Duke Going Global?

Duke University is planning to expand their campus to another location in China. The relatively new university, comparatively speaking, is looking to further their reach and globalize their name.

There is some push back coming from some of the faculty already associated with Duke stating that they don’t want to lose the reputation and the quality education they already produce at their institution in North Carolina and that expanding is too risky and could cause a lot more trouble then it’s worth.

There is a lot of criticism about the new campus in China as well because they feel like there has been little explained by the president and the chair of the committee to establish the campus. The plan seems poorly thought out and not enough structure to be successful. The faculty and some of the staff want to know why they are going to spend so much money that they essentially believe is being wasted in setting up a campus so far away from home.

Duke is not the only one to start setting up campuses around the globe to reach more students and expand their name recognition. NYU has a campus in the Indonesia that hosts about 2,000 students. There are many higher education institutions that are building campuses or reaching out to international military bases to allow for further learning that way as well. These efforts may be safer because there is a guaranteed enrollment and soldiers show consistent interest in the school and earning a degree before they leave the military. The military pays for it and there’s less worry about what happens with financial aid and other legal issues. There seems to be less apparent buy-in for a Duke campus in China.

There is also the issue of how are students going to be taught in international universities. Some international schools are using all online learning whether that means utilizing programs like Blackboard or blogging sites or professors teaching a class through a video chat that’s projected in the classroom. There are arguments that this is much less effective than a traditional university and whether Duke should lower their standards of teaching and learning for the simple gratification that they will be expanding internationally.

Overall, I think it’s a great idea to expand a university if they have the resources and they are capable of doing so. The main argument that seems to be taking place at Duke is that they may have the resources but the structure, goals, and the plan are not entirely clear. Perhaps they need to take a second look at their plan and be willing to share more details with the campus community, especially if they’re seeking they’re buy-in. 

Higher Ed in Pakistan

As I was looking for something to write about in the International Ed section I came across an article in the International version of In the News. It was interesting to read about some of the goals of the higher education system in Pakistan. The article reviews a recent statement from Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission Chairman, Javaid R Laghari. He recently announced that Pakistan has seen a 5.3% increase in the higher education ratio since 2008. Currently at 7.8%, the Higher Education Commission is on its way to increasing participation to 15% by 2020. As enrollment in higher education is relatively low in Pakistan it was interesting to read about a developing higher education system.

The chairman indicates that Pakistan is behind other Muslim countries in the field of education. His reasoning is very interesting to me. It goes to the most basic of demonstrations of education supremacy, publications. He noted that Iran produces 12,000 research publications per year and Pakistan was only producing 6-7,000. He indicates that the purpose of higher education is knowledge creation and that is one of Pakistan’s challenges as it moves forward. It was interesting to read such similarities with the American system of higher education. Publish or perish dictates our research institutions and it seems that Pakistani faculty might have to deal with this at some point…

The chairman also discusses the need to increase the number of PhD’s teaching at Pakistani Universities, and increase the number of PhD’s who are graduating. The HEC set a goal of 15000 PhD’s graduated in the next ten years. There is a concern with funding though as the academic institutions are not able to provide salary increases for faculty. Some have indicated that this may mean qualified teachers going to surrounding countries to teach. It seems that funding is putting Pakistan’s developing higher education system at risk by not ensuring that they hold on to their most qualified instructors.

The Chairman is sure to point out that they focus on quality of instruction as well as number of graduates. He discusses the implementation of several initiatives to improve quality including accredidation councils and associate’s degree programs. Again, the similarities with the American higher education system are interesting. I know that the world has continually looked to American higher education as the standard, but I didn’t realize that I could find so much of what we do within foreign systems of higher education.

Outsourcing Higher Education

Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat” changed the way I think about our world. In it, he describes (among other things) the process of outsourcing. Outsourcing is simply contacting work with an outside company, often to an international group that can do the work cheaper. If you’ve ever been on hold with a cell phone company, you were likely working with someone in a different country where minimum wage is cheaper.

This isn’t necessarily the “sweat shop” work that Nike and other clothing companies have done, exploiting child laborers in third-world countries. Outsourcing can be a way to offer employment overseas, stimulate international economy, and promote education. Friedman describes this in his book, as have several others.

I work in housing. We have about 500 full time staff members, several of which (I can think of at least 9) mostly answer phones, work with databases, log paperwork, and provide administrative oversight. These are good people, and I enjoy working with all of them. How far away are the days when higher education will consider outsourcing some of these administrative positions?

There are many companies that will provide you with an assistant, administrator, data specialist, or phone operator overseas. One such program offers folks who will work on one-time projects, who are supervised by the overseas company, or who set you up with a person for you to supervise.

There’s a bit of research on this topic specific to higher education (you can download an article here). In this research, a survey was done that measures institutions (from three different states) satisfaction with outsourcing. Institutions were largely satisfied. And why not? Outsourcing provides a cheaper way to do work, with decreased pressure from unions, fewer liability issues, and possibly increasing the level of quality.

Should higher education move towards outsourcing more? For housing, outsourcing could take place with occupancy, assignments, human resources, and answering phones. Across the institution, we could see outsourcing with technology, website development, advising, admissions, and even grading papers.

Higher education (especially student affairs) tends to be a people-first profession. If a parent were to walk into the housing office and find they couldn’t talk face-to-face with an administrative assistant or operations manager, they might be upset. However, we might also be able to provide better service in roommate pairing, prompt response, and around-the-clock service. Our front-line staff work from 7:30-4:30, including during the summer. Outsourcing could allow us to have staff available to answer calls after the work day (when many parents and students call).

There are certainly intangibles that happen in the office. Staff wouldn’t have the same sense of trust with one another, and supervisors who depend on face-to-face interaction to develop staff and hold them accountable would have to learn new skill sets. Many of these secretary/administrative positions can also be opportunities for students to connect to a person one on one. On the other hand, we wouldn’t be asking students to pay for the time when administrative assistants are chatting with students instead of working on paperwork, scheduling, and occupancy reports.

I think the idea of outsourcing is complex and potentially political. It would take a pretty bold director to fire a current (probably loved) administrator and replace them with someone overseas. I know I wouldn’t mind having parts of my job outsourced so I could focus on the truly developmental and leadership tasks that can only be done ‘on the ground.’ Maybe international outsourcing could be an opportunity to develop our staff and take our departments to the next level.

Cash Incentives on an International Level

In two semi-related stories this week, institutions of higher education are considering paying students for good grades.

In England, it is being called a “scholarship arms race” to recruit students with high exam scores to the less prestigious colleges and universities. But the government has reason to be concerned because as costs are rising, a percentage of the population of Great Britain is increasingly being priced out of higher education. The story in the Telegraph explains the incoming students for 2012 will be the first to face tuition fess of  9,000pounds, which would currently equal $14,293.85 a year.

The merit-based payments in Britain are directed to recruitment for mid-sized schools, such as City University London, so they can compete in recruiting and maintaining high achieving students just like the more prestigious institutions, such as Oxford and Cambridge. However, critics in England are comparing this program to U.S. scholarship programs, citing research showing cash incentives benefit students from mid and upper class backgrounds, not those actually in need of funding.

The same concern about funding those from affluent backgrounds is also being tied to a movement by the United Arab Emirate (UAE) government. In the other story from the New YorkTimes this week about motivating students with money, the UAE government will be offering cash payments to college students for good grades and for majoring in less illustrious subjects, such as education. Specialists cited in this story allude to the entitlement attitude of UAE students historically because of their family backgrounds. Typically, these students expect to receive government jobs after graduation because of their families’ wealth and financial governmental support. However, as more and more people from diverse cultures move to this area of the world, the skilled professions, such as law and engineering, are filling with immigrates, not national citizens.

It was interesting that both stories used research from United States as a basis for arguments against the programs. An example of this would be Dr. Roland Fryer’s research with the Harvard’s EducationalInventory Laboratory’s regarding paying Fourth Grade students to achieve academically. 

Both these stories opened my eyes one again to my Western based perspective. They helped me to see the bigger, worldview of finances and different priorities and perspectives. While we in the United States face the reality of less government funding, other countries governments are stepping in to help ensure student support and motivation. When discussing cash as a motivator for continuing high grades, I agree with the critics in the UAE story who suggest the motivation for students to achieve high grades and learn should be intrinsic, not financial. Even though holistic student development may be the ultimate goal, getting everyone involved to work towards that end means changing deeply ingrained expectations. 

It is refreshing to recognize the have similar concerns about students across cultures, even if the approaches are slightly different.

International Image

Image. We all have our own immediate reaction to this word. Some would say image is all that matters and I would venture to say others would completely disagree. In the age of social media and its ability to transmit information quickly image may be all that matters. My opinion – it matters whether we like it or not.

A recent article in the Chronicle highlighted the effect of image. If international recruitment is a goal then how one is viewed in the world matters. Last year, as some of us may recall, British students protested a tripling of their tuition and received global attention. This inadvertently raised concerns by international students of their fees possibly being hiked as well. The article states that these concerns were intensified after the British government stated it would be tightening visa rules and eliminating work options after graduation. Enter social media and the damage to British higher education is done - it was now an "unwelcoming place" for international students to study. Surprisingly, I thought, was how quickly this can damage the image of a specific school or higher education system. As the article states, which I can agree with, "Perceptions, even when flawed, can quickly affect realty, and for leading destination countries, that can translate into lost revenue." Lost revenue is not what I would say more international recruiters are seeking. 

The article does not place numbers on the loss of recruitment to the British policy changes it does cover an incident in Australia. Australia conducted an immigration crack down and thus saw a steep decline in international student recruitment and it took three years for numbers to rebound. Still, as the article points out Australia has fewer international students than previously and only after a great deal of lobbying is the government beginning to ease restrictions which hopefully will increase numbers. 

This example is timely I think in how the U.S. and U.S. institutions should consider its global image. How we handle our immigration laws as a nation has a global effect. Having or appearing to have harsh policies on immigration I think does not bode well for us as a nation or on our recruitment of international students for our institutions of higher education. Tightening student visa policies, requiring proof of enough money to pay for years of education (as in Australia) are policies that can hinder campuses from internationalizing. 

To provide a positive spin on this image issue Canada comes up. Canada has a draw in that it allows both the international student and spouse to work while (usually) in school and there is a good possibility of working after graduation and becoming a citizen unlike the above-mentioned policies of Australia. These policies provide welcoming environments for international students. If the U.S. is to be truly competitive in the recruitment of international students in the hopes of internationalizing campuses broader consideration is need beyond the university community and to the public policy of the state and nation. 

Public Higher Education: A Case in Mexico

Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) is the largest in Latin America and among the largest in the world. Its enrollment surpasses 160,000 undergraduate students and 21,000 graduate students. The UNAM is not only free but has an extraordinary reputation as one of the best public education systems in the world. It was ranked by Britain’s Times Higher Education Supplement in the top 200 in the world.

As part of its commitment to public education, UNAM has announced that it will make freely available on the Internet all of its publications and course materials. Free public education in Mexico is guaranteed by Mexico’s Constitution. There is at least one public university in each of the 33 states and the Federal District so that all students in any region of the country can have access to free public education.

My experience and that of my 6 siblings, all first generation, in public education are testimony to the power of the system. My alma mater is the Autonomous University of Queretaro (UAQ) where I completed my undergraduate and graduate degrees.

What is a “public” university in the Mexican context? Public in Mexico means that students are admitted based on their academic scores and abilities, not on their financial capability. Thus, anyone regardless of their socioeconomic status, can be admitted. This is of course brings with it issues of supply and demand. Each year over 80,000 young people apply to UNAM which has only some 16,000 places. As a result, Mexico is seeing an increase in small private institutions. Nonetheless, many of these institutions face challenges in terms of quality, faculty and permanence. For the more affluent applicants, private institutions such as La Universidad de las Americas, UDLAP, The Monterrey Institute of Technology, ITESM and Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology, ITAM remain a viable option, in which places are guaranteed based on one’s ability to pay. However, public universities remain the institution for the majority.

Other aspects of the public university system are that it does not provide nor require on campus residence for students. This is actually a benefit and linked closely to cultural aspects where many students work and still live at home.

“Public” also means that Presidents, Chancellors, Provosts, Deans, and Directors/Chairpersons are elected by administrators, faculty, staff and students every four years. This means that all administrators and directors are highly accountable to their constituents. Moreover, faculty and researchers at public institutions have a commitment to K-12 public education. Many work directly with schools and in education, and are involved in curriculum and the production of free text books. On the side note K-6 public education system in Mexico provides free text books to schools for students based on national and state curriculum.

Many public universities and their faculties work closely with the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT). This body provides research and scholarship opportunities for Mexican scholars, including funding to pursue postgraduate degrees outside of Mexico. The goal of CONACYT is to strengthen scientific development and technological modernization in Mexico by promoting research projects that contribute to this purpose. Researchers and faculty can receive up to $3000 merit pay each month if they are members (or fellows) of this council. Membership is based on peer review, academic history, and achievements. In comparison when merit pay existed at UNC a few years ago, the amount was merely between 100- 500 dollars yearly!

In a recent comparative study of Mexico’s 43 public universities and the top 15 private institutions in such areas as patent production and scholarly articles published in peer-reviewed journals, the case was made that the quality and level of production of scholars was higher within the public higher education institutions than in private institutions. This is not surprising since private institutions are characterized by their profit motives and thus their focus is not on scholarly work or research but on profit.

Thus, the future of higher education in Mexico in the 21^st century lies with the public education system.

Are efforts in Ghana enough to influence change in African higher education?

While higher education across Africa is mostly a dream at this point, Ghana is setting a good example for its neighbors. From 2004 to 2010 the number of students enrolled in higher education in Ghana has increased from 14,500 students to more than 150,000 students. The country is presently spending about 30 percent of its budget on education.

I appreciate what the country is attempting to do, and know that it is very important for the country to continue to develop their higher education system. Increased education levels could assist in bolstering the country’s and the world’s economy, in time. However, committing 30 percent of a country’s total budget to one area seems extremely high.

Committing such a large portion of the budget raises questions in regards to the length of time they can actually continue to commit this amount of money to education. If the money disappears from education in a year or two it could be detrimental to the progress that has already been made in the education system in Ghana. It is really tough to find details on an actual plan for education in African nations. I have read articles in the past that speak to education growth in different parts of the region, but I have never found anything on a grander plan for education in the area. While Ghana sets a good example, I worry about what happens when the money dries up, and when others do not follow their example. I struggle to believe that they can transform education in the region on their own.

Another main concern here is that there are not jobs for individuals once they do receive an education. I fear that educated individuals will simply leave the country for better opportunities, and hinder progress for decades to come. My understanding of the history of higher education in the United States is limited, but this basic understanding allows me to deduct that education became a priority in this country because we needed educated individuals to properly fill employment opportunities. So, the U.S. had a need for higher education. As I understand the situation in Africa, there is not necessarily a large need for higher education. It appears as though the country is hoping that education will breed a better job market. I do see the logic behind this, but again I worry that if the jobs are not there when people are ready for them, they will take their skills elsewhere. In this scenario, it seems that there needs to be a demand before a country can focus on meeting it.

Again, I am not intending to paint a bleak picture of the education in Africa and Ghana, or speak negatively about the efforts they are making. I believe the efforts are admirable, and it would be fantastic to see a better higher education system in the region. However, I do have concerns that without a better master plan, higher education in Africa may be doomed before it ever finds success.