Category: Student Services

Higher education needs international student engagement more than ever – and the solution is clear

“Set up right, chatbots in higher education can handle over 80% of all queries”

International student engagement is crucial to higher education, from the first touch to the last. Each interaction is vital – from engaging with prospective students to support admission targets, to connecting with current students to ensure they feel supported and don’t add to the worryingly-high dropout rates.

However, many departments are struggling to connect with international students, and it’s having a clear and damaging effect. In the 2020-21 academic year, the number of international students at US colleges fell by 15%, according to the Institute of International Education and the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

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Reimagining university life: how operational leaders are creating the post-Covid campus

“University chief operating officers had an opportunity to rapidly transform operations and find new ways to partner with their executive peers”

Across the globe, universities are planning for a post-pandemic future. Many university chief operating officers are thinking about what the bricks-and-mortar campus should look like if hybrid teaching becomes the norm.

If students are hesitant to return to packed lectures in large theatres and staff are unwilling to commute five days a week, how should universities use their campuses? And how can operational leaders support faculty and students as they research, teach and learn in new ways?

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Teesside’s success in achieving world-leading results in the International Student Barometer 2021

“We pride ourselves on developing our offer around students’ needs and our student-centric approach”

The financial returns of international student recruitment are well-documented across the sector, including the most recent HEPI Report, ‘The costs and benefits of international higher education’, says David Bell, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) at Teesside University.

The implications for the Tees Valley, where the monetary contribution of international students was valued at over £240m (total net impact) is welcomed by the region, but the significant benefits of international student recruitment stretches far beyond the financial return.

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The new international university aiming to promote women in STEM

“Through my work, I hope I can create opportunities for women”

Like many countries in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe, Georgia has conservative socio-cultural norms and gender stereotypes. Change comes slowly in this environment, but we have made significant progress in creating a more enabling environment for gender integration and equality in recent years.

There are no longer any legislative barriers to gender equality in Georgia, but the statistics for school enrolment reveal cultural mindsets that maintain the status quo.

There is parity in enrolment rates among boys and girls at primary and secondary school levels but gender norms and prejudices kick in strongly after school. Kutaisi International University (KIU) Chancellor Magda Magradze explains.

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Implementing engaging and supportive pastoral programs for the holiday period

“For many, this will be the first time that they won’t be able to spend the holidays with their families”

This year has taken its toll on both international and domestic university students, writes director of safeguarding for Study Group Sandy Connors. And while the allotted travel window for students to return home is very welcome, the majority of international students face travel restrictions preventing them from returning home.

For many, this will be the first time that they won’t be able to spend the holidays with their families. This can be an extremely anxious period, especially for younger students.

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Covid-19 impact: engaging international students with institutional responses

“Institutions know they need to ensure that teaching is delivering value”

Changes to teaching and learning as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic have raised serious questions around how the student voice can be captured effectively, especially given the sector’s reliance on face-to-face approaches, and ultimately around student satisfaction, writes John Atherton of Explorance.

With the majority of universities subsequently advocating blended approaches to teaching and learning for the 2020/21 academic year, they have done so after reflecting long and hard on their initial responses to Covid-19 and developing plans for engaging students.

However, with Coronavirus outbreaks hitting campuses worldwide, the sector has faced a bumpy ride and at times harsh criticism throughout this first semester.

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Want student-first admissions processes? Look to your student services peers

“When we hewed closely to student needs and perceptions… the international student and scholar community flourished”

Ryan Fleming is a client director with IDP Connect. In this blog, he discusses the importance of institutions paying attention to students’ needs and perceptions when considering new policies or processes.

About nine years ago, I embarked on my international education career by joining the international student and scholar services (ISSS) team at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Though I didn’t realise it at the time, my years in Kent would prove formative for the way I approached a subsequent career lane change into the private sector.

At Kent, my role was equal parts strategic and operational: build the systems that would support and nurture students while simultaneously counselling them personally within the framework of that system. For my teammates and me, international orientation involved equal parts planning and delivery: figuring out what students needed to know, when and how they needed to know it, and then being the ones to tell them ourselves.

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How ‘Safety’ is moving up the agenda for international students & their families

“The pressure is on UK schools to make their schools as attractive as possible when it comes to projecting a ‘safe’ image”

Maryland lawmakers have approved a bill that will allow Johns Hopkins University to form its own, private police force to enforce the law on campus. Meanwhile, in the UK, over the past three years, universities have paid more than £2 million to 17 police forces in exchange for support.

Spending is rapidly increasing and the University of Northampton now has six fulltime police officers seconded to the University for 3 years, at a cost of £775,000. Safety is increasingly front of mind when students are deciding about overseas study locations. In IDP’s annual survey of almost 3,000 students in the five main overseas study destinations (US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) Canada leads the way in terms of ‘safety’ versus its international rivals, with the UK ranking 4th out of five.

Also, students from China are now reported to be as concerned by the safety of the destination country in which they intend to study as they are the relative academic position of their institution, according to the latest report from the Beijing Overseas Study Service Association.

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Why the Duke of Edinburgh Award is important for international students

“The DofE has progressed to become more than an outdoors leadership challenge… it now reflects a much more diverse and interconnected world”

In today’s highly competitive world, young people are under enormous pressure to succeed. However, success is rarely achieved without a helping hand or a positive, life-changing experience, writes Clare Lane, head of sport at Bellerbys College.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was set up in 1956 to help young people from all walks of life navigate the challenging path to adulthood; broadening their life skills and preparing them for their future work or studies.

While individual institutions around the world may offer similar programmes, as far as I’m aware there isn’t a program on a national level comparable to the DofE Award. Agents may not be aware of the benefits the program presents tor international students in particular, which is why we should be talking about it today.

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How to encourage students to pursue a career in the international education sector

“Let students know that the opportunities for professional development are vast in the international education sector”

For those already working in the international education sector, you know what a rewarding career lies in store for those just starting out, writes Laura Slingo of CV-Library. But for the vast majority of students currently studying, they are unaware of the opportunities that could be waiting for them. You can find more advice 

To share your knowledge and encourage more students to pursue a career in the international education sector, here are our five tips:

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