Larry D. Lauer

This week I had the pleasure of spending time with David Wheeler, Managing Editor-International, at the Chronicle of Higher Education.  For months David has been traveling the world assessing how the Chronicle can become the news source for higher education world-wide and happily he agreed to make TCU the only U.S. campus he will visit this year. So this week he met with TCU leaders to share what he is learning about the globilization of our industry and discussed everything from specific country trends to changing admissions and fund raising patterns.

The Chronicle will be launching a web-based international site that will have editorial contributions from all parts of the world. You will learn every aspect about how higher education is rapidly becoming a global enterprise and the impact that will have on your institution, family and friends.  It will change curriculum, where students choose to go to school, the role of governments, and how funds are raised. The Chronicle site should appear soon.

Questions for Wheeler centered around what institutions should consider when becoming more international.  As I listened, I listed these basic approaches: 1. Estabish your own campus abroad; 2. Expand traditional study abroad programs; 3. Initiate faculty/student/staff exchanges; 4. Form partnerships between institutions, or programs, or researchers.

Obviously there are pluses and minuses for each of these. Many institutions with foreign campuses are dealing with unanticipated issues and difficulties. People exchanges can be off or on depending on professional and personal compatibility. Expanding study abroad and international student recruiting seems to be the answer for many, but forming key partnerships is the most intriguing to me.

I have long recognized the power of strong partnerhips when advancing institutions. And lessons learned in the U.S. suggest that when going international there are at least three extremely important considerations: 1. Will forming this partnerhip result in more visibility and enhanced reputation for your institution? 2. Are the partners comparable in objectives, interests and programs? 3. Will management and leadership remain stable enough to enable a long-term relationship?

Many international partnerhships come and go or even fail completely with changes in leadership or financial support. Others prove to be incompatible because of unanticipated cultural or academic differences. Problems can also arise when the partner organization proves to have no capacity to bring new visibility or prestige to yours. 

But there is no doubt that a well negotiated partnership with a top quality institution has the potential to immediately lift visibility, extend market penetration, bring higher quality to academic and other programs,  enrich and expand research projects, and enhance the overall prestige of both organizations.  This is as true in other parts of the world as it is at home, and so partnerships just might be your best overall approach when considering going global.