The Long View

When thinking about his office’s long-term financial sustainability, one four-digit number comes to the top of Marcello Fantoni’s mind: 2028.

That’s the year of the long-feared “enrollment cliff,” when the numbers of graduating U.S. high school seniors are expected to drop precipitously. And while it has significant implications for both international programs and universities in general, the cliff also presents opportunities, says Fantoni, vice president for global education at Kent State University.

“Internationalism is not self-contained,” he says. “It will become an essential component for the survival and success of higher education institutions.”

International educators are also facing a host of more immediate pressures, including shifting mobility dynamics, the threat of travel restrictions, tightening institutional budgets, and growing revenue expectations to reverse domestic shortfalls. “There’s no easy answer,” says Clay Harmon, executive director of AIRC: The Association of International Enrollment Management. “It seems there’s a pattern of behavior where when domestic enrollment is suffering, there’s an impulse to lean on international enrollment. It doesn’t work like that.”

“I would encourage people not to panic. Yes, the world is changing, but as international educators, we’re well positioned to understand these dynamics and changes….Lean in to that expertise.” —Jane Gatewood

To ensure their offices remain sustainable, international leaders must approach financial and strategic planning in new ways. They also must be prepared to change.

“As budgets get tighter, we have to show we’re meeting student goals and supporting faculty in their work in dynamic ways,” says Jane Gatewood, vice provost for global engagement at Emory University. “That may mean asking questions about why we do things this way.”

Asking such questions shouldn’t be framed as a defensive maneuver. “You have to be a bit more entrepreneurial and start with the potential and possibility of yes,” says Cheryl Ernst, director of the English Language Institute at the University of Delaware.

Racing Against Time

Long-term planning has often been a challenge for international offices. “‘Financial stability’ was never a term that would describe the conditions of our work,” Fantoni says. “On the one hand, we have to struggle with funding, and every year is a new battle, but at the same time, with the difficulties in higher education more generally, we are gaining more attention....We have to try to navigate this fluid reality every day.”

Sustainability—and the competing demands that challenge it—looks different for different kinds of international programs. International recruiting and enrollment must address changing market conditions and growing pressure to deliver revenue, for example, while study abroad programs must navigate budgetary pressures and affordability issues.

“What we can deliver internationally by 2028 should be implemented now so we can prove we can help lower the effects [of the domestic enrollment cliff] on our institutions. It becomes a race against time.” —Marcello Fantoni

Arguably no element of international education has seen more volatility, though, than intensive English programs (IEPs). As independent, largely self-supporting entities, IEPs boomed during the early 2010s but have since had to adapt to dramatic shifts in student demographics and preferences. At the English Language Institute at the University of Delaware, for example, programming has moved away from the traditional academic calendar to support short-term programming for a variety of needs.

“The gift we bring to our institutions is that we are looking outward,” Ernst says. “The keys to our success are variety and versatility. We have evidence that this is what carried us during difficult times.”

Variety and versatility already inform other units’ long-term planning. Fantoni describes Kent State’s recent investments in campuses in Brazil and Rwanda as a shift in institutional thinking “from bringing students to Kent to bringing Kent to students—wherever they are in the world.”

“That required investments, and at first people were skeptical,” he says. “Budgeting is ordinarily a pretty boring practice—every year at a certain time, you submit the numbers….But if one day you want to have a new campus, that requires business plans and negotiations.”

The time to act is now, according to Fantoni. The domestic enrollment cliff “is impacting the willingness of the administration to consider us as a strategic sector,” he says. “What we can deliver internationally by 2028 should be implemented now so we can prove we can help lower the effects on our institutions. It becomes a race against time.”

“The gift we bring to our institutions is that we are looking outward. The keys to our success are variety and versatility.” —Cheryl Ernst

Mapping Out Objectives

Long-term sustainability begins with a clear picture of strategic objectives; otherwise, partnerships and projects “end up being reactive instead of trying to be strategic and proactive,” Harmon cautions. “People assume whatever opportunity comes through the door is the solution to all their problems. That’s often not true.”

Leaders must align those objectives with the broader institutional mission. The good news is that institutions that include internationalization and global learning goals “as part of their core mission tend to weather volatility better than those that do not,” says Samira Pardanani, associate vice president for international education and global engagement at Shoreline Community College.

The next step is to create a shared understanding of the mission among staff. Doing so demonstrates that offices have “a fair amount of flexibility” to address strategic goals, Gatewood says. “You have to be flexible to avoid sticking to a rigid plan if it’s not working, but as long as you are continually aligned with your North Star of institutional objectives, you can adjust the programmatic composition and variables.”

Assessing Opportunities

New approaches for global learning abound even in, and sometimes as a result of, volatility. One key step is to assess threats, then find the potential within them. Digital learning approaches—ranging from virtual international experiences to full degree programs, workforce training partnerships, and cost-saving 2+2 pathways between community colleges and four-year institutions—offer examples of promising initiatives emerging in response to possible visa and travel restrictions and the growing affordability crisis in both existing and emerging markets, according to Pardanani.

“International programs that are structured to strategically explore opportunities and develop new programs—after doing due diligence in terms of market research, data, and so on—are better positioned to succeed in this competitive field,” she says.

To take advantage of potential options, leaders must develop systems and capacity to evaluate them. “Build up a process in advance so you know what questions to ask and what to look for while evaluating opportunities, and apply them equally and equitably,” Harmon says. One way of doing so, he adds, is creating a common rubric “that allows you to be open where you can be and really critical when you need to be.”

“People need to be given permission to say yes. We miss out on really interesting opportunities when we aren’t willing to try something new.” —Cheryl Ernst

At Shoreline Community College, Pardanani’s office regularly conducts SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analyses “to help us chart our course,” she says. Doing so helped the college navigate the pandemic and address students’ safety concerns as well as identify and implement new strategies. One strategy, for instance, involved using the savings from the freeze on recruiter travel during the pandemic to purchase a customer relationship management tool to support recruiters’ work.

Another important step is to broaden the lens. “Talk to everyone in the room to get the full picture,” Ernst says—and go beyond the room and the campus itself to get feedback from community partners. “That comprehensive [feedback] will paint a much more realistic picture of where we’ve been and where we’re going,” she says.

Developing a Strong Financial Model

Volatile external conditions do not need to translate into volatility within the international office. “Shifting direction in response to temporary challenges is not a good return on institutional investment,” Pardanani says. “To achieve long-term sustainability, international programs should be built to withstand fluctuations in enrollment, economic downturns, policy shifts, and other external forces.”

Creating new financial models designed for an era of tight budgets, Gatewood says, “is an opportunity to redefine your decision-making by being laser focused on objectives and bringing people together around common goals.”

A tight focus on objectives can help balance long-term aspirations with short-term prudence. “In the short term, the logic is very simple: Compress costs,” Fantoni says. That’s particularly true because investments around recruiting often take several years to show results. At Kent State, for example, investments in Vietnam increased the number of inbound students more than sixfold, though this outcome took three years to come to fruition, and the office needed to maintain its credibility as a responsible steward of institutional funds during that period. “When you make investments, you need to be conscientious about costs,” Fantoni says.

“Shifting direction in response to temporary challenges is not a good return on institutional investment. To achieve long-term sustainability, international programs should be built to withstand fluctuations in enrollment, economic downturns, policy shifts, and other external forces.” —Samira Pardanani 

At the same time, offices shouldn’t cut indiscriminately in response to temporary financial challenges. Doing so can “do more harm than good in the long run,” Pardanani says. “International programs take time to build, and decisions should reflect [the programs’] long-term value.” There’s a less budget-minded reason as well, she adds: “Rebuilding lost partnerships and trust is much harder than maintaining them.”

Managing Risk

New ventures always involve risk, but international leaders should remain optimistic about approaching them. “Institutions are not going to [stop] taking risks, but they’re going to be deliberative and potentially more conservative—and want the business plan,” says Gatewood.

International recruiting can serve as a model for evaluating risks in other areas of international education, as its leaders have long recognized the danger of focusing too closely on one market or region—and have taken the long view instead. At Shoreline, for example, leaders categorize different countries and regions as core, developing, and opportunity markets. “We employ different strategies to diversify our portfolio. This has helped us withstand unfavorable conditions that impact a certain country or region,” Pardanani says.

“You might not see a return. That’s stressful for institutions to hear and internalize, but it’s true.” —Clay Harmon

To assess new opportunities, Fantoni’s office has developed a spreadsheet that currently assesses 45 different projects, a number that will be winnowed down over time to just a handful. “If you only have three new projects a year, you don’t have room to breathe,” he says. “If you have 10 on the table, the ability to prioritize is what gives you the edge to be successful.”

Leaders must also reinforce the idea that even well-researched projects may not pan out. “You might not see a return,” Harmon says. “That’s stressful for institutions to hear and internalize, but it’s true.”

One way to protect against these kinds of financial risks, Ernst says, is to “build an accordion structure” into strategic planning and budgeting “that allows for growth as well as constriction.” At the same time, be wary of creating too much of a structure around anticipating negative outcomes. “Risk management is a huge administrative burden, and it triples and quadruples the time it takes to accomplish things,” Ernst says. “If I’m busy filling out paperwork, I’m not nurturing relationships, submitting proposals, or building partnerships.”

Strengthening Relationships

Relationships—both inside and outside the institution—are not only strategic assets but financial ones as well. “Ours is a relationship business that values trust and reputation,” Pardanani says. “Being viewed as a reliable partner is key to our success.”

What’s changing is the increasing emphasis on demonstrating value for partners. Harmon recalls how a senior international officer (SIO) at one institution spent nearly a decade “patiently building” relationships with the college’s finance department by showing prudent stewardship of funds. These efforts, he says, were rewarded by the inclusion of international students in a scholarship originally created for domestic students.

Fantoni points to a similar dynamic at Kent State, where his office’s close work with the advancement office led to active fundraising for study abroad scholarships. “The key is establishing meaningful partnerships,” he says. “The numbers speak for themselves. You need to learn how to speak that language and, within that language, demonstrate that you are bringing good options.”

“Ours is a relationship business that values trust and reputation. Being viewed as a reliable partner is key to our success.” —Samira Pardanani

Meeting institutional needs in new ways presents new avenues for strengthening relationships. Delaware’s English Language Institute, for example, delivers English 110 classes for dual degree programs for students in China, according to Ernst. Finding ways to promote new programs requires finesse, Gatewood explains. “We have to have honest conversations about how we can’t do everything,” she says. “But that creates opportunities to collaborate.”

Strengthening relationships also requires empowering staff at all levels, Ernst notes. “People need to be given permission to say yes,” she says. “We miss out on really interesting opportunities when we aren’t willing to try something new.”

Bolstering Leadership

All of these strategies require leaders who can keep the focus on long-term goals in the face of volatility and financial pressures. “Leaders maintain the North Star of the vision but must [reinforce that] the details are going to be different from one year to the next,” Harmon says. The flip side of that, Gatewood adds, is communicating that even “if there are changes and we adapt our programming, we’re not changing our mission.”

Ensuring long-term sustainability is essential for not only international offices but also their institutions as a whole. “The goal of internationalization is worth striving for on its own,” Harmon says. And when volatility appears to threaten long-term plans, strong leaders can help ensure that their offices and institutions remain agile enough to surmount any obstacles.

“I would encourage people not to panic,” Gatewood says. “Yes, the world is changing, but as international educators, we’re well positioned to understand these dynamics and changes….Lean in to that expertise.”  •