New Book: Developing Strategic International Partnerships: Models for Initiating and Sustaining Innovative Institutional Linkages

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A new book released today explores a wide range of models and strategies for initiating and sustaining international relationships between higher education institutions. Developing Strategic International Partnerships: Models for Initiating and Sustaining Innovative Institutional Linkages contains 25 chapters written by experts and practitioners from various institutions around the world. It aims to be a practical resource for institutions that wish to build or expand linkages with higher education institutions worldwide.

This new book is the sixth in a series of timely Global Education Research Reports published through a partnership between the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS) Foundation.

The book is available for purchase at IIE’s online bookstore.

Developing Strategic International Partnerships attempts to capture the dynamism of international partnership development among the higher education community. According to the book’s editors, Susan Buck Sutton and Daniel Obst, we are in an "era of international educational partnerships...For many colleges and universities, such partnerships are no longer simply one tactic of internationalization among many, but rather a core, driving philosophy."

Developing Strategic International Partnerships describes the growing need for academic institutions to position themselves within emerging global systems of higher education, and the recognition among them that international linkages are a key part of that changing landscape. As Sutton and Obst note: "A sense that institutions can do more together than alone is taking hold, coupled with the realization that learning, research, institution-building, and community engagement are now global endeavors."

Developing Strategic International Partnerships features recommendations, models, and strategies for initiating, managing, and sustaining a range of international linkages. It illustrates the numerous ways in which international partnerships enhance, and even transform, the institutions that participate in them. Some of the key topics addressed in the book include: approaching partnerships strategically, models for managing and sustaining international partnerships, community partnerships and capacity building, designing research partnerships, partnering through networks and consortia, and developing partnerships with U.S. institutions.

Developing Strategic International Partnerships elaborates on the U.S. experience but includes entries from such countries as the UK, France, India, and Ethiopia. The book also includes appendices with numerous templates of Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) and Letters of Intent for establishing international partnerships, along with sample activities for identifying partners and developing linkages. These resources will prove particularly useful for overseas institutions that are hoping to form partnerships with institutions in the United States.

For more information, including the complete table of contents, and to purchase the book, please visit: www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Publications-and-Reports/IIE-Bookstore/Developing-Strategic-International-Partnerships

Published December 2011, 262 pages; $39.95

Table of Contents

Forewords
Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO, IIE
William L. Gertz, President and CEO, AIFS

Introduction
The Changing Landscape of International Partnerships

Section 1: Approaching Partnerships Strategically
Section 2: Models for Managing and Sustaining International Partnerships
Section 3: Community Partnerships and Capacity Building
Section 4: Designing Research Partnerships
Section 5: Partnering through Networks and Consortia
Section 6: Meeting Challenges and Lessons Learned
Section 7: Developing Partnerships with U.S. Institutions
Section 8: Planting the Seeds for Partnerships: National Level Efforts in Europe

Appendices
International Academic Partnerships: Twenty-Five Sample Activities; Criteria for Selecting International Partner Institutions

Beyond Handshakes and Signing Ceremonies: Leveraging Institutional Agreements to Foster Broad and Deep International Partnerships

Contract/MOU Templates for Establishing International Partnerships