Institutional Commitment & Policy
Internationalization
requires priority in an institution's strategic plan. This is an
explicit commitment by institutional leaders or, for systems with
centralized governance, national higher education managers. A more
specific internationalization strategy includes provisions for iterative
improvement, assessment, and implementation. A critical part of
developing institutional commitment is organizational self-reflection.
In addition to identifying assets, opportunities, challenges, and
barriers through data gathering and dialogue, an institutional community
discerns essential questions about their commitment to global
engagement, such as:
What does internationalization mean to our institution/system's unique mission, culture, and community?
Why
should our institution internationalize? What are our hopes for global
engagement? What would we dream for our organization if time and
resources were not an issue?
What role
will our institution play in the local, national, and global landscapes?
How does our institution connect and contribute sustainably to each of
these communities?
Who are the stakeholders
we should involve in our discernment and decision-making? Who has been
left out of past conversations? How can we engage inclusively and
creatively to leverage diverse perspectives and experiences? How do we
involve and meld voices from all areas and levels of the institution?
Strategic
plans provide a roadmap for implementing goals and policies that align
with an institution's response to these questions. Formal assessment
mechanisms reinforce that commitment and hold leaders accountable.
Policies that align with and systematize the institutional commitment
ensure that equitable global engagement extends beyond a public
statement, is sustainable, and provides agility for growth and
improvement.
Leadership & Structure
The
involvement of senior leaders and appropriate administrative and
reporting structures form an essential framework for
internationalization and institutional transformation. These include the
president and chief academic leaders; offices that are designated to
coordinate campus-wide global engagement, international student
services, and off-campus learning experiences; and units that are
responsible for research, institutional research, faculty development,
student support services (e.g., academic advising, counseling, career
exploration), enrollment management, finance, community and alumni
relations, and advancement. Critical staffing and structural support
include:
A committee or task force that
leads internationalization and carries the implicit directive of the
president or provost so that members prioritize their responsibilities,
and their work is taken seriously across the administration and campus
units.
International leadership that
reports directly to the chief academic officer or president and,
ideally, regularly interacts with and advises the institution's top
leadership.
Adequate human and financial resources
that account for ongoing assessment, communication, and coordination
across campus units, and agility to respond to shifts in the higher
education and global landscapes.
Curriculum & Co-curriculum
As
the core mission of higher education, student learning is a critical
element of internationalization. The curriculum is the central pathway
to learning for all students regardless of their background, goals,
abilities, or the type of institution they attend. An internationalized
curriculum ensures that all students are exposed to international
perspectives and that they can build global and intercultural competence
at home regardless of their study focus. Workforce-ready global
competencies are included in institution or system-wide learning
outcomes and assessments. Co-curricular programs and activities deliver
high-quality learning experiences that complement course-based
instruction and align with competencies and skills for working in a
diverse postgraduate environment. The following elements contribute to
making this possible:
Undergraduate general education/first-degree compulsory curricula require focus
on foreign language, regional studies, global issues, and intentional
opportunities for self-reflection, intercultural interaction, and
identity exploration. All students engage with global and national
issues of historical and contemporary racism, colonialism, and systemic
injustice.
Courses in each major, program of study, discipline, or research area are internationalized by
incorporating international perspectives and highlighting global issues
in the field. They provide a global and historical context as well as
resources and scholarship.
Co-curriculum programs
and activities address global issues, reinforce international and
intercultural elements of the curriculum, facilitate discussion and
interaction among learners of different backgrounds, and support the
integration and success of diverse/international students, faculty, and
staff. Learners have opportunities to engage with culturally diverse
individuals and organizations in the local community through projects
and partnerships with just reciprocity and collaborative development.
Technology
is used in innovative ways to enhance global learning; communication
and social skills; research; and collaboration through interactions with
students, faculty, and staff abroad. This might be facilitated through
collaborative international online learning (COIL), research
partnerships, virtual exchange, guest speakers, or administrative
collaboration.
Faculty & Staff Support
As
the primary drivers of teaching and knowledge production, faculty play a
pivotal role in learning, research, and service (to varying degrees
depending on an institution's unique mission). Their commitment is
imperative to the success of internationalization. Institutional
policies and support mechanisms ensure that faculty have opportunities
to develop intercultural competence themselves and are able to maximize
the impact of these experiences on student learning, research, and
service. Professional development including workshops, seminars, and
other programs are provided to help faculty and staff share expertise;
explore classroom innovations; mentor and advise students and junior
colleagues; and address challenges in teaching, learning across
disciplines, and administrative work with diverse students and
colleagues. Tenure (for faculty) and promotion (for faculty and staff)
guidelines reward those who contribute to the work of brainstorming,
implementing, and assessing internationalization, institution and
community partnerships, global research connections, student success,
and mobility opportunities. This might be done in the following ways:
Tenure and promotion policies
state explicitly that international work and experience, as well as
efforts that significantly advance institutional equity and inclusion
practices, should be considered in tenure and promotion decisions. Incentives and rewards
are provided to encourage faculty and staff to engage with the local
and global communities. Successful institutions or department use
various approaches, such as financial incentives; opportunities to teach
and research globally; recognition through publicity, awards, or
special titles; fundraising or grant-making assistance; and support for
employee participation in outside programs (e.g., Fulbright, externally
hosted training).
Hiring guidelines include
international and diverse backgrounds, experience, and interests among
the criteria upon which faculty and staff candidates are evaluated.
Faculty and staff mobility is
recognized as an asset. Faculty and staff have opportunities to teach,
conduct research, participate in virtual exchange and collaboration, and
attend domestic and international conferences. Administrative and
funding mechanisms, as well as promotion and tenure policies, support
employee participation in outside programs (e.g., Fulbright, externally
hosted training).
On-campus professional development is expected, encouraged, and rewarded. Workshops,
seminars, and other programs help faculty and staff build intercultural
competence and incorporate diverse and global perspectives into their
teaching, research, service, administrative responsibilities, and
local-global community connections.
Mobility
Mobility
refers both to the outward and inward physical movement of people
(students, faculty, and staff), programs, projects, and policies to
off-campus communities and other countries to engage in learning,
research, and collaboration. Technology has expanded the opportunity for
mobility to include academic engagement of all learners beyond their
domestic borders. This might be accomplished through collaborative
online international learning (COIL) or virtual exchange; research
cooperation; faculty and staff exchanges or expertise shared virtually;
internship and service experiences; and virtual partnerships. Equitable,
intentional mobility includes:
Inclusive accessibility. All
students have physical or virtual global education opportunities.
Funding and financial aid support all types of learners from across
the disciplinary spectrum. Technical infrastructure and training are
available for all students, faculty, and staff to succeed in virtual and
off-campus spaces. Assessments continually explore
whether in-person, off-campus, and virtual mobility opportunities are
equitable and inclusive for students, faculty, and staff from all
backgrounds. Special consideration is given to environmental
sustainability and the social, economic, and cultural impacts of
off-campus mobility in particular.
Funding and financial aid. Student
financial aid is applicable to approved study away programs, and
resources are available to help students locate additional funding.
Scholarships and other funding are available for international students.
Funding is available or applications for external financing are
supported for both in-person and virtual faculty and staff mobility.
Ongoing support and programs for international students. Academic
and social support structures and programs facilitate international
students' full integration into campus life, from the time of enrollment
through their alumni experience. This includes development
opportunities for domestic faculty, staff, and students and emphasis on
their role creating an inclusive environment for learners from all
backgrounds.
Orientation and re-entry programs
help students maximize learning during in-person and virtual mobility
programs so they may integrate knowledge, identity development, ethical
engagement, and self-reflection into their academic program of study
and/or research. Academic and cultural orientation sessions are provided
for all incoming international students, faculty, and staff, as well as
domestic learners who interact with them.
Partnerships and Networks
Partnerships
and networks, both internal and external, can be local or
international, primarily transactional, or they can generate new ideas
and programs that span all partners. These relationships—essential to
comprehensive internationalization—bring different viewpoints,
resources, activities, and agendas together to illuminate and act on
global issues. They provide global and intercultural experiences for
faculty, staff, and students; expand research capacity; enhance the
curriculum; generate revenue; diversify knowledge production; and raise
the visibility of institutions domestically and globally. Regardless of the relationship format, ethical standards of practice, commitment to mutual benefit and decision-making, sustainability, and awareness of historical and systemic injustices (e.g., North-South power dynamics, partisan town-gown relationships) are paramount. So are articulated
institutional guidelines, policies, and procedures for selecting
partners, sustaining relationships over time, keeping records, and
reviewing the entire institutional partnership portfolio. Partnerships
can originate either “top down" or “bottom up," but effective ones
derive their strength from bridging these two poles over time. Three
categories of institutional collaboration include:
Partnerships with institutions, organizations, governments, and communities abroad.
These include student exchanges, education abroad arrangements, and
other forms of curricular collaboration (e.g., 2+2 programs, binational
student cohorts that travel together back and forth, COIL classrooms).
They also include research collaborations and centers, and joint
development and capacity-building projects. These relationships require
strong long-distance communication plans; legal compliance; deepening
knowledge of the partner institution and nation; and navigating
different cultural, national, and academic structures.
Local and community colaborations. Organizations,
governments, and individuals in the local community often have deep
international or cross-cultural connections, backgrounds, and knowledge.
They can provide research partners for faculty and experiential
learning opportunities for students. Academic institutions can partner
with immigrant and diaspora populations, ethnically and racially diverse
subcommunities, primary and secondary schools, civic organizations, and
globally connected businesses. Individuals from such groups and
organizations are invited to institution-hosted initiatives and to be
partners in knowledge production, learner development, and civic
engagement programs.
Internal institution networks. Many
units across an academic institution or system have knowledge of and
ownership for inclusive, intercultural engagement. The central global
affairs office works collaboratively with an array of administrative and
academic units to design research, teaching, and service initiatives
that support diverse faculty, staff, and students and communicate
internationalization successes internally and externally. It is
particularly important for the international office to collaborate with
those who carry out diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as
well as those connected to student success, civic engagement, career
development, enrollment management, finance, community and alumni
relations, and advancement.