The Institute of International Education (IIE) is pleased to announce the release of the expanded, print edition of its special report, Higher Education Classification in the Middle East and North Africa: A Pilot Study.

While the number of global and country-level ranking and classification systems continues to expand, a regional classification and assessment of higher education institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has not been developed. Such a system is particularly needed given the rapid expansion of the higher education sector in the region, as new domestic institutions and branch campuses of overseas institutions emerge and as higher education in the region becomes increasingly complex and varied.

Recognizing a significant need for reliable and standardized institution-level data on higher education institutions (HEIs) in the MENA region, IIE, with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York and in partnership with the Lebanese Association of Educational Studies (LAES), initiated a pilot study in May 2009 to develop a system for classifying HEIs in the region. The original eight pilot countries included: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the UAE.

Incorporating eleven key dimensions that comprise the Classification Model for the Arab Countries (CMAC), this first-ever study and accompanying report include data and findings from 300 higher education institutions across seven countries. This classifications initiative is a critical first step in gathering institutional data for the higher education sector in the Arab world that provides a common framework for developing a better understanding of the institutions in the region.

The print edition of the report is available for purchase at www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Publications-and-Reports/IIE-Bookstore/MENA-Institutional-Classification-Study.

 

Join Dr. Rajika Bhandari and Raisa Belyavina, IIE, on March 22 at 12 pm, EST, for a webinar organized by the Conference of the Americas on International Education (CAIE) on the topic of:

Trends in Student Mobility in the Americas: The Challenges and Benefits of Collecting and Interpreting Data

This webinar will present the latest trends in student mobility across the Americas, sharing information from Open Doors and Project Atlas, two longstanding IIE projects that measure and report on international higher education mobility in the U.S. and globally. The speakers will also discuss the value of data collection at the institutional and national levels, showcasing some ongoing efforts in building capacity of data collection and sharing best practices. The information presented during the webinar will be equally useful for institutions and countries that already have in place strong data collection efforts, as well as those that are only beginning to consider documenting and collecting student mobility data.

Register for the webinar here.

 

A post on the New York Time’s The Choice on India Ink blog provided the opportunity for Martin Bennett, the EducationUSA outreach coordinator at the Institute of International Education, to offer advice for international students who are hoping to study in the U.S. Bennett touched on a variety of topics, including EducationUSA’s Your Five Steps to U.S. Study and how it can help students make the right choice for them, the new EducationUSA Facebook app that gives students information on study opportunities in the U.S., and the important role that EducationUSA advisers can play in the process. According to Bennett, many students "outside the U.S. do not have college counselors. Hence, the role of our EducationUSA advisers is much like that of a college guidance counselor at a U.S. high school in terms of helping the individual student find the schools that are likely good fits for his or her needs."

To read the full post, please visit: http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/for-international-students-a-college-admissions-checklist-for-march/.

 

An article in University World News reports that U.S. universities remain the "most prolific international patent filers among higher education institutions worldwide, accounting for 30 of the top 50 institutions." After the U.S. are South Korea and Japan, with seven universities apiece.

To read the full article, please visit: www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120309132555536.

 

An article in University World News considers a soon-to-be-released report by the British Council entitled The Shape of Things to Come: Higher Education Global Trends and Emerging Opportunities to 2020. The reports forecasts enrollments to "grow by 21 million students by 2020—a huge rise in overall numbers and an average growth rate of 1.4% per year across 50 selected countries that account for almost 90% of higher education enrolments globally. But this represents a considerable slowdown compared to the 5% a year global enrolment growth typical of the previous two decades, and record enrolment growth of almost 6% between 2002 and 2009."

To read the full article, please visit: www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2012031308172724.

 

A blog post on GlobalHigherEd explores the concept of global citizenship, its multiple definitions, and its importance to higher education. As the post argues, "a focus on global citizenship puts the spotlight on why internationalization is central to a quality education and emphasizes that internationalization is a means, not an end. Serious consideration of the goals of internationalization makes student learning the key concern rather than counting inputs."

To read the full post, please visit: http://globalhighered.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/global-citizenship/.

 

Representatives from the Institute of International Education (IIE) attended a conference at Georgetown University this week entitled "Making Latin America and the Caribbean a More Equitable Society: Economic Growth, Education, and Corporate Social Responsibility." The conference was sponsored by the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce and Georgetown University. This two-day conference brought together business, government, and education officials throughout the Americas to discuss topics that ranged from public-private partnerships in higher education to building international education networks and exchanges.

During his keynote address, Francisco J. Sanchez, the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce, asserted that "the Western Hemisphere of tomorrow depends on how we educate today." In particular, Under Secretary Sanchez emphasized the importance of education in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields (STEM), arguing that "a workforce without STEM fields is a workforce that cannot compete." Among the programs that Under Secretary Sanchez praised is Brazil’s Science Without Borders program, which provides scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students from Brazil for one year of study at colleges and universities in the United States and other countries.

During a panel on "New Strategies for Public-Private Partnerships," Ricardo Ernst, a professor at Georgetown University, spoke about the need to change the culture of corporations, to make them understand that while investing in education might affect their bottom lines in the short term, it will ultimately benefit them in the long term. In a panel on "Building International Education Networks and Exchanges," Michael M. Crow, the President of Arizona State University, remarked that higher education partnerships are about not only exchanges but also "using universities as vehicles for solving common problems together." He emphasized the creation of partnerships that are project-focused, in which students and professors work together to tackle problems that affect both universities.

For more information on the conference, please visit: www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/03/185531.htm.

 

New Players and New Directions: The Challenges of International Branch Campus Management
April 25-26, 2012
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education will host a conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 25-26, 2012, on "New Players and New Directions: The Challenges of International Branch Campus Management." Topics will include setting up and managing international branch campuses, and the roles of students and governments in international branch campuses. The early-bird registration deadline is March 16, 2012.

To view the draft program for this event, please click here. To register, please visit: www.tcp-events.co.uk/obhe2012/. For questions, please contact: KLevent@confpeople.co.uk.

 

Corrected Application Deadline: May 15, 2012

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs recently announced that TechWomen—an international exchange that uses technology as a means to empower women and girls worldwide—is now accepting applications from American women in the technology sector to serve as professional and cultural mentors. The deadline to submit applications is May 15, 2012.

In September 2012, these American "TechWomen" will mentor 42 women from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, and Yemen during a five-week program at U.S.-based technology companies in Silicon Valley and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. To learn more about serving as a TechWomen mentor, please visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrjcaFmgw64.

Following the U.S. portion of the exchange, U.S. mentors will travel to Jordan and Tunisia to conduct workshops and follow-on training for women in the technology sector and young girls who have expressed an interest in pursuing a tech-based career.

Launched by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2011, TechWomen builds on her vision of "smart power" diplomacy. It embraces the full range of diplomatic tools, in this case technology, to bring people together for greater understanding and empower women and girls worldwide.

The U.S. Department of State partners with the Institute of International Education and the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. It is a public-private partnership in which more than 20 leading U.S. companies participated by hosting international TechWomen during the 2011 inaugural program.

Candidates may apply at www.techwomen.org/get-involved/.

 

Deadline for Registration: March 17, 2012
Deadline for Submission: April 1, 2012

The Cultural Division of TECO-NY is pleased to announce the Global Initiatives Symposium in Taiwan (GIS Taiwan), hosted by National Taiwan University and taking place from July 8th to 12th, 2012. The conference is calling for essay submissions on topics of "Innovation and Change." While specific guidelines can be found on the official website, submissions should come in the form of an action plan that allows the applicant to propose an innovative project that he or she would like to initiate to produce benefits to individuals, organizations, or society as a whole. Specific topics should come from the applicants’ own perspectives and backgrounds, but each action plan must explain its innovativeness by describing how the trend is identified, how it is analyzed, and how to take the proposed action.

One-hundred students will be selected through the competition to attend the conference in Taiwan and will be provided with full accommodations and meals, along with a $530 flight subsidy. Applicants must be undergraduate or graduate students, and must not be born prior to 1978. Applicants must register via the official website before March 17th, 2012 and papers must be submitted by April 1st, 2012.

For questions and further information, please contact gis-taiwan@gis-taiwan.ntu.edu.tw.

 

Deadline for Proposals: April 13, 2012

The British Council has announced the first trilateral strand of the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) with the launch of the new Trilateral Research in Partnership (TRIP) Awards with the United States. Ten awards of up to £50,000 (USD $75,000) in funds will be available to support multidisciplinary research projects between UK, U.S., and Indian higher education institutions.

This new UKIERI strand aims to support the increase of mobility of Ph.D. and postdoctoral students in all three countries, and develop sustainable institutional links between the institutions. Funds are available to support projects of up to two years. Proposals are welcome across subject areas, including the humanities, social sciences, science and technology, and multidisciplinary research projects. All proposals will need to include details of additional contributions from the three institutions involved. Proposals must be supported by UK, US and Indian institutions and endorsed by the respective heads of department or equivalent.

The deadline for online submissions of proposals is April 13, 2012, with the aim of notifying successful applications by the end of June 2012. For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org/usa-education-partnerships-ukieri.htm. For questions about the program, contact Libby Rosenbaum, the Higher Education Partnerships Manager at the British Council.

 

Deadline for Applications: April 15, 2012
Phase 1: July 20-29, 2012, Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts
Phase 2 and Phase 3: August 2012-August 2013

Applications are now being accepted for the first Certificate Program in Global Citizen Leadership. The Program will take place over a 12-month period and consist of three separate, yet interconnected phases. The Program is co-sponsored by the Center for International Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and The Global Citizens’ Initiative, with the collaboration of selected faculty members from the 5 Colleges of Western Massachusetts (Hampshire College, Smith College, Mt Holyoke College, Amherst College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst).

The program is intended to build the skills of 15 young professional leaders from around the world, and strengthen their capabilities to design, implement, and evaluate global development policies and programs. The program begins with a ten-day workshop in Amherst and continues for a year with a field-based mentoring project that participants conduct to further the mission of their own organizations.

For more information, please visit: www.theglobalcitizensinitiative.org. For questions, please contact: application@gcitizen.org.

 

This announcement is posted through the IIE Global Partnership Service (GPS). The IIE GPS assists higher education institutions around the world with their international partnership strategy and in identifying potential U.S. partners. For more information, visit www.iie.org/gps.

IIE GPS Announcement: Finnish Institution Seeking U.S. Partner Institution

Deadline for Expressions of Interest: April 15, 2012

Name of Institution: Turku University of Applied Sciences in Finland (TUAS)
Location: Turku, Finland
Partnership Focus: Student and Faculty Exchanges, Applied Research and Development Programs and Entrepreneurship Programs
Website: www.tuas.fi

Turku University of Applied Sciences, one of the top multidisciplinary universities in Finland, is seeking to identify a U.S. partner institution. Emphasizing professional skill development and multidisciplinary applied research, TUAS offers a full range of academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels in arts and media, the social sciences, business and administration, health care and social services, hospitality management, natural resource studies, and technology, communication and transport.

With 9,000 students, Turku University of Applied Sciences aims to develop faculty and student exchange programs with a U.S. college or university in the following areas:

• Applied research and development: seeking partner institutions with applied research programs actively connected to local companies and organizations, as well as interest in potential joint research ventures.
• Entrepreneurship: seeking programs that promote entrepreneurship with internship opportunities in the local community.

If you are interested in connecting with Turku University, please send your contact information to Morgan Clark at gps@iie.org by April 15th.

 

A guest article for the IIE-India newsletter by Supriya Baily, Assistant Professor, George Mason University, recounts her experience on the recently concluded International Academic Partnership Program (IAPP) delegation to India. Through the IAPP program, which is a yearlong program of IIE’s Center for International Partnerships, U.S. institutions completed a weeklong study tour of institutions in India with the goal of developing partnerships.

As Dr. Baily states: "Hearing about the statistics made the most compelling case for partnering with Indian universities and colleges—30 percent of the population are under 25 years of age, college enrollment is over capacity and acceptance rates are low (in some cases just 0.05% accepted from those who applied). These figures make a forceful case for continued innovation and while it was exciting to see how rapidly Indian university administrators and faculty are changing, it was also stimulating to see how much scope and capacity there is for cross-national collaborations—across research, teaching and student exchange."
To read the full article, please visit: http://enewsiieindia.org/guest.html#Reflections. For more information about the International Academic Partnership Program, visit www.iie.org/iapp.

 

An article in University World News gives in-depth information about the Discover Germany-Discover USA programs. These twin programs from the German Fulbright Commission and the University of Kentucky, respectively, were just awarded the IIE Andrew Heiskell Award for Internationalizing the Campus. The awards were given out last week at IIE’s Best Practices Conference. The exchanges programs in the Discover Germany-Discover USA programs "provide an opportunity for students from under-represented populations to explore their own sense of identity through an international experience."

To read the full article please visit: www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120307151108277.

 

The Fund for Reconciliation and Development, is working with Holbrook Travel to offer an eight-day Cuba orientation program from June 15 to 24. The program is designed for study abroad staff and prospective faculty leaders of short-term student trips.

The professional schedule includes meetings with the Ministry of Higher Education, several universities in Havana, and provincial universities in Matanzas, Santa Clara, Sancti Spiritus, and Cienfuegos. The program was developed and will be led by John McAuliff based on his participation in Cuba's Higher Education Congress in February.

The itinerary and cost are available at http://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2012/03/orientation-program-for-study-abroad.html.

A very different kind of access is available in mid April through a program focusing on the Irish Heritage in Cuba, which might be of research interest to faculty and graduate students who work on migration, Irish studies, Celtic performance arts or the Caribbean. 

For questions, please contact John McAuliff at jmcauliff@ffrd.org, 914-231-6270.