A new report released by the Institute of International Education (IIE) lays the groundwork for a new classification model for higher education institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region countries. The report, "Classifying Higher Education Institutions in the Middle East and North Africa: A Pilot Study," was produced by IIE with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York and in partnership with the Lebanese Association of Educational Studies (LAES) in Beirut.

While the number of global and country-level ranking and classification systems continues to increase, a regional classification 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 developments associated with the Arab Spring lead to changes in the governance system of higher education, resulting in the potential for greater international collaboration and educational reform.

"There is no standardized framework for understanding the region’s institutions," said Rajika Bhandari, deputy vice president of research and evaluation at the Institute of International Education and the lead researcher for the study. "Having more comparable information such as that provided by our study will lead to a deeper and more transparent understanding of the wide range of institutions in the Arab world and how best to engage with them at a national, regional and global level."

The pilot study, which was initiated in May 2009, surveyed over 300 higher education institutions in seven pilot countries: Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. Egypt was originally included in the study but data was ultimately not available due to the political events unfolding there. The findings from the report were first presented at the 3rd World Innovation Summit on Education in Doha earlier this month. "Many higher education systems in the region are undergoing a transition from old systems to new," said Adnan El Amine, co-author of the report, and a founding member of the Lebanese Association for Education Studies. "Overall, Arab institutions’ involvement at the international level is relatively low. Yet there is a critical need for institutions of the region to engage with those outside, especially as they rebuild their societies after the recent political events and begin to engage a newly mobilized youth population."

The IIE study resulted in a comprehensive classification model—the Classification Model for the Arab Countries (CMAC)—comprised of 77 key institutional and research indicators that fall within the following 11 dimensions: institutional characteristics; teaching and learning profile; curriculum; student profile; faculty profile; financial profile; research involvement; cultural orientation; religious orientation; regional engagement; and international engagement.

The goals of this new classification model are to:

• Help strengthen MENA institutions locally by providing benchmarks and key indicators on which institutions can measure and track their growth and compare themselves to similar institutions.
• Generate international interest in the region’s institutions, leading to deeper linkages between MENA HEIs and other institutions around the world to facilitate knowledge sharing, research collaboration, and institutional capacity building.
• Provide critical institutional-level information and data that prospective students from the MENA region or from other parts of the world can use to select a higher education institution.

The online report is available for purchase at www.iie.org/publications, where you can also download the executive summary for free. An expanded printed version of the report will be available in late January 2012.

 

Think you know your world? Take the IIE Global Knowledge Quiz, which includes questions that every global citizen should be able to answer, and see how much you know about the world.

Please also help us distribute the quiz to your students.

Take the quiz at: www.iie.org/en/Students/Tabs/US/Global-Knowledge-Quiz

 

An article by Joan Dassin, executive director of the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program, in the Chronicle of Higher Education notes that access to higher education remains highly restricted through much of the developing world, with factors such as poverty, gender, race, ethnicity, and rural origins determining unequal access to education. Dassin makes the case that governments, higher education institutions, aid agencies, and private foundations are integral to alleviating these inequalities; and she offers the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program as a particularly successful example.

To read the full article, please visit: http://chronicle.com/article/Opening-Opportunities-in/129984/?sid=at

 

A series of articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education considers the ethics and finances of American branch campuses abroad. A group of leading thinkers, including Sohrab Ahmari, Richard H. Brodhead, Al Bloom, and Peter Brooks, considered such questions as: Are objections that authoritarian regimes cannot respect American academic values valid? Are they outweighed by the social and democratic impact that foreign campuses might have on their partner countries? Do the economic benefits of competing in a growing global academic marketplace outweigh the moral and political perils?

To read the series, please visit: http://chronicle.com/article/American-Campuses-Abroad/129938/?sid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

 

"Changing Education for a Changing World"
March 13-15, 2012
London, England

Early-bird registration deadline: December 22, 2011
IIE members receive £100 discount at registration.

Going Global is a series of international educational conferences hosted by the British Council. It offers an open forum for policy-makers and practitioners from around the world to discuss issues facing the international education community. Since its inception in 2004, Going Global has grown from a biannual event in the UK to an annual event that alternates between the UK and a different international location. Each year it attracts over 1,000 delegates from across the higher education sectors and a variety of other industries with perspectives on international education.

The Institute of International Education is a partner organization, and IIE members are eligible to register to attend the conference at a discounted rate.

For more information or to register, please go to: http://ihe.britishcouncil.org/going-global

 

July 8-20, 2012
New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
New York City, NY
Early Admission Deadline: February 24, 2012

The Research Center for Leadership in Action (RCLA) at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service is pleased to share a call for applications for the Global Social Change Leadership Institute being held July 8-20, 2012, in New York City for university and graduate students and recent college graduates.

The Institute offers emerging leaders a chance to develop practical knowledge and skills to advance social justice in their communities. The curriculum draws on more than seven years of rigorous research RCLA has conducted with award-winning social change organizations about the essential role these nonprofits play in an informed and engaged civil society. Program participants learn from experts at the forefront of policy reform and advocacy, coalition building, and direct service. Interactive workshops are paired with site visits throughout New York City offering participants a robust understanding of both the theory and practice of leadership and social change. Participants emerge with an understanding of social change leadership, a plan for taking action in their school or community, and a network of other advocates committed to social justice.

Complete information including eligibility requirements, curriculum, tuition, partial needs-based scholarships, and application instructions is available online at:
http://wagner.nyu.edu/leadership/teaching/GSCLI.php

The deadline to be considered for Early Admission is Friday, February 24, 2012. The deadline to apply for Regular Admission is Thursday, March 15, 2012. If you have any questions, please contact leadership.institute@nyu.edu.

 

Nomination Deadline: March 1, 2012

The call for nominations for the 8th annual Goldberg IIE Prize is now open. The Prize recognizes outstanding work being conducted jointly by two individuals, one Arab and one Israeli, working together to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East. The two individuals whose work is judged to be most successful in bringing people together and breaking down the barriers of hatred will share a $10,000 prize.

We would greatly appreciate your assistance in publicizing this Prize to anyone you know who may be eligible, or who may be interested in nominating others. Please send any questions to goldbergprize@iie.org.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Prize, at least one of the nominated individuals must have visited the United States as an alumna/us of any program administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), or any exchange program funded by any of IIE’s sponsors and administered by another organization. Alumni of the following IIE-administered programs, among others, are encouraged to apply: Fulbright Programs, Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowships, International Visitor Leadership Program (formerly International Visitor Program, or IVP), State Department Middle East Partnership Initiative, Ford Foundation International Fellowship Program, Ford Foundation Global Travel and Learning Fund, and training programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Fulbright alumni and alumni of the Israel Arab Scholarship Program whose grants were administered by AMIDEAST are also eligible. Similarly, individuals who came to the United States under funding from the Ford Foundation or as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program are eligible even if they were participating in a program coordinated by another organization.

Nominations may be submitted by the individuals themselves or by a third party. Nominations will be due on March 1, 2012, and the winners will be announced in the spring. A copy of the nomination form can be downloaded at www.iie.org/goldbergprize.

 

Application Deadline: January 16, 2012

Each summer, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), located in Schloss Laxenburg near Vienna, Austria, hosts a selected group of graduate students, primarily doctoral, from around the world in its Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP). These students work closely with an IIASA senior scientist mentor on a project proposed by the student, related to his or her graduate research.

Fellows selected by IIASA will receive funding to cover travel to IIASA and a modest living allowance.
IIASA is an international institution, supported by the U.S. and 17 other member nations, engaged in scientific research aimed at providing policy insight on issues of regional and global importance in the following fields:

Program Areas

• Energy
• Transitions to New Technologies
• Advanced Systems Analysis
• Ecosystem Services and Management
• Mitigation of Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases
• Evolution and Ecology
• World Population
• Risk Policy and Vulnerability
• Water

Global Program Areas

• Energy and Climate Change
• Food and Water
• Poverty and Equity

Detailed information about each program is on the IIASA website: www.iiasa.ac.at/

For questions, please contact either Tanja Huber at Huber@iiasa.ac.at, or Margaret Goud in the U.S. at IIASAyssp@nas.edu.

 

Application Deadline: January 15, 2012

The United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO) is pleased to announce a call for applications for the 2012 Sumitro Fellows Program. The Sumitro Fellows Program is a $10,000 travel/study grant for postdoctoral scholars, Ph.D. candidates, senior academics, and otherwise professionally qualified candidates to engage in field research. One Fellowship is available for a United States citizen/permanent resident for research relating to the political economy of Indonesia. One Fellowship is also available for an Indonesian citizen with a project related to the Indonesian-United States relationship.

The Sumitro Fellows program honors Dr. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, Indonesia's senior economist and co-founder of USINDO, who passed away in 2001. An architect of Indonesia's modern economy, Professor Sumitro headed the faculty of economics at the University of Indonesia, and was later a Minister of Trade and Minister of State for Research.

Eligibility Requirements

American applicants for the Sumitro Fellowship must be United States citizens or permanent residents in the United States with a specific project on Indonesia's political economy. Applications outside the scope of economics or political economy will not be considered.

Indonesian applicants for the Sumitro Fellowship must be Indonesian citizens with a specific project on any aspect of the Indonesian-U.S. bilateral relationship. Applications related to solely American topics, Indonesian topics, or to non-U.S./non-Asian themes will not be considered.

For more information, please go to:
www.usindo.org/usindo-grants/sumitro-fellows or email sumitro@usindo.org.

 

IIE is pleased to announce that bulk discounts are available for the recently published book, Developing Strategic International Partnerships: Models for Initiating and Sustaining Innovative Institutional Linkages. This new book is the sixth in a series of timely Global Education Research Reports published through a partnership between IIE and the AIFS Foundation.

The 25 chapters in Developing Strategic International Partnerships explore a wide range of models and strategies for initiating and managing international relationships between higher education institutions around the world. The chapters focus on partnerships developed in countries such as Brazil, China, Chile, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, India, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Spain, the UK, and Vietnam.

Campus Bulk Order Discount: The book aims to be a practical resource for institutions that wish to build or expand linkages with higher education institutions worldwide. Please consider ordering copies of this publication for faculty and staff in various departments across your institution that are seeking to form international partnerships. Bulk discounts are available at the following rates: 20 percent discount for 20 copies or more; 30 percent discount for 40 copies or more.

To order Developing Strategic International Partnerships, please visit: www.iiebooks.org/destinpamofo.html. For questions about bulk orders, please contact the IIEBooks fulfillment center: iiebooks@abdintl.com or (412) 741-0930.

 

Deadline: February 29, 2012

Higher Education for Development (HED), in cooperation with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Philippines, is issuing a request for applications (RFA) for the Mindanao Job Opportunities for Business Scale-Up (JOBS) for Philippines.

HED expects to make one (1) award of up to $1,071,500 for three (3) years for a higher education partnership between a higher education institution(s) in the United States and Southern Christian College (SCC) in Mindanao, Philippines. The purpose of the partnership will be to strengthen the capacity of SCC to develop the job skills and improve the livelihoods of rural, out-of-school youth (OSY) in Mindanao.

Online Information Session: HED is organizing an online information session on December 7, 2011, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. EST (7:30-8:30 a.m. Manila time) with representatives from USAID/Philippines and SCC for interested applicants. Potential applicants will have an opportunity to submit questions concerning this RFA during the online information session, but are strongly encouraged to send questions in advance of the session. Applicants are asked to register for the information session no later than close of business day (COB) December 2, 2011, by sending an email with questions about this RFA to Brooks Marmon at bmarmon@hedprogram.org.

 

The Whitaker International Program, administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), is launching the Whitaker International Undergraduate Program for students enrolled in an undergraduate biomedical engineering or bioengineering degree program. The application will be made available on January 15, 2012, for the first round of grants, which will be for fall/academic year 2012-13.

With support from the former Whitaker Foundation, IIE will provide undergraduate biomedical engineers and bioengineers funding for a semester or one academic year to pursue, in an international setting, coursework in biomedical engineering (BME). By providing BME students the opportunity to go abroad, the Whitaker International Undergraduate Program will achieve the following objectives:

• Diversification of the Whitaker International Program to include opportunities for undergraduates in BME;
• Increasing the number of undergraduates in BME who go abroad; and
• Provision, early in their education, of the opportunity to see BME with an international perspective

There will be two competitions each year, one for the fall/academic year term, and one for the spring term. Award amounts range from $7,500 for a semester program to $10,000 for an academic year program.

To be eligible for the award, an applicant must:

• have U.S. citizenship or be a permanent resident of the U.S.;
• be enrolled as a sophomore (second year), junior (third year), or senior (fourth or fifth year), with at least one semester remaining, in an undergraduate BME degree program with good academic standing; and
• demonstrate financial need

Priority will be given to students going to nontraditional destinations.

A student may apply to attend any overseas academic institution that is endorsed by the student’s study abroad advisor. The advisor must certify that the program is approved and that the student will receive academic credit at the home institution. The advisor must also certify the student’s financial aid need.

The fall/academic year competition deadline is March 15th, 2012. For more details and application guidelines, please visit www.whitaker.org.

The Whitaker Foundation was created in 1975. Throughout its history, the Foundation primarily supported interdisciplinary medical research, with a focus on biomedical engineering. Most of the Foundation’s efforts were directed toward the establishment and enhancement of formal educational programs and the support of especially talented students and faculty. In 2006, the Foundation ceased operations, and committed its remaining funds to a grant program focused on strengthening international collaborative links between young leaders in BME worldwide. Under the guidance of the Institute of International Education, the Whitaker International Program is designed to bring international experience and insight to the field of biomedical engineering.

 

Application Deadline: January 31, 2012

Online registration and the internship databases for the German Academic Exchange Service's RISE and RISE professional programs both opened on December 6th. The application deadline is January 31, 2012.

RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering) and RISE professional have established themselves as outstanding opportunities to combine serious research with a rewarding study abroad experience. The programs are targeted to students from the fields of engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences (geology), and related disciplines.

RISE undergrads have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge research projects at top research institutions (e.g., Max-Planck-Institutes) and universities in Germany. Students are paired with German Ph.D. students in a unique mentoring partnership to ensure immediate integration into hands-on lab work and a built-in social network with an excellent opportunity to develop new technical skills. RISE participants receive a scholarship to cover living expenses. To learn more about RISE, please visit: www.daad.de/rise/en or email: rise@daad.de.

RISE professional is designed for recent graduates, master's, and Ph.D. students, and alumni of the RISE program who are matched with a well-known German company, where they gain insight into the professional applications of science and engineering and develop practical skills.

Internships can last from one-and-a-half to six months. Similar to RISE, this program features a scholarship to cover living expenses. To learn more about RISE professional, please visit:
www.daad.de/rise-pro/en or email: rise-pro@daad.de.