Economic Crisis: Effects on Study Abroad

Last fall, the Forum on Education Abroad conducted a survey on how the global economic crisis has affected study abroad participation in the US.

Here are the published results.

Generally, most reporting institutions saw negative effects on study abroad.  At the University of Missouri we have not had this experience. (For example, see this recent post.)

The Future of Higher Ed in Haiti

This report from Inside Higher Ed...

A new study of higher education in Haiti -- the first to examine the state of the system in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake -- documents debilitating problems that existed before the natural disaster and have only been compounded by the lost lives and destroyed infrastructure.
The devastation in Haiti was so widespread that it was immediately clear in the weeks after the earthquake that all levels of education suffered the deaths and injuries of students and instructors, and the collapse of classrooms. But a study issued Tuesday by Haiti's Interuniversity Institute for Research and Development -- a respected think tank known by its acronym INURED -- documents the extent of the damage, and of the problems that existed previously.

Find the full report here.

For an eyewitness account of the January 12 earthquake, and the first response to calls for assistance, please see this event on the MU campus later today.

Rural Haiti Struggles Following Earthquake

This Wednesday we're co-hosting a campus-wide lecture on the challenges of aid and reconstruction following the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Much of the world's attention today is on health care reform legislation in the US.  Though it no longer occupies headlines, Haiti still struggles in the aftermath of January disaster.

Three different stories come to mind.

First, this article describes how rural communities in Haiti struggle to absorb city populations displaced by the earthquake.

Second, yesterday's  60 Minutes on CBS followed the efforts (and grief) of a few Haitian volunteers.

These stories remind me of an excellent book by Tracy Kidder, called Mountains Beyond Mountains.  This book tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer, his visionary work on health and health care in Haiti, which has developed into Partners in Health.  I highly recommend the book -- and Dr. Farmer's work.

***
At Wednesday's campus lecture, I'm sure we'll hear even more challenging stories about the struggle in Haiti.

Chinese PhD Students Stay in the US

This account published in the University World News...

More than nine in every 10 students from China who gained a doctorate in the United States in 2002 were still in the country in 2007, the highest percentage from any foreign nation. This compares with 62% of all foreign-born PhD recipients for that year, says a new report.

The figures come from a study by Michael Finn at the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education in Tennessee, published in the National Science Foundation's Science and Engineering Indicators 2010.

Five-year stay rates for students from other countries include 81% for India and 77% for Russia. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of PhDs in either physical or life sciences remained for five years after earning their degrees compared with 51% of those with PhDs in agricultural sciences.

The study found that while most foreign PhD students planned to stay in the US after graduation, among the 2004-07 graduates, about half had accepted firm offers of employment.

Between 2000-03 and 2004-07, however, the percentage reporting definite plans to stay on decreased among those with science and engineering doctorates from all top five countries - China, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Canada. For all but Taiwan, the increases in the number awarded doctorates more than offset the declines in the percentage staying.

Read the full story here.

US Immigration Reform: Green Cards for STEM Students

Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are proposing US immigration reform that includes new incentives for the best and brightest students around the world to pursue graduate degrees at US universities.

In an op-ed in today's Washington Post, they say...

Ending illegal immigration, however, cannot be the sole objective of reform. Developing a rational legal immigration system is essential to ensuring America's future economic prosperity.
Ensuring economic prosperity requires attracting the world's best and brightest. Our legislation would award green cards to immigrants who receive a PhD or master's degree in science, technology, engineering or math from a U.S. university. It makes no sense to educate the world's future inventors and entrepreneurs and then force them to leave when they are able to contribute to our economy.

This bipartisan proposal is far from realization.  However, it represents a very important opportunity for students, universities and US employers.

Secretary Clinton and St. Patrick

Few Americans in history are more highly regarded than Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.  For many years she's been a champion of peace and an advocate for children in the North and South.  According to her speech at the American Ireland Fund Gala last night, she's never visited Ireland on St. Patrick's Day.

Tonight, she is en route to Moscow -- but her entourage will stop in Shannon for an hour - so she can enjoy that distinction.

Take a minute to read her keynote address last night and her official proclamation from today.

Ushahidi - Emergency Response in Haiti

We are co-hosting an important campus lecture next week. Dr. Valerie Kaussen, Associate Professor of Romance Languages & Literatures, will discuss her recent experiences working on Haiti aid efforts following the devastating earthquake of January 12. She will address what she sees as some of the challenges and pitfalls of helping in Haiti's reconstruction efforts as well as share her thoughts on proposed models for Haitian post-earthquake development.

Recently, the New York Times reported on a new approach used for emergency response in Haiti.

A brief excerpt...

Ushahidi suggests a new paradigm in humanitarian work. The old paradigm was one-to-many: foreign journalists and aid workers jet in, report on a calamity and dispense aid with whatever data they have. The new paradigm is many-to-many-to-many: victims supply on-the-ground data; a self-organizing mob of global volunteers translates text messages and helps to orchestrate relief; journalists and aid workers use the data to target the response.

Ushahidi also represents a new frontier of innovation. Silicon Valley has been the reigning paradigm of innovation, with its universities, financiers, mentors, immigrants and robust patents. Ushahidi comes from another world, in which entrepreneurship is born of hardship and innovators focus on doing more with less, rather than on selling you new and improved stuff.
Because Ushahidi originated in crisis, no one tried to patent and monopolize it. Because Kenya is poor, with computers out of reach for many, Ushahidi made its system work on cellphones. Because Ushahidi had no venture-capital backing, it used open-source software and was thus free to let others remix its tool for new projects.

Ushahidi remixes have been used in India to monitor elections; in Africa to report medicine shortages; in the Middle East to collect reports of wartime violence; and in Washington, D.C., where The Washington Post partnered to build a site to map road blockages and the location of available snowplows and blowers.

Think about that. The capital of the sole superpower is deluged with snow, and to whom does its local newspaper turn to help dig out? Kenya.


With every new application, Ushahidi is quietly transforming the notion of bearing witness in tragedy. For a very long time, this was done first by journalists in real time, next by victim/writers like Anne Frank and, finally, by historians. But in this instantaneous age, this kind of testimony confronts a more immediate kind: one of aggregate, average, good-enough truths.

International Education - China and India Outlook

I was poking around on Finfacts - preparing for our summer study abroad course on the Irish Facing the Future. 

While there - I came across this article that compares demographic outlooks in BRIC countries.

As most US public universities, MU is very interested in attracting talented students from China and India. As we position ourselves in these highly competitive markets, we need to compare demographic outlooks, institutional strengths and connections, and effective demands for higher education in these (and other) countries.

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Bologna Process

Yesterday and today, European Ministers of Education are meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of the Bologna Process - the largest and most ambitious higher education reform in history.

Earlier this week, the European University Association released its Trends VI report - part of a continuing evaluation of these reform efforts.

The European Students Association have also released a report that provides their perspective on Bologna.

Short-Term Study Abroad -- for University Administrators

In a recent essay, University of San Francisco President Stephen Privett argues that sending university leaders on short-term immersion travel to developing countries can have big effects.  He suggests that this is just as important as sending students.

Some excerpts from his essay...

While the value for students of spending time abroad is widely promoted by many colleges, ours may be the only one in the country that sees those experiences as essential for college leaders as well.

and...

Everyone in a leadership position at the University of San Francisco has seen firsthand the immense human suffering, caused by deadly poverty, afflicting the majority of the people in our global village. It is essential that higher education prepares students, and those who teach them, to confront that global reality. Colleges must not narrow their educational horizons to student "success," as that term is often defined by popular culture.

and...

The underlying questions of higher education today should be: "How does what our institutions are doing with the 1 percent of the world who are our students affect the other 99 percent? (emphasis added). What is our role in helping our students be humanly in this world?" Immersion experiences give such questions an urgency and centrality that they would not otherwise have.

People often ask me, "What do you hope to accomplish with these expensive immersion experiences for the leadership team?'' I explain, first of all, that such experiences are not expensive; in fact, they are significantly less costly than an administrative retreat at any of a number of conference centers. Second, I do not expect that such experiences will lead immediately to new programs and significant changes in university requirements or policies.

What I hope is that university leaders will develop an increased sensitivity to the heartbreaking struggles of the 1.8 billion people whose daily struggle is simply to stay alive. Our experiences put us face to face with the gross global inequities that are the context of our educational efforts. The Spanish word for this is conscientizacion —a process of developing a deepening and profound personal awareness of our world, and of our consequent responsibility and capacity to change it for the better.

Immersion experiences reinforce the urgency and significance of that insight, and shape the decisions and direction that our vice presidents and deans set for their units. Starting next summer, we will offer immersion programs for some faculty members as well. We are also considering making such experiences required for students' graduation, instead of offering them as enrichment opportunities, as we do now.

Read his entire essay here.

The Challenges of Aid and Reconstruction in Haiti

The MU International Center is pleased to co-sponsor this campus event on March 24. 

Major new Bologna Process Report Published

This announcement from the European University Association...

A new report published today by the European University Association (EUA) analyses the implementation of the Bologna Process and its impact over the last decade on higher education across 46 countries in Europe in the context of broader reform processes affecting European higher education.

The ‘Trends 2010’ report – based on questionnaire responses from 821 universities, 27 national university associations, and site visits to 16 countries – will be presented in Vienna this week to mark the official launch of the European Higher Education Area and the end of the first phase of the Bologna reform Process (that was started in 1999).
This major study (the sixth in the Trends series) analyses the implementation of the Bologna ‘tools’ in universities (e.g. new degree structures, credit transfer and accumulation systems, and the use of the diploma supplement) since the outset. Importantly, it also assesses progress towards the underlying aims of the Bologna Process, such as improving quality of teaching, graduate employability, and mobility of students and staff. Equally, it looks at some of the key challenges for policymakers as they look ahead to the next decade of higher education cooperation.

EUA President, Professor Jean-Marc Rapp, will present some of the key findings from the study at this week’s Bologna Ministerial meeting. “We are now at a crucial point in the history of European higher education cooperation. This study shows that after ten years the ‘Bologna architecture’ is now firmly in place to build a strong common higher education area,” he says. ‘”However, it is crucial now that these reforms receive the necessary support from all stakeholders in order to create a flexible European Higher Education Area which provides graduates with all of the necessary skills to succeed in the 21st century,” he adds.

Download the report here.

Download the press release here to read some of the key findings.

Historic Vote in Northern Ireland Assembly

Today marks an historic vote by the Northern Ireland Assembly to move forward with the transfer of authority for police and justice from Westminster.  

This link provides a good summary of the action, plus useful background materials.

Google and Language Translation

For several years, I've dabbled with learning French.  I listen to French music and podcasts, watch the daily weather forecasts, read news accounts and try to follow current events.  Despite this effort, I still speak the language with the skills of my two-year old grand daughter.

If I need to comprehend a professional document in French, I must rely on heavy use of dictionaries, grammars or the services of a skilled interpreter.  If I'm really pressed for time, I've used Google translation.

Google has always been a last resort -- because I've assumed that the nuances of interpretation should not be left to machines.  Now, Google is using its data resources and incomprehensible computing power to refine its translation tools.

I was skeptical at first, but check out this test of its new capacity.

I'm still committed to learning language -- but in the meantime, I may be using Google Translation more often.

Economic Crisis: Similarities between Ireland and US

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman had a great piece on some differences and some key similarities in the sources of economic crisis in the US and Ireland.

He says..

So what can we learn from the way Ireland had a U.S.-type financial crisis with very different institutions? Mainly, that we have to focus as much on the regulators as on the regulations. By all means, let’s limit both leverage and the use of securitization — which were part of what Canada did right. But such measures won’t matter unless they’re enforced by people who see it as their duty to say no to powerful bankers.

The History of US Policy on Study Abroad

Thanks to Beerken's Blog -- here's a link to a power point presentation by David Comp on the history -- and intent -- of US government programs to encourage study abroad.

As we scramble to meet student demand and plan for the future, it's helpful to reflect on the original purpose of supporting study abroad.  Historically, the US sees study abroad as a means to advance public diplomacy.

Student mobility can achieve much more.

Ireland: Public Service Unions Protest Government Cuts

Public service unions in Ireland's North and South are implementing work stoppages and protests over government decisions to cut services and reduce pay by as much as 15% for some members.

This is a fitting back drop for our study abroad course "Facing the future: Ireland's response to economic crisis".

Study Abroad Applications are up 41%

We've just completed study abroad registration at MU for Summer 2010, Fall 2010, and academic year 2010-11.  Final figures are pending, but so far, the number of participants at MU is up 41% over last year. 

Much of this growth is in faculty led short term Summer programs.

Serious Housing Surplus in Ireland

To follow up on recent posts on the Irish economy (here, here, and here, for example)...

A new report estimates there are up to 345,000 vacant housing units in the Republic of Ireland.  With a national population of 4.4 million, it will take a serious market correction to bring housing supply and demand back in line.

New Fund for UK-US University Partnerships

The British Council announces a new $500,000 fund to support more vibrant partnerships between UK and US universities.  The funds can be used to support collaborations in third countries, such as India or China.

See this link for the full report.

Opportunities in Indonesia

With thanks from Beerken's Blog, I note this article about emerging opportunities in Indonesia.

My trip to Panama

I just returned from my first trip to Panama.  I met some amazing people and discussed incredible opportunities for MU collaboration in research and instruction.  I will share more about these opportunities soon.


For now, I reflect on the skills, determination, ingenuity and sociability of the people we met.

The photo at right was taken of an exhibition at the Visitors Center for the Panama Canal.  I think it is a faithful representation of the people.

Ireland: Hotel Prices Down 21%

One of the courses I teach this summer explores the future of the Irish economy.  A sample of today's RTE headlines indicates the breath and depth of current economic difficulties.(See here, here, and here - for example.)

This story on falling prices for hotel rooms caught my attention.  It follows a previous report that estimates a surplus of 15,000 hotel rooms in the Irish market.  This is good news for Irish visitors...but it paints a pretty bleak picture of at least one key economic sector.