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Robert Pastor, vice president of international affairs; James Garofalo, ABTI-American University of Nigeria (AAUN) provost; Ivy Broder, AU interim provost; and AU Interim President Neil Kerwin deepen the collaboration between AAUN and AU at AU's campus in February 2007. |
International Affairs
American University's International Presence
THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, at the request of the Board of Trustees and Interim President Dr. Neil Kerwin, has been examining the changing landscape for international education in order to propose strategies for American University in the future. As part of this process, OIA has been assessing and evaluating the changes in the international presence of various universities in the past decade. We have held discussions with the cabinet, deans, faculty, and staff about new international initiatives as well as expanding or transforming AU's existing overseas programs.
In the past five years, most universities in the United States have experimented with new forms of internationalization beyond just study abroad, including building campuses overseas, advising new universities, and developing strategic research partnerships. There is no comprehensive study of U.S. universities with a presence abroad, so staff in AU's Office of International Affairs (OIA) researched the top U.S. colleges and universities using the 2006 U.S. News & World Report rankings. OIA found that of the top 10 U.S. universities, seven have a program or campus overseas, operated either individually or in partnerships. Half of the universities with an international presence pursue more than one venture overseas. AU was in front of this new trend both in expanding and transforming its study abroad program to integrate more fully a student's experience with the local setting and in creating a unique program called "Abroad at AU", for students from the best universities in the world to study for a year or semester with AU students on the main campus.
AU also was in front of the effort to establish American-style universities abroad with its partnership with AU Sharjah, begun in 1997, in the United Arab Emirates. Based in part onthat model, AU was invited to advise Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar in setting up ABTI-American University of Nigeria (AAUN). This was a much more ambitious effort in a more important but also difficult environment than other U.S. universities have undertaken. A seven-member AU team visited their counterparts in Nigeria and set out a business and academic plan. In January 2004, AU signed a five-year management consultancy with AAUN. As part of the agreement, AU recruited AAUN's administrators, faculty, and staff; helped develop the curriculum; and provided expertise on designing the physical facilities. Groundbreaking took place in October 2004 and the first class of students was welcomed in September 2005. Dr. Pastor has been a member of AAUN's Board of Trustees since its inception, and SIS Dean Louis Goodman was recently nominated to join the board.
In order to deepen the relationship, the Provost and Deans of AAUN visited AU February 6–8. They met with AU Interim President Neil Kerwin, Interim Provost Ivy Broder, and with AU deans, faculty, and students, discussing ways in which both institutions could benefit from a closer relationship.
Drawing on the experience of AUS and AAUN management partnerships, in 2005 AU sent a team to China's Jiangsu province at the request of the Coordinating Council for International Universities and prepared an extensive report on the feasibility of establishing an American-style university in Jiangsu. Since June 2006, AU has held discussions with an Indian group, Akruti Nirman, Ltd, about building an American-style university near Mumbai. In January, a senior team from AU visited India to assess the plans and explore whether to pursue a new partnership for AU.
Akruti directors and AU team, consisting of Vice President of Finance Donald Myers (second from left); Interim Provost Ivy Broder; Assistant Vice President of International Affairs Dr. Jeff Lunstead; Vice President of International Affairs Dr. Robert Pastor; and Director General of Akruti Foundation Prof. K.N. Vaid meet in Mumbai.
Beyond management partnerships and feasibility assessments, there are other aspects of an institution's overseas presence, including student and faculty exchanges, dual degree programs, and research collaboration. In these areas, AU's accomplishments are impressive. AU Abroad offers more than 100 programs in 33 countries, including in many nontraditional sites, such as Cuba. While the number of AU students studying abroad has jumped significantly in recent years, AU also welcomes overseas students to its campus through the "Abroad at AU" program and the "Washington Semester" program. This spring, there are 61 "Abroad at AU" participants from Lebanon, Sweden, and ten other countries, and there are 97 international students from 30 countries in the Washington Semester program.
AU's School of International Service has dual degree programs with Ritsumeikan University in Japan and Korea University while the Washington College of Law has dual LLM exchange programs with several institutions, including Tec de Monterrey in Mexico. AU is looking to deepen relationships with other universities—with which we currently have study abroad partnerships and collaborative research efforts—in order to create additional joint degree opportunities. Through its strong ties to AUS and AAUN, AU seeks to expand relationships with institutions in the Middle East and Africa. AU also plans to relate in new ways to other American universities abroad, in particular the American University of Beirut and the American University in Cairo, where 27 AU students are studying this semester.
"AU has been in the forefront of internationalization," said Dr. Pastor, "but recent history suggests that one cannot rest on one's laurels. The world has become a competitive and dynamic educational marketplace. As with business, if an institution stops expanding and experimenting, it will fall behind."
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