AACRAO SEM Conference – Chicago, 2013 International Student Services at Ontario Universities
Transcript
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013
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A Joint Undertaking Ontario Committee on Student Affairs
(represents the chief student affairs officers at the 20 Ontario
universities) Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Special Thanks Chris
Martin, Director of Research, and Rylan Kinnon, Executive Director,
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance Brenda Whiteside, Associate
Vice-President (Student Affairs), University of Guelph Members of
the Ontario Committee on Student Affairs
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 The Ontario provincial
government has endorsed increasing international enrolment in
post-secondary institutions by 50 percent over five years with the
hope that many will stay in Ontario after graduation. -Government
of Ontario, 2010
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Context In 2010-11, Ontario
universities enrolled 30,978 international students, with
two-thirds of them undergraduate (MTCU, 2011) When the Governments
international enrolment target is met, Ontario universities will
see international student enrolment increase by 15,000, or roughly
the equivalent of a medium-sized university campus
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Context (Contd) Ontarios
decision to increase international enrolment corresponds with a
growing market for these students By 2025, global demand for
international education is predicted to grow from 1.9 million to
7.2 million students (OECD, 2006) However, there is considerable
competition for international students, especially from the United
States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Context (Contd) Currently,
Canada takes in 2.5% of all international students in the global
market, slightly more than New Zealand. By comparison, Australia, a
country similar in size and population to Canada, enrols 7.6% of
the global market (UNESCO, 2009) A recent CBIE (Kizibash, 2011, p.
3) report cites that Canada, which once ranked in the top five
destinations for foreign students, has now dropped to 14 th place,
receiving less than three percent of the market.
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Even the most effective
recruiting strategy will only yield limited gains if visiting
students do not experience a high-quality, welcoming and engaging
student experience at our universities. Our Thesis
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Experience & Research
Suggests International students experience: language difficulties
(Barron, Gourlay, & Gannon-Leary, 2010; Carter & Xu, 2007;
Fitzgerald, 1998; Hansen, 1993; Tas, 2004; Zhang & Zhou, 2010)
culture related learning differences (Carter & Xu, 2007 Rice
et. all, 2009; Tas, 2004; Tompson & Tompson, 1996) academic
support issues (Fitzgerald, 1998; Sandeen, 2004; Tas, 2004)
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 An important element to
Ontario`s plan to enrol increasingly larger numbers of
international students is ensuring that Ontarios universities
provide a strong array of student support services.
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Connection to
Internationalization An important part of the Council of Ontario
Universities (2010) proposed internationalization strategy The
Council of Ministers of Education, in their International Education
Marketing Action Plan (Council of the Federation, 2011), encourage
provinces and territories to continue to work together to share
information about leading Canadian and international practices to
support international students and ensure that their educational
experiences in Canada are positive. (p. 24)
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 To remain competitive,
however, Ontario must distinguish itself from the growing number of
players in the internationalization sphere, not only by providing a
high quality educational experience, but also by building a
reputation as the most supportive environment for international
students in the world. -Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
(2011)
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013
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Going Global The Elements International Undergraduate Tuition
Financial Assistance for International Students International
Student Health Coverage Employment for International Students
International Student Support Services Branch and Affiliate
Campuses
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Going Global Going Global
International Student Support Services Best Practices: Personal
Counselling Peer Networking Access to Employment Access to Safety
Nets Language Training Recommendations: Provincial Task force on
international student support services Province insures quality
international student support services
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Purpose To inform the
Council of Ontario Universities and senior management at Ontarios
universities that we must increase our investment in international
student support services if we are to effectively meet the
challenge of enrolling an additional 15,000 international students
at our universities.
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Approach OCSA wrote a
draft paper We then partnered with OUSA Reviewed all available
research Conducted an on-line survey to assess the availability and
use of international student support services Coordinated
consultation with the campuses, international students, and
representatives from leading international-related
organizations
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Structure of Our Paper The
literature on international student success Type of international
student support services Availability of international student
support services on Ontario university campuses A look at how we
are doing Next steps
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Consultation Day February
2012 Senior student affairs officers International student support
service providers International students Representatives from:
Council of Ontario Universities Ontario Ministry of Training,
Colleges & Universities Canadian Bureau of International
Education
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Discussion Group Questions
1. What are universities doing well? 2. What needs are not being
met? 3. What can be done to address these needs? As an individual
university As a university system As external agencies (ministries,
DFAIT, provincial and federal governments, etc.) What can be done
to inform university leadership of these needs?
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Telling Our Story
Conference session at: Canadian Association of College &
University Student Services Conference, 2012 Canadian Bureau of
International Education Conference, 2012 Presented the paper to the
Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents, 2013 Published paper
in the first edition of the SEM Quarterly, 2013
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Key Findings Each of the
broad areas of international student support are available at
Ontario university campuses 45 percent of our campuses provide
maximum level loans/bursaries to international students of $2,000
or more Most (80%) campuses provide an international student
resource centre that services as a one-stop location for
international student services 30% of our campuses offer 20 or more
international student-oriented clubs and organizations
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Key Findings (Contd) 44% of
Ontario university campuses provide a home-stay program for
international students Nearly half (45%) have 5 or fewer dedicated
international student services staff, with only 30% having 6-10
staff persons
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Services Used the Most
International student advisor Immigration advising and support
Employment support (off-campus) International student handbook
Health and medical services Specialized orientation for
international students (in addition to regular orientation
programming) Residence opportunities guaranteed for international
students International student resource centre
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Services Not Widely
Available Financial literacy for international students Space where
international students can engage with students from their home
country
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Canadian Bureau of
International Education Survey Surveys conducted in 2004 and 2009
Satisfaction increased in all service areas More than half of the
respondents indicated they had little or no success or some success
with: involvement in off-campus activities involvement in on-
campus activities making friends with Canadian students obtaining
academic advice
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Comparison - International
10 universities participated in the International Student Barometer
(ISB) Levels of satisfaction across the Ontario cohort were 2%
lower than the ISB cohort, which suggests some possible areas of
improvement When usage is factored into student satisfaction, the
areas where there appears to be the most potential for improvement
include: health centre and campus eating places International
Student Barometer i-Grad, 2012
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Recommendations
RECOMMENDATION #1: universities should focus their thinking away
from the commonly used retention rate and toward the more useful
retention risk factors. In other words, the institutional view
would ideally shift toward early prevention and efforts to assist
international students in real time as they confront challenges to
remain and thrive at the institution.
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Recommendations
RECOMMENDATION #2: OCSA recommends that Ontario universities focus
their efforts on five critical student support areas: Health &
Wellness Student Living Academic Support Transition Cultural
Sensitivity
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Recommendations Health
and Wellness: Ensure the availability of on- campus student health
services, including both physical and mental health care, and
develop a culturally-sensitive strategy for handling instances of
sexual assault involving international students
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Recommendations Student
Living: Enhance campus eating places to make them more attentive to
international students, especially with regard to dietary
restrictions which students may have for religious or cultural
reasons; Provide residence opportunities that meet the needs of
specific international communities and married students, and
support students throughout the break and summer periods; Increase
involvement of international students in on- and off-campus
activities and in initiatives that will result in international
students making friends with Canadian students early in their
student experience; and Provide appropriate faith-based and
spiritual support
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Recommendations
Academic Support: Provide professional and culturally sensitive
academic advising for international students; Enhance academic
acculturation initiatives, including those associated with academic
integrity; Provide support for verbal and written English
communications; and Increase connectivity between career services
and international student support departments
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Recommendations
Transition: Develop in-semester, first semester orientation
programs; Increase awareness efforts to ensure that international
students learn about their rights and responsibilities in Canada,
especially for students from different countries who may have
unique circumstances and different requirements; and Provide
transition support to spouses, children and family members
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Recommendations
Cultural Sensitivity: Provide intercultural competency training to
all support staff, faculty and students.
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Recommendations
RECOMMENDATION #3: OCSA endorses the creation of service metrics
with respect to supporting international students on our campuses.
Such data would help guide best practices in international student
retention and support continuing research into the indicators of
international student persistence.
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Our Recommendations
RECOMMENDATION #4: International students benefit from some of the
same student services as domestic students. These services should
continue to be supported. Some of the key services include:
academic support accommodations (residence) support employment
support financial support health and wellness support transition
support
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AACRAO SEM Conference Chicago, 2013 Questions & Comments
Clayton Smith Vice-Provost, Students & International University
of Windsor [email protected] Suzanne Blanchard Associate
Vice-President (Students and Enrolment) & University Registrar
Carleton University [email protected]