programs and that this spring U.S. institutions spent approximately $638 million in financial support for international students, scholars, faculty and staff who remained on campus when courses moved online.

Pandemics do not discriminate based on borders. We must come together as a world to address this and other global challenges we will face in the future. NAFSA is proud to stand with and support those whose work is to do just that: bring people together to make the world a better place for us all.

We know how important it is to protect international education because it contributes to human well-being, enlivens higher education, and helps prepare people to live in a world in which actions half a world away can affect our daily lives.  

In that spirit, I assert that international education can help inform the great debates of our era.  NAFSA has long championed diversity, equity, and inclusion.  

We publish several books and reports.  I will note two books in particular.  This fall we will publish, an edited collection entitled, Social Justice and International Education: Research, Practice and Perspectives.  In 2018, we published Promoting Inclusion in Education Abroad: A Handbook of Research and Practice.

This year, in the United States, we have seen a resurgence of the great debates over race, equality, and justice.  As international educators, I think we are part of finding solutions.  

In my column, in our magazine, International Educator, and in recent remarks at a NAFSA event I challenged listeners to ask:

• On campus, virtual or not, can I use my skills in cross-cultural education to create spaces where ALL students can hear each other’s life experiences and learn from them? 
• In the classroom, through global learning, how can I promote an awareness of the search for justice around the world? 
• And, in my daily life, what assumptions do I make when I meet someone new?  

We speak of the “American experiment,” because we are still struggling to build a better society based on values.  But we struggle because we think change is possible. We are not complacent. 

Global learning is needed today as it confers societal benefits well beyond the classroom.   From managing a global supply chain to working effectively in emerging markets or making scientific and technological advances, our graduates need to be able to work with people, and understand cultures from, around the world. Understanding the world beyond one’s borders helps enrich the mix of knowledge required to be well-educated.  Global learning also helps form the globally prepared citizen, which is crucial for the healthy functioning of liberal democracy.

This brings me to my second topic, resources for professional development in international education.

Resources for Professional Development

Much like HACU does for its members with this Academia, NAFSA is proud to support the profession of international educator.  We offer the Academy for International Education, the Management Development Program, e-Learning courses, as well as a wide range of workshops. We encourage international educators to develop practices reflecting a commitment to diversity, inclusion, access, and equity. 

We encourage institutions and organizations to embrace these principles as well. Just last year, we relaunched our flagship DEI program, NAFSA RISE, which enables us to achieve our goals of representation, inclusion, support and empowerment of those professionals from underrepresented minority backgrounds. 

We endeavor to offer tools to support international educators throughout their careers with relevant career training and practical publications.  Indeed, we are working to connect our publications and our professional development more closely.

This year, we are proud of having launched NAFSA PATH, a comprehensive professional development platform, where practitioners can assess their knowledge of the field, based on NAFSA competencies, and engage in learning opportunities designed for their specific development area and level. 

Internationalization

Internationalization is a way to bring global learning into the classroom.  It may, but does not necessarily, mean physical mobility or exchange.  

Internationalization at home can enhance the educational activities experience for students in many ways.   Faculties, administrators and student services are all part of building success.  Internationalization at home can inspire curricular innovation and the reshaping the curriculum or recasting of institutional norms within the institution.

From the spread of international partnerships, to international joint degrees, to team teaching among professors in classrooms in different countries, we are seeing the spread of innovative arrangements.  

These developments benefit students, faculty, administrators and their institutions.  These developments can also help deepen global networks of people who understand and respect each other irrespective of nationality.  Such connections can be even more important as we strive to maintain international connections despite the pandemic.

Each year, NAFSA heralds excellence in internationalization in the United States through NAFSA’s annual Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization.  The Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization recognizes U.S. colleges and universities that are making significant, well-planned, well-executed, and well-documented progress toward comprehensive internationalization—especially those using innovative and creative approaches.

With our award we recognize U.S. institutions where internationalization has been broadly infused into all facets of the campus.

The NAFSA 2021 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization nomination process will be open in mid-August.  All institutions are encouraged to apply to be recognized for their achievements in campus internationalization.

In a period of change around the world, international education is all the more important.

Studies have shown that students who have studied abroad have greater intercultural understanding, better grasp the complexity of global issues, and are better equipped to work with people from other countries.

In conclusion, international education remains an important part of higher education and can contribute to the great debates of our era.  I hope this discussion of resources and best practices will be useful to you as leaders in higher education.  •