New for 2021, Partner Day was an opportunity to network with other senior international education leaders, participate in sessions relating to mentorship, data, and AIEA programs, attend the Newcomer Orientation, and participate in partnered Spotlight Sessions presented by experts from industry. Recordings of Partner Day sessions are available below:
What is the future of international education given the transformative crises of 2020? What role can SIOs have in moving international education forward in this changed world? Join co-editors and authors of the 2nd edition of the Handbook of International Higher Education to explore together the ways in which leaders need to rethink international education approaches as well as ways to adapt to an every changing reality.
Using data from a new program developed by AIEA, Education First (EF), The Forum on Education Abroad, in partnership with The Nobel Prize Museum, participants will discuss the role of education abroad and global mobility. This session will include content from the 2020 Nobel Dialogue Week, Dialogue. Participants from the 2020 Global Leadership Symposium will lead discussions on current norms and systems that need to be changed in order for higher education to evolve.
In-country representation is a strategy used by universities for a number of objectives including strengthening and focusing recruitment efforts, extending partnership efforts and furthering alumni engagement. Are you curious about what these representatives do on a daily basis, how they work and what challenges they face? Join Sannam S4 – a long-time provider of in-country representation services - to hear from colleagues directly on the role, and perceptions from their side of the desk. Rethinking English Language Admissions Policy (Spotlight Feature presented by Cambridge Assessment English)
Having the right English language skills is essential for international students to be academically successful when studying at US universities and colleges. This session looks at English language exams taken by students whilst at high school. We will delve into the main components of these in-depth English language tests and discover how accepting these tests for admissions can help institutions have confidence in the English language competence of international students. Newcomer Orientation
The Newcomer Orientation is intended to welcome and advise first-time participants of the resources available to them at the conference and upon joining AIEA. Additionally, it will introduce newcomers to the structure of the organization and leaders of the association. The session is open to all first time conference participants, including new and prospective AIEA members.
Establishing successful collaborations and partnerships through mentoring relationships have long been embraced as a way to promote one’s learning and career. We present data and narratives from both Presidential Fellow Program and Senior Advisers Program to illustrate the importance of mentoring and to reimagine what it means for mentorship in light of COVID-19 and other contemporary challenges. Participants will have the opportunity to share their experiences of mentoring/being mentored and create a resource list.
Participants representing a national or regional International education association will present some key issues related to internationalization in 2021 and beyond. A specific attention will be paid to big challenges facing the planet and higher education, and the role HEI can play thanks to their internationalization. Attendees will be invited to discuss and to share hot topics from their country or region in the World.
Post-COVID, there will be great need to rebuild and expand disrupted international programs. Join this session to learn about funding opportunities from the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund, which provides grants for student mobility programs in the Western Hemisphere, and the Stevens Initiative, which is an international effort to grow the field of virtual exchange. In summer 2020, the Initiative awarded 18 grants in a rapid effort to assist organizations pivoting in-person exchange programs to be virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic. This presentation will address how practitioners rapidly adapted their programs and created new programs to provide meaningful international exchange experiences for young people at a time in which in-person travel and exchange was paused.
This session will overview U.S. government initiatives that support international education, specifically the Department of State’s EducationUSA network and the Department of Education’s international and foreign language education programming. Participants will explore how to leverage U.S. government programs for innovative approaches to expand international student mobility and achieve campus internationalization goals. Highlighting best practices from both domestic and international perspectives, facilitators will engage participants in addressing the new challenges of the COVID era.
The U.S. Department of State’s USA Study Abroad branch is committed to expanding study abroad opportunities for diverse Americans. Through Study Abroad Engagement Grants we support U.S. embassies to coordinate with partners in building capacity. We’ve partnered with AIEA on the "Internationalization of Higher Education in the COVID-19 Era" virtual series providing U.S. citizens funded speaking opportunities to engage with international audiences. Join State Department representatives to learn about these opportunities and capacity building initiatives!
What will international higher education look like after the pandemic? To what extent will past practices endure? What new directions can we expect? This session examines the globalization of higher education with a focus on emerging trends and future prospects. Students in the USC Rossier School of Education’s Global Executive Doctor of Education program delve deeply into these questions, and this 60 minute session simulates a doctoral-level class session on globalization and its implications for education.
This session will explore data on international student demand to the U.S. and its recent upturn following several years of declining interest. Drawing from the world’s largest combined dataset on prospective international students, the presenters will discuss how geopolitical events and policy decisions have impacted international student search behavior. The presentation will provide key insights including state and regional demand, emerging source markets, and shifts in academic program interest. Discover trends in student behavior based on real-time data from over 100M annual web visits and soon-to-be-published primary research with prospective international students.
Digital Marketing for Chinese Student Recruitment - Adapting to a Post-COVID World (Spotlight Session presented by Sinorbis) Despite the drastic changes taking place in the higher education sector, Chinese international students will remain of particular importance for almost every market in the post COVID-19 environment. Therefore, it is imperative for universities to understand the challenges faced by this demographic and adapt their acquisition strategies accordingly. In this presentation, you will learn:
The impact of COVID-19 on Chinese international students.
This session explores QS survey data from over 21,000 current and prospective international students. We will be examining how the higher education landscape is responding to coronavirus and what the future of the sector could look like after the pandemic, considering the advancement of technology. We will also be exploring preliminary findings and trends from the 2021 QS international partnerships and agreement management survey, highlighting pain points and areas of progress.