IIE and the US Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will be kicking off International Education Week by releasing the findings from Open Doors 2013, the annual report on student mobility. Highlights of the data will be published on the Open Doors website on November 11, and IIE and ECA will hold a briefing in Washington, DC on November 12 to discuss the findings. IIENetwork members will be given advance access on November 7. All statistics are embargoed until November 11, 2013 (12:01 a.m. EST) and must not be published in print or online before then.

The Open Doors report attracts significant media attention and provides your institution with an opportunity to showcase your involvement in international education as well as to relate to the press what the situation is on your campus. We recommend that you work with your press office to highlight your campus' international activities, both hosting international students on your campus and study abroad participation by your U.S. students, as well as your international partnerships and faculty activities.

 

This year's World Innovation Summit on Education (WISE) focuses on "Reinventing Education for Life". WISE is an initiative of Qatar Foundation, and IIE has served as a partner organization to WISE since the launch of the initiative five years ago. This year's conference will feature IIE's president, Allan Goodman, in a special WISE/UNESCO plenary session on "Educational Challenges in a Changing World," which will be broadcast live, as well as a special session on higher education in Syria. 

 

Prior to the Summit, IIE helped deliver the fourth WISE Program for Education Leadership, an initiative that was launched at the inaugural WISE Summit in 2009 to enhance leadership skills and strengthen international networks for emerging university presidents and higher education leaders around the world. Nineteen new vice chancellors, rectors, and presidents from seventeen developing countries, identified as exemplary emerging higher education leaders, were selected to take part in a rigorous three-day training workshop. The countries represented at this year’s program were: Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

IIE’s President Allan E. Goodman and international careers expert Stacie Nevadomski Berdan, co-authors of A Student Guide to Study Abroad, recently weighed in on the debate surrounding study abroad for the New York Times "Room for Debate: A Year Abroad vs. A Year Wasted."

"Despite the inevitable increasing global competition for jobs, American graduates lack the international experience, language capabilities, and cross-cultural communication skills necessary to succeed in the global economy. With only about 10 percent of students studying abroad at some point in their academic career, we have a long way to go."

 

In an article featured in the fall 2013 IIENetworker magazine, Downing A. Thomas makes the case that global research and commercialization together represent the under-the-radar "next big thing in international education." Thomas, Dean of International Programs at the University of Iowa, believes that public-private partnerships will provide a new path to develop research capacity. "We cannot assume that all such opportunities simply await us within our own borders," says Thomas. "Just as our economies are now global entities, our research enterprises will increasingly reach beyond national boundaries."

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Karin Fischer reports in a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article on a three-year project exploring the potential for collaboration between multicultural education and internationalization efforts on university campuses. Often housed in distinct offices, these efforts tend to have overlapping objectives. The project’s capstone, organized by the American Council on Education (ACE), invited dozens of institutions for a two-day meeting to discuss ways that faculty can collaborate rather than compete to promote cross-cultural understanding and diversity on campuses, "in all its forms."

 

Australian Ph.D. student Steve Nerlich writes in University World News about the challenges of gathering accurate statistics on Australian students abroad. "Like most countries sending students out to study in other countries, Australia depends on those other countries to confirm where its students go and what they study," writes Nerlich. "A solution...may become available through the latest iteration of the Project Atlas® survey." Project Atlas, administered by IIE, is the result of student data collected by personnel across more than 20 countries, which Nerlich notes is the largest, if not only, survey of its kind. 

 

The Database of Research on International Education is a significant industry resource proudly supported by IDP. This searchable database is managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and contains details of more than 8,000 books, articles, conference papers and reports on various aspects of international education from publishers in Australia and abroad. The database houses material published from 1990 onwards, a period of major change in education systems around the world and in the trade in educational services.

IDP welcomes submissions of suitable material for inclusion in the database. By submitting your material you are bringing it to the attention of an international audience with an interest in international education. Please contact Hughes@acer.edu.au for further information.

 

In a recent article in Columbia SIPA’s The Morningside Post, Sarah Girma discusses controversial "branch campuses" such as Johns Hopkins in China or Yale in Singapore. Columbia University has sought a "lighter-footprint" approach in its expansion as a global university, setting up regional centers that focus on research and internship programs as opposed to granting degrees.

Lehigh University's College of Arts and Sciences invites you to join a dialog on Syria by attending or streaming a special "Workshop on Global and Regional Implications of the Syrian Crisis."

The workshop begins on Sunday, November 3 at 8:00 PM EST with a keynote address by Anne C. Richard, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration at the U.S. Department of State. There will be a full day of remarks and panel discussions on Monday, November 4, 2013 from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM, which will be free and open to the public, as well as live streamed.

Monday panel discussions include:

• An Assessment of Conditions inside Syria and its Borderlands;
• The Neighbors and Interested Parties I: Iran, Russia, Turkey and Iraq;
• The Neighbors and Interested Parties II: Gulf Countries, Kurds, Lebanon, and Israel
• Views of the Region from inside Syria
• U.S. and Western Options

You can also live stream a dinner conversation at 8:00 PM on Monday, with Robin Wright, US Institute of Peace and Hisham Melhem, al-Arabiya News Channel, moderated by Henri Barkey, chair of the International Relations Department at Lehigh University and former member of the U.S. State Department Policy Planning Staff.

View panel discussions and speakers | Join the conversation on Twitter using #LehightalksSyria

IIENetworker, the international education magazine of the Institute for International Education (IIE), invites submissions for publication in its upcoming Spring 2014 Issue. The theme of the Spring issue of IIENetworker will be: "The Impact of Globalization on International Education."

Global education, as we understand it today, would be unthinkable without the many forces of globalization—economic, political, social, and cultural—that have transformed internationalization in academia from an endeavor centered primarily on sending students abroad to a rich network of multiple institutional activities that can define a college or university’s entire identity. Although substantive work has been done on specific elements of educational internationalization, such as study abroad, faculty exchange, intercultural competence, and risk management, too little attention has been paid to the policy implications of globalization in its various guises and aspects for the design, implementation, and practice of global education. Likewise, the globalization literature has often neglected the role of the university as an engine or catalyst in globalizing a city such as New York, Sao Paulo, or Shanghai. In short, theories of globalization have been decidedly absent in international education discussions. 

This issue of IIENetworker wants to fill these gaps and moreover to draw substantive, analytical, and critical links between the wide spectrum of serious thinking about globalization and the practice of global education. We welcome articles, on the one hand, that illustrate how globalization has shaped international education in a significant way, and on the other hand, that show how academic institutions have contributed to the globalization of their location, be it a world city or a rural area. Articles should be more than descriptions of globalization’s effects, but also should include some theoretical reflection and analysis, as well as real-world illustrations of these relationships. We are particularly interested in presenting a broad range of perspectives. Submissions from both outside and within the United States—individual, joint, or institutional—are encouraged.

Most articles in the magazine will be between two and four pages (between 1000 and 1500 words). Submissions should include the author’s or authors’ full name(s), email address, mailing address, title and institution. Articles that include references should use MLA citation style and list sources at the end of the article.

If you would like to submit an article or if you have any questions please contact Jeff Peck at Jeffrey.Peck@baruch.cuny.edu and Daniel Obst at dobst@iie.org. Authors will be notified as soon as a publication decision is made.

Proposal deadline: November 8, 2013 |  Read more and download application

Accredited U.S. higher education institutions are invited to submit proposals to host the on-campus portion of the Winter 2014 EducationUSA Training Institutes. Campuses will be reimbursed for adviser expenses (lodging, food, transportation, materials). 

EducationUSA is a U.S. Department of State-supported network of hundreds of advising centers around the world. Each year, EducationUSA advisers provide millions of international students with accurate, comprehensive, and current information about how to apply to U.S. colleges and universities. EducationUSA staff also work with U.S. higher education professionals to promote international student recruitment. 

The EducationUSA Training Institute is an intensive training and professional development program designed to provide EducationUSA Advisers with the knowledge and skills needed to enhance their effectiveness and build professional competency. Each two-week EducationUSA Training Institute is comprised of a Washington, DC-based workshop and an on-campus training element. 

The EducationUSA Training Institute: Essentials of Advising (Level 1) program will take place during the winter of 2014. The Level 1 program is designed for new advisers who have at least a year of advising experience to provide a firm grasp of the basic skills and knowledge needed to perform their jobs. Building upon previous training as well as their professional experience, the program will help advisers increase their depth of knowledge and further refine their skill base. 

In close collaboration with EducationUSA staff, host campuses will design and carry out the on-campus portion of the training program. Campus responsibilities include securing faculty and staff to deliver training sessions, providing on-campus meeting space and other facilities, and arranging all program logistics, including lodging, meals, and transportation. 

Questions about the program, hosting responsibilities, or the host campus application should be directed to Matt Washburn, Program Officer, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, at washburnmp@state.gov. 

IIE’s USAID-funded Democracy Fellows and Grants (DFG) Program is pleased to announce the release of a new grant solicitation: the 2013 Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Research and Innovation Grants Annual Program Statement (APS). The APS will support innovative research that will enhance both a deep theoretical and an applied understanding of the dynamics of democracy, human rights, and governance. 

This APS supports USAID’s Center of Excellence for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG Center) and will generate findings that can inform USAID’s foreign assistance projects, approaches, frameworks, or strategic planning in democracy, human rights, and governance. For this year, the APS also supports USAID’s Bureau for Africa; Office of Sustainable Development; Conflict, Peacebuilding, and Governance Division (CPG). CPG will be looking for applications that combine a theoretical focus on democracy, human rights, or governance with an empirical focus on sub-Saharan Africa, but applicants need not propose an African focus to receive a grant under this APS.

The APS will be open from October 18, 2013 – October 17, 2014. Interested researchers are encouraged to apply by the first deadline. Any questions on the APS should be emailed to dem.grants@iie.org. 

Applicant profile: Universities or research institutions, US or worldwide 

Applications due: rolling basis; deadline for first review of applications is November 22, 2013, at 11:59 PM EST

Grant size: $10,000 – $100,000 

Grant length: 12 months

Research focus: Enhances theoretical or applied understanding of democracy, human rights, or governance. Generates findings that can inform USAID foreign assistance in democracy, human rights, or governance.

IIE’s DFG grant program is designed to strengthen the DRG Center’s work by integrating the knowledge and skills of the academic community. IIE will publish several research grant opportunities during the five years of the DFG program (September 2012 – September 2017). Interested scholars are encouraged to join the DFG Mailing List to receive email alerts when new grant opportunities are published.

Application Deadline: January 31, 2014 | Apply Online

The Japan-IMF Scholarship Program for Advanced Studies (JISP) is a two-year program intended to provide assistance to Japanese nationals obtaining Ph.D. degrees in macroeconomics at universities outside of Japan and to prepare them to work as economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The scholarship is funded by the government of Japan and administered by the IMF Institute with assistance from the Institute of International Education (IIE).

Awards are available to candidates able to obtain a Ph.D. by age 34 and who will be entering the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year of their Ph.D. program.

Up to seven scholarships are awarded annually on a competitive basis to students with a record of high academic achievement. All JISP scholars are required to apply to the IMF’s Economist Program (EP) upon completion of their doctoral studies and to accept an EP position if offered.

The October 28 online edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education includes a feature story on the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ new efforts to help 325,000 Fulbright alumni around the world improve their job prospects by capitalizing on their Fulbright experiences. The article profiles Colleen R. O'Neal, a Fulbright U.S. Scholar who received a fellowship to study the stresses faced by the 40,000 or so refugee children from Burma and elsewhere. O'Neal continues to work with refugees and credits the Fulbright program for altering the trajectory of her academic and professional life.

 

The article is a part of an annual feature that lists the "Top Producing" schools with the highest numbers of student and scholar U.S Fulbright recipients during the current year.  The Chronicle coverage also includes tables on the top destinations for U.S. Fulbright Awardees and top countries and territories sending the most Fulbright Scholars to the United States.

 

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education, develops the lists of top-producing colleges and universities each year to highlight the wide range of institutions that have been particularly successful in helping their students to apply, and successfully compete, for Fulbright Student Program awards, and whose faculty have received Fulbright Scholar awards.  IIE would like to congratulate all the students and faculty members who have received Fulbright awards this year, as well as the Fulbright Program Advisers and others on campus who are so instrumental in encouraging and supporting these successful Fulbright applicants.

The eBook version of A Student Guide to Study Abroad is now available through several eBook vendors, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. The print edition can be ordered online at www.iiebooks.org. For a bulk discount, please contact iiebooks@abdintl.com.

A Student Guide to Study Abroad arms students with the critical information needed to make one of the most important decisions of their academic career. Stacie Berdan co-author of the book, recently posted "7 Tips to Make Study Abroad More Affordable," based on a chapter in the book titled "Figuring Out the Financials." In her post, Berdan shares advice that ranges from determining eligibility for study abroad scholarships to locating affordable destinations off the beaten track. 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI) Program provides U.S. graduate students in science and engineering with an opportunity to spend eight weeks (ten weeks for Japan) during the summer conducting research at one of the seven host locations in East Asia and Pacific: Australia, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan. The program is a collaboration between NSF and counterpart agencies in each host location.

 

NSF provides EAPSI Fellows with a $5,000 stipend and round trip airplane ticket to the host location. Our foreign counterparts provide in-country living expenses and accommodations (arrangements vary by host location). The application submission deadline for the Summer 2014 is November 25, 2013.

Scientist Amal Alachkar talks to Nature about the effects of civil war on research and education in Syria. "The regime is afraid of professors," says Alachkar, a fellow of IIE’s Scholar Rescue fund, which provides fellowships abroad to faculty who are threatened in their home countries, "[It] will fall sooner or later, but the country will have to be rebuilt. There is no chance to move our country forward without intellectual power." When asked what can be done to help, Alachkar answers, "If each university abroad could support just one [scholar], thousands of minds would be saved. The IIE is also working on a distance-learning programme for students in refugee camps."

Read full interview | Join IIE’s Commitment to Action in Syria