The Graying of The Great Powers

Not long ago the Global Aging Initiative at the Center for Strategic & International Studies published The Graying of the Great Powers: Demography and Geopolitics in the 21st Century.

This book deserves much more attention - particularly from those university leaders involved in international programs.

The authors draw on careful analysis to predict a global aging of population as an unprecedented demographic transformation.

This transformation is both certain and lasting. It will not be reversed in our lifetime.

It will have major social, economic and political effects.

Currently, most pundits seem to assume that US global influence will diminish in the future. This report argues that the US will have more - not less - influence and responsibility in the global order over the next fifty years.

University leaders spend too much time thinking about short-term challenges. We focus too much on the needs and experience of "traditional" students (ages 18-25). This work reminds us that universities will operate in a very different future world, and we will need to make more space for lifelong learning.

Download an excellent summary of this book here.

US CEOs Value Study Abroad

Last month, the Institute for International Education released results from a survey of senior US business leaders. The survey was conducted to investigate how CEOs, presidents, and top-level managers value study abroad experience for prospective employees.

Some key findings...

• Though only a small proportion of US college graduates have ever studied abroad, 30% of the leaders responding had study abroad experience.
• Of those with experience in international education, over 90% said they looked to hire people who studied abroad.
• In all, 60% of respondents asked their HR departments to pursue and reward study abroad experience.

This is a very brief report worth reading.

Study Abroad Photo Contest

Each year our Study Abroad staff organizes a photo contest for MU students who've recently earned academic credits across borders. Students submit original photos in one of three categories, accompanied by brief narratives that explain the photos' personal meaning or significance.

This Fall, students submitted 291 excellent photos that were taken all over the world. To launch MU's observance of International Education Week, we will announce the winners of the contest, selected by a panel of judges.

Take a look at the work by contest finalists here.

Congratulations to all the students who participated, and thanks to all those who work year around to make MU study abroad possible.

Rush to learn English - by mobile phone

I noticed this post on Information Policy. It illustrates the worldwide demand to learn English -- and tells us about an innovative response to that demand by the BBC World Service Trust.

For more information on how the BBC is using new media for educational purposes, see this website.

International Education Week - at Missouri

International Education Week will be observed next week (November 16-20) across the world. At Missouri, we've planned a series of events.

• Monday, November 16
  Study Abroad Photo Contest AwardsLuncheon (by invitation only)
  Finalist photos available on line.

Tuesday, November 17, 12:00 Noon - 1:00 pm
Movie - Fulbright: The Man, the Mission, the Message
Free and Open to the Public
Hawthorne Lounge, Memorial Union, MU

Tuesday, November 17 7:00 pm
Talk: China's 30 Years of 'Opening Up and Reform'
Continuities and Change Visiting scholar Professor Lingling Qi
N103 (Stotler Lounge III) Memorial Union, MU

Wednesday, November 18, 3:00 - 4:30 pm
MU's connections with the Republic of Georgia: Past, Present and Possible Futures
Discussion led by MU Professors Byron Scott, Jim McCartney and Jim Scott
Jesse Wrench Auditorium, Memorial Union, MU

Thursday, November 19, 3:30 – 5:00 pm
Chancellor's Global Issues Forum - The Fulbright Program: Changing our Campus, Changing our World
Moderated by MU Chancellor Brady Deaton.
Chamber Auditorium, MU Student Center (located above the University Bookstore)

Friday, November 20, 11:30 AM
Thanksgiving Luncheon for First Year International Student (by invitation only)

Recruiting's Brave New World

Competition for international students is heating up. If your interested, the cover article of current issue of NAFSA's International Educator provides a quick overview of why and how this is happening, and what some universities are doing to respond.

There are some pretty good ideas here.

Sen. Kit Bond's new book

Missouri Senator Christopher (Kit) Bond will sign his new book The Next Front: Southeast Asia and the Road to Global Peace with Islam on Friday, Nov 13 from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. inside University Bookstore. The event is free and open to the public. Chancellor Brady Deaton will introduce Senator Bond. Senator Bond does not intend to speak but will sign books.

Two European University Projects to Watch

I've noticed two project announcements at the European University Association that American universities should watch.

The first is the development of guidelines for responsible partnerships in university-industry research collaborations. See announcement below.

...EUA President Jean-Marc Rapp officially launched the new ‘Responsible Partnering’ Guidelines for collaborative research between universities and industry.

The guidelines - published jointly by EUA, the European Industrial Research Management Association (EIRMA), the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO), and the Public Research Organisations Transfer Offices Network (ProTon Europe) - are a voluntary code of conduct for enterprises and public research designed to maximise the benefits of collaborative research for all parties in a sustainable way.

Originally launched in 2004, the updated guidelines include analyses of issues such as State Aid, European Community recommendations on IPR management and the results of the EUA DOC-CAREERS project on university-industry partnerships in doctoral research.

Professor Rapp called on the European Commission to endorse these revised guidelines, underlining they could be an important first step in developing the ‘Open Innovation Charter' that has been proposed by the Commission’s high-level advisory group (ERAB).

Download the Responsible Partnering Guidelines.

The second is the development of a Charter for European Universities on Lifelong Learning.

EUA, in a Consortium with the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), the European University Continuing Education Network (EUCEN) and the European Access Network (EAN), is launching a new project entitled ‘Shaping Inclusive and Responsive University Strategies (SIRUS)’.

The EU-funded project is designed to support Europe’s universities in implementing the commitments made in the European Universities’ Charter on Lifelong Learning and thus to assist them in developing their specific role as lifelong learning institutions forming a central pillar of the Europe of Knowledge.

This project will offer approximately twenty universities with different profiles and interests in lifelong learning (LLL), and which are at different stages of LLL implementation, an opportunity to develop and enhance their strategic approaches to this issue, through interactive discussion with colleagues from all over Europe. At the same time, it will allow them to contribute to the development of policy recommendations for the European Higher Education Area.

The participating universities will be selected through this call for participation and interested universities are invited to use the following application form. The deadline for receipt of applications is 11 December 2009, 12.00 (midday) CET.

Please visit the project webpage or email Michael Horig for further information.

New Reports on Dual and Joint Degrees

I read the following on GlobalHigherEd - always a useful source...

...two new releases about international double and joint degrees — one (The Graduate International Collaborations Project: A North American Perspective on Joint and Dual Degree Programs) by the North American Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), and one (Joint and Double Degree Programs: An Emerging Model for Transatlantic Exchange) by the International Institute for Education (IIE) and the Freie Universität Berlin — remind us of the emerging desire to craft more focused, intense and ‘deep’ relations between universities versus the current approach which amounts to the promiscuous acquisition of hundreds if not thousands of memoranda of understanding (MoUs).

The IIE/Freie Universität Berlin book (link here for the table of contents) addresses various aspects of this development process:

The book seeks to provide practical recommendations on key challenges, such as communications, sustainability, curriculum design, and student recruitment. Articles are divided into six thematic sections that assess the development of collaborative degree programs from beginning to end. While the first two sections focus on the theories underpinning transatlantic degree programs and how to secure institutional support and buy-in, the third and fourth sections present perspectives on the beginning stages of a joint or double degree program and the issue of program sustainability. The last two sections focus on profiles of specific transatlantic degree programs and lessons learned from joint and double degree programs in the European context.

It is clear that international joint and double degrees are becoming a genuine phenomenon; so much so that key institutions including the IIE, the CGS, and the EU are all paying close attention to the degrees’ uses, abuses, and efficacy. Thus we should view this new book as an attempt to both promote, but in a manner that examines the many forces that shape the collaborative process across space and between institutions. International partnerships are not simple to create, yet they are being demanded by more and more stakeholders. Why? Dissatisfaction that the rhetoric of ‘internationalization’ does not match up to the reality, and there is a ‘deliverables’ problem.

Indeed, we hosted some senior Chinese university officials here in Madison several months ago and they used the term “ghost MoUs”, reflecting their dissatisfaction with filling filing cabinet after filing cabinet with signed MoUs that lead to absolutely nothing. In contrast, engagement via joint and double degrees, for example, or other forms of partnership (e.g., see International partnerships: a legal guide for universities), cannot help but deepen the level of connection between institutions of higher education on a number of levels. It is easy to ignore a MoU, but not so easy to ignore a bilateral scheme with clearly defined deliverables, a timetable for assessment, and a budget.

Debate: the Real Value of Global Education

Last week, this article was published in the New York Times as part of a special series on international education.

The article -- and a great collection of readers' comments -- assessed the practical value for individuals pursuing MBA international business degrees. However, I think the arguments can be applied across higher education.

In part, readers debate the value of (short-term) international experiences. (See here, here and here for related posts on this blog).

As we shape the future of international and cross-cultural learning, we should remind ourselves of what we're trying to achieve, and see how study abroad is connected to the core curriculum.

Twenty Years After the Berlin Wall

Last week I posted about Europe's 9/11. Tomorrow, November 9 - marks twenty years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

There's great media coverage of this historic occasion. The New York Times (see here) provides good articles and photos. They also provide some great links to other media outlets.

Ireland Faces Economic Challenges

As we prepare next Summer's study abroad program, I've followed the news in Ireland. Later today, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will launch a massive protest in eight different cities. The ICTU opposes government plans to stabilize public finances through deep cuts in education, health and social services. They propose a different approach to Irish economic recovery called A Better, Fairer Way.

There are no easy choices in public finance right now. This Summer's Ireland study program will take a closer look at the alternatives and the implications of decisions that will shape that country's future.

Leadership Lessons from Harvard University President

One of the columns I follow in the New York Times is in the Sunday Business section, called "The Corner Office". This column prints interviews with CEOs - always focused on their insights on leadership.

This past Sunday, I saw an interview with Drew Gilpin Faust. Though not explicitly linked to international scholarship, it's worth reading.

A couple of excerpts...

I think the most important leadership lessons I’ve learned have to do with understanding the context in which you are leading. Universities are places with enormously distributed authority and many different sorts of constituencies, all of whom have a stake in that institution.

One of the things that I’ve thought a lot about with Lincoln is how he dealt with people. Partly what Doris Kearns Goodwin has written about is at the heart of this, which is a team of rivals, bringing different people together. But what I take from that effort is that Lincoln would not allow someone to be his enemy. You just were hard-pressed to be mad at him, because he’d be after you, again, in a way that used his power, his charm and his intelligence to bring you around, to be an ally. So I’ve thought about that a lot, as I’ve thought about the politics of the university and having to deal with people who might disagree with you, who might not like your decisions, to not let that turn into enmity, but to always bring people back around to being contributors.

Europe's 9/11

This Monday (9 November, 2009) marks the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Americans tend to under-appreciate the importance of this occasion.

Our good colleague Gareth Harding just published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on what this date means to him. I recommend it to you, along with a recent lecture he presented at MU's School of Journalism.

Fulbright at Missouri

This year, MU is listed as one of the top producers of faculty Fulbright awards. Please see the following notice in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

http://chronicle.com/article/Top-Producers-of-Fulbright/48854/

Our recent success is largely due to the assistance and encouragement of a network of over 40 MU Fulbright alumni.

November 16-20 is designated worldwide as International Education Week. MU will commemorate this week with a series of events – with special focus on the Fulbright program.

Recently, Fulbright published a brief for university leaders on the benefits of faculty participation. I hope you will find it helpful.

The Three Year Degree

My apologies for taking a long hiatus, but I'm back...

Recently, Newsweek magazine published this provocative essay by Lamar Alexander.