Why university leaders should build strategic international partnerships

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In Features, Alvaro Romo, secretary general of the International Association of University Presidents, reflects on the role of university leaders in building strategic international partnerships as part of internationalisation efforts. Kirk Perris says that a new centre for higher education innovation in Shenzhen, China, recently approved as a UNESCO Category 2 institute, is all set to draft a constitutional charter and begin its work. Jan Petter Myklebust and Maximilian Unger report on a comparative study of Austria, Sweden and Denmark commissioned to inform Austria’s quest to become an innovation leader in Europe.
In Commentary, Abi Mandelbaum advises that, while younger generations are turning to emerging social media platforms, Facebook is still a valuable tool for spreading a university’s message to key influencers such as parents. With the attention on ‘internationalisation at home’ increasing, Jos Beelen and Elspeth Jones say it is important that the concept is understood clearly and they have proposed a new definition of the term. Ly Pham weighs up the arguments for and against the Vietnam government’s proposal to privatise public higher education institutions, and explores alternative options. David Newman contends that the decision by Israel’s education minister to summarily dismiss the vice-chair of the Council for Higher Education is the latest example of undue political interference, which is harming the countries’ universities. Ye Liu says the Chinese government sees education as an important instrument in building the country’s global status and has achieved an impressive record of educational development. Having attended a national seminar on university-industry partnerships, Adamu A Ahmed is convinced that universities in Saudi Arabia are poised to embark on applied research that can address developmental challenges.
In our World Blog, Margaret Andrews invites business schools to describe themselves in six words in a fun yet revealing exercise to articulate what’s unique and valuable about that school. Read more...