On October 1-2, 2015, the inaugural IIE Summit on Generation Study Abroad will bring commitment partners together in Washington, D.C. to highlight their progress and create positive new solutions. The Summit will feature high-level plenary debates, action-oriented sessions, think tanks and networking opportunities, as well as an engaging expo hall, to mobilize commitments and inspire new actions.

It is an exciting opportunity to engage and showcase commitment partners from all sectors, including U.S. and non-U.S. higher education institutions, the K-12 community, foreign language community, study abroad organizations, education associations, private sector corporations and foundations, and U.S. and foreign government partners.

The 2015 IIE Summit on Generation Study Abroad will explore best practices and lessons learned and how institutions and organizations are advancing their commitments to Generation Study Abroad through the framework of four major questions: 

1. How does study abroad build a globally minded workforce?
2. How can study abroad be redefined and rebranded for today's global economy?
3. What is the impact of study abroad?
4. What innovative solutions are most effective in increasing study abroad participation?

Call for Proposals 

IIE invites proposals that reflect the spirit of collaboration across sectors and sharing knowledge to highlight best practices, ideas and innovations that address these themes and advance the collective Generation Study Abroad goal of significantly expanding and scaling education abroad.

Three types of proposals will be accepted:

• Individual: Single participant submissions are welcome. IIE will create sessions that bring presenters together based on theme and content.
• Full Panel: Full panels should consist of no more than three individuals. Preference will be given to proposals incorporating diverse stakeholders and perspective, and panels that include interaction among presenters.
• Think Tank: You may also submit a proposal to conduct an extremely interactive brainstorming session, where participants will engage in big-picture thinking to identify creative solutions to specific challenges.

Preference will be given to proposals that include participants from different sectors and speak to varied audiences, including employers, governments and K-12 educators, as well as higher education practitioners and policy-makers.

The deadline to submit proposals is February 15, 2015. For more information, or to submit proposals, visit: www.iie.org/Programs/Generation-Study-Abroad/Generation-Study-Abroad-Summit/Proposals.

IIE is among Charity Navigator’s "10 of the Best Charities Everyone's Heard Of" list. According to the giving guide, "These 10 charities ... are large, complex organizations with budgets exceeding $100 million, and at least $65 million in net assets. They became household names in part because of their exceptional financial management, no easy feat considering the scope and size of their operations."

Stephen Schwarzman is featured in Forbes for his contribution to Schwarzman Scholars, an IIE-administered scholarship program at Beijing’s Tsinghua University inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship program. "China is a core curriculum. It’s not an elective course. And it certainly is not going to be an elective course for our children and our grandchildren," says Schwarzman. Schwarzman was one of 200 billionaire participants in this year’s Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy, which focused on global solutions in education. 

 

The Institute of International Education is requesting photos for use in our printed and Internet-based communications that tell the visual story of IIE and the students/scholars/teachers who participate in our programs. Our goal is for the viewer to communicate the breadth of our work and the impact of our programs.

This is an opportunity for you to:

• Share the importance of your work
• Inspire other grantees
• Gain artistic recognition
• Win prizes! (including gift cards to Amazon or a travel guide book)

IIE is seeking a well-rounded group of images that represent the international scope of our work, not only geographically, but also in ethnicity, age, and the multidisciplinary aspect of their work. Please help us demonstrate the vibrancy of IIE by submitting engaging photos of our programs at work. Valid contestants include any grantees since 2011 from any of IIE's 200+ programs.

IIE President Allan E. Goodman was interviewed for a recent U.S. News & World Report article debating the arrival of more than 50 foreign universities in the Arab region. Goodman argues that branch campuses offer students in the region an alternative to large national universities by providing "real teaching ... with more interaction" and "more flexibility in what they can study."

Yojana Sharma reports in a University World News about a recent debate on student civic engagement at a Talloires Network of community-engaged universities meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. Participants, including student representatives, discussed the safety and legality of student activities on campuses spanning South Africa, China, and Egypt. "Some universities urge students to refrain from overtly political activities, without necessarily setting boundaries," writes Sharma. "Others have no choice but to curb them because of existing laws—but are unclear on how to act when ‘breaches’ occur."

Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, opened a debate on academic freedom and other issues at a hearing before the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee. Ian Wilhelm reports on the hearing for the Chronical on Higher Education. "[Smith] questioned whether colleges had sold out their values to receive financial support from China to build academic facilities in China and to establish Confucius Institutes, which are Chinese-language and -cultural centers that operate on American campuses," writes Wilhelm.

IIE is pleased to partner with CollegeWeekLive to host Africa Day on January 28th, 2015. This virtual fair is an excellent opportunity to connect with students across Africa.

Benefits of Participating:

• Engage students from across Africa—reach students from multiple African countries without leaving campus.
• Create a new channel for communication—reach students when and wherever they are, on their device of choice, enabling live chat interactions online at their convenience.
• Increase exposure—distribute information more efficiently to a wider audience. 

IIENetwork member institutions receive a registration discount. If you have questions, email ufairs@iie.org.

The 2015 World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Awards will celebrate six innovative educational projects for their excellence and positive contribution to education and society. The Awards highlight initiatives found to be most creative and effective in finding solutions to education challenges at any level and in all environments. Representatives of projects working at any education level are invited to submit applications to demonstrate the nature and reach of their activities. Past winning projects have addressed a wide range of concerns and pursuits, including access to quality education, life-long learning opportunities, and the use of technology. To date, a total of 36 projects have been recognized for their innovative, transformative impact.

Since 2006, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has taken a student with him once a year on a reporting trip to the developing world. The aim, according to Kristof, is to "generate interest in global poverty issues both with the contest and with the blogging and videos that the winner will contribute to the New York Times website." The contest is open to students enrolled in an American college or university, either as an undergraduate or graduate. The winner will be selected on the basis of talent, originality, writing ability, style, and creativity.

To enter, submit an original essay of no more than 700 words or an original video of less than 3 minutes explaining: why you would like to go on a reporting trip to the developing world with Nick Kristof and what in your background is relevant to the Contest via the submission form. You may also submit both an essay and a video.

Fulbright Arctic Initiative will bring together a network of scholars, professionals and applied researchers from the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden for a series of three seminar meetings and a Fulbright exchange experience. The Initiative will provide a platform for scholars from across the Arctic region to engage in collaborative thinking, analysis, problem-solving and multi-disciplinary research in one of four areas: Energy, Water, Health, and Infrastructure.

At its core, the Fulbright Arctic Initiative will create a network to stimulate international scientific collaboration on Arctic issues while increasing mutual understanding between people of the United States and the people of other countries. Using a collaborative model to translate theory into practice, program participants will address public-policy research questions relevant to Arctic nations’ shared challenges. Program activities will commence in spring 2015 and conclude in fall of 2016.

Successful candidates will include scholars at all career stages, applied researchers or professionals active in the academic, public or private sectors.

A five-minute NPR piece by science editor Joe Palca discussed the value of international collaboration among scholars in the sciences. The piece includes a conversation with the authors of a study showing a strong correlation between collaboration between scholars from multiple nations and being published in top science journals. These multinational articles are also more likely to be cited by other scientists.  

Daniela Kaisth, IIE’s Vice President for Strategic Development, shares about her participation as a panelist in last week’s White House Travel Blogger Summit on Study Abroad and Global Citizenship. "What emerged during this panel was the clear sense that we need to not just promote and encourage study abroad, but to completely re-energize and re-imagine it," says Kaisth. "In keeping with a new generation, study abroad should not be about where to go, but what to do and what to build most productively while there."

The tenth annual Times Higher Education Awards named the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund "Charity Partner" of the year. According to THE Editor John Gill, the event in London brought together "some of the most senior figures in UK higher education" to celebrate achievements across the sector and highlight the important work of universities and individual academics. Guests of the awards event were moved by the powerful testimony given by an IIE-SRF scholar now safely pursuing research in the UK. IIE-SRF is honored to have been part of such an impressive gathering and tremendously grateful to those who attended for their record-breaking donations on the night of the event.