Consulting Services in International Education

Services Regarding the Development of a Strategic Vision and Plan for International Affairs, Assessing the Quality and Competitiveness of International Programs, and Improving the Recruitment and Retention of International Students

INTRODUCTION
This information sheet describes the consulting services offered by the CES leadership team in international affairs. Within "international affairs," we include four broad areas of concern: (i) international education (including education abroad); (ii) the international dimension of research and public engagement; (iii) international student matters; and (iv) international administrative services. Our international consulting services are intended to assist institutions that wish to develop or refine a strategic vision for international affairs, to enhance the contribution made by international programs to overall institutional excellence, and to increase international representation throughout their institutions. The CES international team can help institutions: (i) to assess the strengths, weaknesses, and competitiveness of their current commitments and practices in international education; (ii) to identify special opportunities to achieve regional, national, or international prominence in one or more distinctive areas of international programming; and (3) to create the organizational structure and policies and practices necessary to achieve priority goals. We also provide coaching and mentoring for newly appointed international affairs staff, at both more and less senior levels.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In the United States and elsewhere in the world, higher education institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of integrating a strong international dimension into teaching, research, public engagement, and administrative systems to achieve the excellence required by the global environment of the 21st century. Gifted applicants to colleges and universities are paying more attention than ever to the potential international character of their educational experiences. They are interested both in the scope and quality of the international education programs and education abroad options available to them, and in the opportunity to interact on their home campus with students, faculty, and staff from all over the world.

The advent of international terrorism and increased concern over security has made both education abroad and international recruitment more difficult for many institutions. Moreover, colleges and universities in other nations have moved quickly to capitalize on the increased anxiety many foreign students feel over the prospect of coming to America and finding themselves unwelcome, and are promoting themselves as preferable alternatives. Other significant challenges facing the contemporary U.S. higher education institution include recruiting excellent faculty with international capabilities and developing a strong international dimension in research and public engagement.

In view of these concerns, a number of national higher education associations have urged their member institutions to redouble their efforts to promote a strong international commitment in academic affairs, including education abroad, faculty exchange, and international recruitment (e.g., ACE, NASULGC, NAFSA, AAC&U, AIEA), echoing the longstanding advice of regional and specialized accreditation agencies that international experience has become a necessary ingredient of a collegiate educational experience. Despite substantial difficulties, then, American academic institutions are increasingly regarding the inculcation of "global competence" as a fundamental educational responsibility, and a number are working to the establish the overall international character and reputation of their institutions as marketable "distinctives."

The experience of CES suggests that most colleges and universities can benefit substantially from outside counsel and assistance in developing strategies for incorporating international dimensions into institutional goals and objectives, including reviewing and strengthening their current commitments to international education, growing their international enrollments, and attracting exceptional international education talent. Our objective is to tailor any analysis we provide to each institution's individuating mission, market position, resource situation, academic and enrollment objectives, and stakeholder needs. CES can conduct a comprehensive review of all of an institution's international academic program and enrollment components, or concentrate on a select number of issues of particular importance.

Issues which CES typically examines in international education consultancies include:

• Critiquing an institution's current international situation, including, for example: the current status of international commitments in strategic institutional and academic plans and institutional policies and practices; strengths and weaknesses regarding study abroad opportunities; the international dimensions of curricula; international enrollments; and international integration into research and public affairs.
  
• Identifying opportunities for creating improvements, new directions, and enhanced international education and international marketing plans.
  
• Assisting in incorporating international dimensions into priority institutional goals and objectives.
  
• Support for internationalization among trustees, institutional fundraisers, and the institution's leadership.
  
• Institutional capacity to leverage existing commitments in international education to maximum advantage across the college or university as a whole.
  
• Adequacy of existing governance and administrative infrastructure (Admissions Office and Registrar's Office staffing; board, faculty, and administrative committees; stakeholder and community support; adequacy of staffing in study abroad and international student counseling offices; etc.).
  
• Scope of study abroad options; the degree of integration of these educational experiences into the curricula offered on campus; the adequacy of preparation for students going abroad (intensive language training, cultural immersion, etc.); financial support for foreign study.
  
• Institutional knowledge of programs and options of programs offered by competitor institutions.
  
• Campus climate issues for international students (transition services; housing and other facilities; local transportation; financial issues; faculty and staff sponsors; ESL programs; social activities; support for spouses; cultural mainstreaming; community relations; etc.).
  
• Use of overseas campuses, foreign alumni, and other international resources to promote enrollments.
  
• Relationships with international foundations, NGOs, multinational corporations, foreign governments and organizations, cooperative education partners, international internship providers, civic organizations, etc.
  
• Scope and comprehensiveness of international marketing programs.
  
• Opportunities and obstacles presented by geographic location and distinctive regional needs.
  
• Potential for creating initiatives in one or more academic areas that can disproportionately advance an institution's international reputation, achieving a correspondingly favorable impact on enrollments.

THE "CES INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING GROUP":

Consultancies in international affairs are typically undertaken by one or more of the following three individuals:

GEORGE MATTHEWS is an international businessman and entrepreneur who has founded over thirty successful companies. Among his many business roles he is Managing Partner of Hickory Hill Advisors. He is also the founding Chairman of the Board of CES. George is Chairman Emeritus of his alma mater, Northeastern University in Boston, MA, where he led the University during a renaissance witnessing dramatic enhancements in academic quality, a major building program, important new initiatives in urban education and international education, and enhanced national recognition. George is also a Senior Fellow in the Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies at Trinity College, Oxford; founding Chairman of the Gorbachev Foundation of North America; and co-founder and a member of the Executive Committee of the Club of Madrid. George has owned and developed companies, organized international academic and business conferences, and promoted better international relations all over the world.

THOMAS J. WYLY has more than thirty years of experience as a faculty member, scholar, senior administrator, and consultant. He is a Fordham University alumnus and University of Pennsylvania humanities Ph.D. who taught at Penn and served in the President's and Provost's offices there. He also served for fourteen years as chief strategy officer and vice president at Bentley College in suburban Boston. Tom has held post-doctoral fellowships of various kinds at Princeton, Yale, Northwestern, Ohio State, the Claremont Graduate University, and Saint Deiniol's in Wales, and is a graduate of the Harvard Institute for Educational Management. He has served as chief higher education consultant to the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and served as founding director of the Global Sullivan Principles international human rights initiative for higher education. Tom has also offered workshops and presentations for a variety of national higher education organizations.

EARL KELLOGG is one of higher education's most experienced international educators and leaders, with more than thirty-five years of experience as a faculty member, chief international education administrator, association and consortium executive, and consultant. Most recently, Earl served as Associate Provost for International Affairs at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Earl has served as executive director of the Consortium for International Development (eleven Western universities), and board chair of the Midwest University Consortium for International Affairs (seven universities). He has also served as President of the Association of International Education Administrators, is one of only seven fellows of the organization, and the recipient in 2007 of AIEA's Rutenber Award for lifetime achievement and service to international education. Earl has also been Chair of the Advisory Council of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, worked for the Ford Foundation in Southeast Asia, and been a member of the ACE international commission. Earl has also consulted at many universities regarding the international dimensions of teaching, research, and public engagement, and in 2006 was responsible for the creation of the first council of international education organizations. In 2006 he also received the University of Illinois International Humanitarian Award.

ORGANIZATIONS WITH WHICH MEMBERS OF THE CES LEADERSHIP TEAM
HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED, IN DIFFERENT CAPACITIES

ACADEMIC INSTITUITIONS WHERE CES LEADERS HAVE TAUGHT,
SERVED AS SENIOR ADMINISTRATORS OR TRUSTEES, OR CONSULTED

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact George, Tom, or Earl directly at:
CES, Three Centennial Drive, Peabody, MA 01960.

George Matthews can also be reached at: Tel: 978-532-4090
or Email: Matthewsgeo@yahoo.com;
Tom Wyly at: Tel: or 617-489-2673 or Email: tomwyly@juno.com; and
Earl Kellogg at: Tel: 217-621-6610 or Email: ekellogg@uiuc.edu.
The CES fax line is: 978-538-7544