With the current focus on strategic internationalization and institutional partnerships, joint and double degree programs are becoming increasingly attractive to higher education institutions around the world. However, these programs also are more complex to implement than most traditional degree programs. Being prepared to properly assess and evaluate their merits is important and will support successful implementation and sustainability.

 

A Process for Screening and Authorizing Joint and Double Degree Programs, written by Rice University's associate vice provost for academic affairs and graduate studies Arnaud Chevallier, describes a new process developed at Rice University for evaluating potential new joint and double degree programs. The paper also summarizes the lessons learned as the process was developed, and includes an extensive list of questions that need to be addressed related to rationale, curriculum, partner institutions, students and academic standards, learning, faculty and courses, resources, administration and program governance, degree requirements, program launch, risks and liabilities, and program evaluation.

Click here to read the briefing paper.

The recent G8 Higher Education Summit held in London discussed a pilot study commissioned by the British Council on the impact of transnational education on host nations, institutions and students. An article in The Pie News covered the summit. According to the article, the British Council study "reveals that the number and types of TNE programs have increased substantially over the last decade, led mostly by the UK and Australia in the form of international branch campuses, double degree programs and validating overseas courses."

Read more at The Pie News.

IIE hosted a U.S.-India roundtable discussion with high-level government officials from both countries. The purpose the discussion was to explore the possible areas of collaboration between U.S. and Indian higher education, and to help frame the topics for an upcoming Higher Education Dialogue.  

To read more about the U.S.-India roundtable discussion, with links to news coverage, the speakers’ bios and their opening remarks, as well as some additional background on U.S.-India higher education cooperation and the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, visit IIE’s web page on the event:  Policy Briefing and Roundtable Discussion in Support of the U.S.-India Higher Education Dialogue

Leaders and decision-makers from German universities visited public and private higher education institutions in the state of Ohio as part of a seminar led by the German-American Fulbright Commission and IIE. Participants included administrators from 10 different German universities.  Read more at Ohio State University’s website. 

In her most recent post on the IIE blog, Clare Banks, Senior Program Manager in IIE's Center for International Partnerships, identifies eight stages for developing institutional international partnerships as key components of any successful partnership. Read the post at IIE's Opening Minds blog.  

In this University World News article, Rahul Choudaha, Director of Research and Strategic Development at World Education Services, argues that with the growth of transnational education models such as branch campuses and MOOCs, international students can be divided into two groups – global and glocal – based on their needs, behavior and primary motivations. 

A special two-part series in University World News gives accounts by academics and journalists that reveal how PhD students in more than two dozen countries face the challenges of completing their studies abroad. Read all of the articles on the University World News special series page.  

New Zealand recently announced a marketing push to attract more foreign students (especially those from Asia) to its universities. The India Times reports: "Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said the government had committed $ 33 million in its new budget to promoting New Zealand in key markets such as China, India, Southeast Asia and South America." 

Read article the article here. 

According to Nzweek, the number of international students at Ukrainian universities has increased 10 percent since 2012. "The growth in international students going to Ukraine for higher education has contributed some 537.5 million dollars to the Ukrainian economy in 2012," the article says. 

Read the full article here. 

"EM-ACE – Promoting Erasmus Mundus Towards European Students: Activate, Communicate, Engage" is a project funded by the European Commission that focuses on promoting the Erasmus Mundus program for  European students, in order to raise both the quantity and quality of applications received from European candidates. The project has just launched a new website with resources for students and universities, which is located here. 

Registration is open for the Forum’s Standards of Good Practice Institute, "Beyond the Basics of Health, Safety, Security and Risk Management," being held at the University of California, Santa Barbara on June 20, 2013. This year’s Institute promises new presenters and new topics for consideration by those concerned with issues of health, safety, security and risk management specific to education abroad. As in previous years, the Institute offers practical strategies and resources at an advanced level, and many of these sessions will be provided by experts in other fields. 

Register here.   

Rolex is accepting applications for the 2014 Awards for Enterprise, which are dedicated to young candidates aged between 18 and 30.

The Rolex Awards support pioneering work in five areas: applied technology, cultural heritage, environment, exploration and discovery, and science and health. However, projects may be submitted in almost any area of activity, provided they have the potential to bring benefits for mankind. Projects are assessed based on the feasibility, originality, potential for sustained impact, and, above all, on the candidate’s own spirit of enterprise.

For more information or to apply, visit: http://www.rolexawards.com/about/apply.

The Fulbright International Education Administrator (IEA) Program seminars are designed for U.S. higher education administrators who are interested in spending an intensive two or three week period in one of six countries: India, Japan, Korea, Germany, France or the United Kingdom.  

Each seminar offers participants an in-depth look at the higher education system, culture and society of the host country and provides an invigorating opportunity for networking with international and U.S. colleagues. All seminar participants gain a new perspective on the need to internationalize U.S. campuses and insight into how it can be done. But which seminar is right for you? Click here to learn more.   

The Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund partnered with the UC-Davis Human Rights Initiative to issue a report on the status of Syrian refugee university academics and university students.  The report, called "Uncounted and Unacknowledged:  Syria's University Students and Academics in Jordan," is available online here.  

The report, along with the IIE Syria Consortium for Higher Education in Crisis, are the focus an Inside Higher Ed article published on May 17, 2013.