Amirkabir University of Technology&

Internationalization of Higher Education

by:Masoud Azizi

Introduction

The increasing emphasis on higher education in manycountries since the 1990s has led to a tremendous growth intertiary student enrollment in different parts of the world.

The total global enrolment in higher education has jumpedfrom 85 million in 1997 to 182 million in 2011, representinga 114 % increase (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2014).

Recently, it was projected that the number of internationalstudents will grow from 4.5 million in 2012 to 8 million in2025 (OECD, 2014). The fast growth of higher educationwill continue particularly in the Asia-Pacific region in thecoming decades.

Bohm, Davis, Meares, & Pearce (2002) predicted that Asiawill account for 70 % of the demand for internationaleducation in 2025.

The OECD (2013) indicates that the largest numbers ofinternational students are from China, India, and Korea,Asian students accounting for 53 % of all students studyingabroad worldwide.

Exporting education services has become a multibillion-dollar business and a major source of income in manydeveloped countries.

Financial Aspect

Using a conservative estimate of US$25,000 per year per student,the total expenses would reach US$64 billion annually.

For instance, in Australia, education has become the fourth-largest export in 2013–2014, contributing approximately US$13billion annually to the economy (Australian GovernmentDepartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2014).

In the United States, the sector is the fifth-largest export,generating US$22 billion per year (USDOC, 2014). LikeAustralia and the United States, international students also bringin remarkable revenues to the United Kingdom, approximatelyUS$21 billion revenue each year (The United KingdomGovernment, 2013).

In addition to these three aforementioned key players in the field, somenew and emerging countries like Malaysia, Singapore, China, andJapan have been stepping up their efforts to recruit a growing numberof students from overseas.

For example, the government of Malaysia has set a goal to nearlydouble their international student enrollment to 200,000 by 2020, upfrom 103,000 in 2013 (ICEF, 2014).

Singapore and China are planning to attract 150,000 and 500,000international students by 2015 and 2020, respectively (EU-AsiaEducation Platform, 2014). Japan had over 135,000 internationalstudents in 2013 (Japan Student Services Organization, 2014), and theyare hoping to host about one million students by 2025 (Obst, 2008).

Students’ destination

What is the Internationalization of Higher Education?

There is no simple, unique or all-encompassing definition.

Different definitions exist with each attending to different aspects ofthe internationalization phenomenon often based on the needs of theinstitution.

According to Knight (2005), internationalization is “a change processfrom a national higher education institution to an international highereducation institution leading to the inclusion of an internationaldimension in all aspects of its holistic management in order to enhancethe quality of teaching and learning and to achieve the desiredcompetences.”

Knight (2008) has proposed a broader definition of internationalization

of higher education as ‘the process of integrating an international,

intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery

of post-secondary education’.

As further argued by Ennew and Greenaway (2012),

internationalization is a set of activities as well as a way of approaching

the operation of a university, serving as a management philosophy and

an organizational function covering a broad range of key components

such as:

• An international curriculum (in terms of both skills and content); • An international environment and experience (food, community, and

entertainment); • Inward and outward student mobility (which may include exchange,

study abroad and fee-paying international students); • Inward and outward staff mobility; • Engagement with international networks (APRU, U21 and WUN); • International collaboration, whether with universities, businesses,

governments, NGOs or others; • Research collaborations (whether at the level of individual subjects or at

institutional level, formal or informal); • Teaching (joint, dual degrees, split site programs, validations, franchises

and articulations); • International operations (delivering teaching or research in a different

location internationally).(Ennew & Greenaway, 2012 , pp. 4–5)

Development Scenarios

The Case of Hong Kong

Internationalization begins at the national level with an eye on objectives internationally claimed.

An international educational institute will always sustain ahigh standard of education at home in order to maintain itsinternational status.

An international institution to operate at the internationallevel also needs to be qualified by international academiccommunity standards at every aspect and level ofeducation: students, faculty, administrative staff,curriculum, syllabi, teaching, research activities,assessment, and required materials of education such asclassrooms, labs and libraries.

The Need for a Strategic Plan The very elementary factor to initiate an international tendency

in educational centers is having an international vision ineducation and subsequently applying this vision to every aspectof education.

Any country or institute which plans to enter and maintain astable position in the international academic setting needs tocarefully devise a strategic plan and lay out its vision for thefuture.

Managing the quality of higher education is of paramountimportance. Ng and Tang ( 2008 ) reiterated an essential startingpoint for forming an international education marketing strategy.

Higher Education Promotion Strategies

HEIs must focus on developing an image of quality curricula and areputation for institutional quality in the Asian countries. Doing so canhelp an institute develop a good level of recognition and thereby lend ita comparative advantage in the market.

Egron-Polak and Hudson (2014) also found the ability of institutions torecruit quality staff to be a critical success factor.

Moreover, forming international strategic alliances helps to lower thecost of establishment (Mazzarol & Hosie, 1996). Giggs (1993) found thata twinning arrangement in which two institutions formed alliances andcollaborated in degree provision could help to enhance an institute’squality and competitiveness in Asia.

Possessing offshore teaching programs and recruiting offices in the Asiancountries may also help to facilitate enrolment and generate funds for theinstitutes (Nelson, 2002). For example, many foreign universities haveestablished offshore programs and campuses in Singapore since 2000(Olds, 2007).

In addition, a competitive advantage can be achieved through the effectiveuse of information technology and technical superiority (Mazzarol &Hosie, 1996). Learning mediated by technology can help to decreaseeducation time compared with traditional teaching methods. Becausetelecommunications and information technology networks link offices andhomes around the world, a greater use of open and distance learning viamultimedia may help to export higher education overseas (Lundin, 1993 ).

The effective use of government promotion agencies can alsocontribute to the export of higher education. The governments ofAustralia, Canada, the UK and the USA have made considerableinvestments in setting up and maintaining professionally run, well-resourced education information and promotion centers in Asiancountries (Mazzrol, 1998).

The literature has highlighted not only the importance of financialsupport from governments but also the financial performance oftertiary institutions (Tobenkin, 2014). To manage quality,governments can help higher education providers obtain sufficientfunding to undertake research programs that meet internationalstandards. Davis (1989) observed that relying heavily on privaterecruiting agents to promote higher education overseas involved acertain amount of risk given the various instances of unethicalpractice.

Curriculum and program design flexibility is of paramountimportance to attracting more overseas students (Ng & Tang, 2008;Ng, 2012a, 2012b; Vajargah & Khoshnoodifar, 2013). The HEIstakeholders recommended that more varied and customizedacademic programs be developed.

All of thattractive scholarships and financial assistance e inboundstudents from the Asian countries stressed that were vital to theirdecision to study in Hong Kong .

Education Policies The five key education policies to be discussed are:

(1) investing on higher education and research and development,

(2) providing scholarships and financial aid to international students,

(3) engaging in international agreement and policy dialogues with

other governments and their higher education institutes,

(4) encouraging higher education export by granting special funds

and award to HEIs, and

(5) participating in promotional activities and marketing research.

The Infrastructural Strategies 1. English-mediated instruction 2. Joint/double degrees in English 3. The personnel 4. Webometrics/Website 5. Accreditation 6. Student related issues including housing, visa affairs, 7. Being involved in EducationIran and policy making 8. Reducing bureaucracy 9. Reforming the admission process 10. Marketing 11. Structure of the International Department 12. ….

1. English as the language of Instruction Internationalization in higher education requires the use of

an international language as the means of instruction inclasses and materials.

This necessity will gradually nurture abilingual/multilingual faculty, students, staff, and altogethera bilingual/multilingual educational community.

There is no need for teaching Persian to internationalstudents; we need to use English as the medium ofinstruction.

Teaching Persian to Intl. Students!!Does it really help internationalization?

2. Joint/Double Degrees

1. Do it for international students not Iranian students2. Accredit the curriculum3. Sell it overseas

3. The Personnel We need high quality professors.

We need English speaking professors and staff.

Ability to speak English should be the first criterion for recruiting both staff and faculty members.

We need international staff and faculty members as it affects our ranking.

We need to strengthen our present body of staff and faculty members. Use the experience of TUMS.

4. University Website & Webometrics Our website is the window to our university. Websites are the major tool for recruiting international

students. Based on the survey conducted regarding the preferred channels to

obtain information of studying overseas, the majority of respondents(75 %) first considered the Internet. Then, approximately 30 % of therespondents specified exhibitions, 20 % newspaper, 18 % TV, and 18% friends and relatives as their preferred channels. The findinghighlighted the fact that providing useful information online is ofgreat importance when recruiting international students (Cheung etal., 2008).

World University Web RankingUniversity Rank

1 Tehran University of Medical Sciences 478

2 University of Tehran 514

3 Sharif University of Technology 605

4 Amirkabir University of Technology 726

5 Tarbiat Modarres University 789

6 Isfahan University of Technology 826

7 Elm o Sanat University of Technology 895

8 Ferdowsi University 920

9 Shiraz University 1155

10 Beheshti University 1183

AUT Website Out website cannot satisfy the needs of an international

university: The programs are not easy to find. Most tabs are underdeveloped or they totally lack any content.

It needs to be redesigned and restructured.

All English websites need to be accumulated in one website.

All faculties and parts of the university need to upload all their info.

Improving AUT Website and Ranking

What are the best strategies for improving the rank of university? The answer is contents, contents, and contents.

1. amount of content: all university-related information must be transferred to the website.

2. the quality of content: ample space must be allocated to the scientific papers, doctoral dissertations, book chapters, slide presentations etc.

3. international content: presenting the web contents in English along with the local language.

5. Accreditation Accreditation is proof that a university has met certain

standards necessary to produce graduates who are ready to enter their professions.

The degrees of the universities which have been accredited are more likely to be recognized by employers.

Accreditation is a voluntary act by a university, conducted by a non-governmental group, as per request of the university.

The association reviews the whole institutions: itsadmissions requirements, services offered, its resources,its degree programs, safety measures, facilities etc.

Tehran University of Medical Sciences was the firstuniversity in Iran to undergo accreditation by theAccreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC).

ASIC evaluates 8 areas of operation: premises, health andsafety, management and staff resources, learning, teachingand course delivery, quality assurance and enhancement,student welfare, qualifications and awards, marketing andstudent recruitment, and compliance with UK BorderAgency regulations.

6. Student-Related Issues Such as Housing Housing for students Universities either provide good housing for international

students or help them find suitable housing off-campus. The quality is very important as it can attract students and as it affects university ranking and accreditation.

Housing for short visit scholars Office of International Affairs at Yale University, for example,

has allocated one-bedroom apartments for scholars who are on short visits. Also, the information regarding housing including info on neighborhood and living prices, is available online.

Dormitories

TUMS provides itsstudents with highqualityaccommodation inmodern, recently-constructedresidence halls.

7. Being involved in EducationIran and policy making

Having an active participation in EducationIran.

Taking advantage of the opportunities EducationIran provides AUT.

Using the potentials of other universities in EducationIran,

Taking part in policy making and strategy planning for the internationalization of higher education in Iran.

Jakarta Education Fair, Feb 25-26, 2017

8. Reducing Bureaucracy

9. Easing the Admission or Setting Higher Standards

10. Marketing AUT

Branding AUT Taking part in education fairs Presenting AUT at high schools Publishing prospectus and other materials in English Producing advertising materials Having color identity Managing the website Being present in others’ websites Arranging ambassador visit Doing needs analysis and identifying the markets

11. A Need for a Structural Reform at AUT

Vice-Chancellor for International Affairs

Intl. & Sci. Collaborations

MoUs & MoAs …….

Intl. Campus

A Need for a Structural Reform at AUT

Vice-Chancellor for International Affairs

Intl. & Sci Collaborations

Accreditation MoUs & MoAs

Intl. Campus Intl. Affairs & Development

Admission Marketing Visa Affairs IT & Website

Let’s have a plan for our future campus The campus itself counts.

Modern architecture matters.

Green campus affects accreditation and ranking.

Thank You