Research on International Student Support: Looking for Sample Best Practices

Gary Rhodes
Associate Dean, International Education & Senior International Officer,
College of Extended & International Education
Director, Center for Global Education
California State University at Dominguez Hills

The April 2014 Portal article focused on some of the experiences of others at four year colleges and universities in the field about why they are collecting data and how they are doing it related to study abroad. Having individuals at higher education institutions around the U.S. involved in data gathering and research is an important step in the growth of the study abroad field. I look forward to your feedback and information about the successes and challenges of your data collection for study abroad.

U.S. colleges and universities have been increasing the numbers of international students on campus at much larger levels than the numbers they send on study abroad. Not only are the numbers larger, but also the amount of time is also longer as most international students study on a U.S. campus for a full undergraduate or graduate degree.

One of the continuing challenges at U.S. colleges and universities is the growth of interactions between international students and study abroad students on a U.S. college or university campus. This is part of the concept of “Internationalization at Home”. I raised this issue in the January 2014 Terra Dotta Newsletter Article: How Do International Students Support Campus Internationalization? What is Your Campus Doing?

This is part of the collaborative research that the Center for Global Education at UCLA is doing with colleagues at Terra Dotta Software. Thank you in advance to those who responded to the issues we raised about special programs on your campus. I think that one important issue is the question of how well prepared international students are on a college or university campus. However, a prepared international student is only one part of the answer. One of the hurdles that staff discuss is the question of whether U.S. students are really interested in interactions with “the other”… the international student that may not have the same interests and expectations as they enter a U.S. college or university as an undergraduate student. Another of the critical areas for successful interactions between U.S. and international students is inside the classroom. However, are faculty trained to enhance and support those interactions or do they sometimes undermine those possibilities?

Like many issues in U.S. higher education, the answer is… it depends… Following are some of the important issues and some of the innovative practices that I’ve found at colleges and universities across the U.S. As I mentioned, we are in the data gathering stage, so I can use your help in providing other methods being used at your or other campuses to make a difference! I think that you will find these examples interesting:

Innovations in Orientation Programming:

Cornell University: PREPARE Program for Incoming International Students. Incoming undergraduate international students are encouraged to arrive four days BEFORE new student orientation. This program provides travel-weary students with an early start.
Michigan State University: Workshops for staff and faculty: Changing Classroom: Challenges and Best Practices for International Student’s Academic Success
University of California at Davis Summer Start: Intensive six-week academic, language, and orientation program while paying affordable summer fee rates, earning 6 – 8 units towards graduation requirements.
University of California at Los Angeles: Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars: All new international students at UCLA are required to complete a pre-arrival online orientation (currently, there is some flexibility about whether it needs to actually be completed before arrival on campus).
University of California at San Diego: International Triton Transition Program: Prior to the start of their first quarter as a freshman, UCSD offers a 4 week summer program that includes a university-level English writing class specifically designed to help students gain the critical and analytical writing skills needed to succeed in courses during their first year, along with learning about teacher/student relations and communication in the U.S. college classroom, supporting academic and social and cultural learning prior to the beginning of the fall term.
University of California at Santa Barbara: With the increasing number of international students at UCSB from China, some of the orientation materials have been translated for incoming Chinese students.
University of Southern California Orientations Outside of the US: Currently, there are international student orientation programs available in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.
Washington State University: All international students are required to complete the “iCoug Tutorial” (online pre-arrival information and assessments) prior to arriving on campus.

Innovations in Connecting International and Domestic Students:

University of Wisconsin at Madison: General buddy program through the Office of International Students and Scholars BRIDGE Program AND Academic buddy program with Academic Departments.

Innovations in Community Outreach:

University of Oregon: International Cultural Service Program: bringing together a select group of University of Oregon international students to provide the Eugene-Springfield and surrounding communities with valuable cross-cultural exchange.

Innovations in Residential Living:

International Houses: The international house movement results in various types of housing options at universities across the U.S. Some are owned and operated by the campus (University of California at San Diego) and others are independent and serve one or many campus communities (Berkeley, California, New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C.).

Innovations in Information for Parents of International Students:

University of California at Santa Cruz: Welcome Video for Parents of International Students

As mentioned earlier, this is a start of our research, collecting samples of special program innovations for international students coming to study in at U.S. colleges and universities.

We would like to hear from you about any programs you’ve developed to help support the orientation and integration of international students on your campus! Please send any information to me at grhodes@globaled.us.

As our data grows with additional details on orientation programs and information, we will continue to share it through the Terra Dotta Community Library, articles in the Terra Dotta Newsletter, and through the development of other resources to help support international students and their academic and social success, but also initiatives that enhance the potential of international students to support internationalization at home.

I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,

Gary