Reshaping Higher Ed

CIEGS National Symposium Slated for April 5-6

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 29, 2018) – A national symposium on internationalization and the American research university comes to UAlbany on April 5 and 6.

The conference, Internationalization and the American Research University: Implications for Faculty Research and Graduate Education, is sponsored by the Center for International Education and Global Strategy (CIEGS) and the Association of International Education Administrators.

“Globalization has radically altered the landscape of human relations and societies,” said Dean and Vice Provost for International Education Harvey Charles. “It is also reshaping higher education in very fundamental ways. Yet those in American higher education, particularly research universities, have been slow to respond in ways that would allow them to exploit the new opportunities and negotiate the challenges being created by globalization.”

Charles said this is especially compelling for research universities because they are the primary engines of discovery and innovation, and have the resources and infrastructure to be most effective at pushing the boundaries of knowledge and finding solutions to the most pressing challenges facing humanity.

The two-day symposium begins in the D’Ambra Auditorium on April 5 and continues in the Standish Room on April 6.

A highlight is a Times Higher Education World University Rankings master class from 9 a.m. to noon April 6 in the Standish Room. An exclusive analysis of the performance of the U.S. higher education section will be presented. It will include a briefing on the methodology used in the influential rankings, as well as previously unpublished data and analysis.

UAlbany faculty, staff and students may use the code: “UAlbany” to avoid paying the registration fee. More information is available. Questions may be directed to [email protected].

Topics will include:

• What research universities like UAlbany must do to respond to globalization
• How the National Science Foundation supports international research projects
• Strategies to internationalize graduate education at research universities
• How to improve our global university rankings
• How to leverage strategic planning to become more internationalized

Speakers include:

Philip Altbach, professor and founding director of the Center for International Higher Education, and a leading scholar on international higher education.

Anne L. Emig, cluster lead for the Programs and Analysis Cluster and program manager for Japan and Taiwan in the National Science Foundation’s Officer of International Science and Engineering.

John Gill, editor of Times Higher Education, publisher of World University Rankings.

Sigrid Berka, executive director of the International Engineering Program, University of Rhode Island.

William Brustein, vice provost for Global Strategies and International Affairs, West Virginia University.

With an institutional commitment to internationalization embedded in UAlbany’s new strategic plan, the timing is ideal for this conference, said Charles. “It allows UAlbany, as a Research I university, to provide national leadership on this increasingly significant issue and positions us as deeply engaged with this process.”

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