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Oversight of Internationalization—Who’s Responsible?

February 14, 2012, 10:26 am

In recent days, the actions of two higher-education institutions have raised concerns about the oversight of their internationalization activities. Last week, an audit of Dickinson State University, a public institution in North Dakota, revealed that the institution had operated as a diploma mill for hundreds of international students, awarding degrees despite the individuals not completing all degree requirements, and many not even having a basic level of English proficiency. This week, a New York Times article raised concerns about degrees being offered by Empire State College (ESC) in Albania. ESC, part of New York’s public higher-education system, was operating in cooperation with the University of New York, Tirana (a private entity registered in Albania), to offer degree-granting academic programs to local students. The Times’ investigations suggested that the students were being misled by advertising, faculty were not approved by Empire State, and some of the courses were poor quality.

To us this raised a question about who provides oversight of a college or university’s international activities?

In short, international activities rely on internal oversight. External mechanisms don’t do a good job of crossing borders. Here we’re only commenting on the situation in the U.S., though there are commonalities with other nations.

Empire State and Dickenson State are both public institutions and the reports raise questions about the effectiveness of state oversight. In a study we recently completed of state regulation of the importing and exporting of higher-education institutions, we found most states just focused on what institutions within in their borders were doing. Few seemed to care all that much about what their public institutions did outside of the state. And for those that did care, they cared about process and finances, with quality rarely considered.

The institutional accreditation agencies aren’t filling the gap in oversight of offshore locations. They do have some procedures in place: Institutions are required to alert the accreditation agencies of any new teaching locations, and when these presences are substantial, such as a branch campus, a review team from the accreditation agency usually visits around the time that the campus is opened to ensure that it complies with home campus policies and procedures. In other words, accreditation is supposed to verify that an institution has appropriate internal oversight of the international activity. But in the ESC case, the Albania location was approved by the accreditation agency, Middle States Commission on Higher Education, as an “other instructional site” without making a site visit. If internal oversight by ESC breaks down, as is implied in the article, Middle States can’t provide the crucial back-up necessary to ensure quality overseas.

So, it is mostly left to the institution to assure its own quality. To be clear, we believe that most institutions take issues of quality seriously; setting up processes that allow faculty members on the home campus oversight of the hiring and curricular practices at the branch campus and making sure that programs offered to international students meet the same standards expected of all students. On paper, at least, it can all look quite solid.

However, despite the rules and regulations, constantly monitoring the activities of entity that operates thousands of miles away—particularly if the entity is not viewed as part of the core mission—is difficult to achieve via the typical university committee structure. And, let us not forgot that the diploma mill activity at Dickinson State occurred right here in the United States. This highlights another problem with the oversight of internationalization—international activities are often justified in terms of the potential revenue streams they provide. A nod to the creation of global citizens, of course, but the cynical selling point is that they bring more resources to the home campus. Again, it is not the typical case we describe, but rather a scenario that relies solely on institutional actors to guard against trading quality for profits that brings us pause.

Internationalization is an important goal, which almost by definition extends the university beyond its typical external oversight structure. Should internationalization activities remain the almost exclusive domain of the institution or does external oversight need to play a more substantial role?

This entry was posted in International and tagged crossborder, international students, internationalization, overight. Bookmark the permalink.

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willardmdix

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Families have 17 years to plan for college; it doesn’t show up by surprise. When Seymour was a baby they should have started a college fund and that’s what they should bring to the table instead of throwing themselves on the mercy of the college. What began as assistance is now an expectation though, and there’s a perception that families are “punished” if they save for college. I’ve actually heard parents lament bitterly that their child’s college was counting their college savings account as an asset, even though that’s what they started it for in the first place.
A friend of mine who was once a financial aid officer heard from a parent who complained that our college’s FA package was too small. He had just bought a speed boat, you see…
It’s a crazy world and sometimes, as the wise and wizened Rolling Stones one said, “you can’t always get what you want.”
davi2665

Although university sports certainly needs careful scrutiny and oversight, the LAST organization on the planet that should be providing this is the US congress. These are the folks who have spent us into bankruptcy, squabbled and fought for their own privilege and self-directed pork, failed to address our very serious national problems with anything other than sound bites and pablum, and do not have the courage to make the tough choices we need. They are all about self-reward, self-promotion, and their own re-election. A group of 100 people picked at random from phone books around the country could do a more honest, patriotic, and helpful job of overseeing major problems than the current crop of losers.
barryr01

Doesn’t Congress have enough to do without monitoring these issues? I’d say if schools can’t or won’t self-manage, then let the chips fall where they may. Just leave the congressional ‘crats out of this.
lkvamme

Hey, that was my idea! (only kiddin’…don’t get all excited now…)
hmcleaver

A few years ago I had a student who was paying his way through college by flying pot across the border from Mexico to Texas. I discovered this the day he came to tell me he had been caught and sentenced to prison and to ask if he could complete his work in my course while there. I, of course, said sure thing. Then we discussed other possible independent study courses he might pursue while locked up.

As it turned out he was incarcerated in a low-security prison near Dallas where he was put to work alongside other prisoners making uniforms for the Contras – the illegal terrorists organized and funded by the Reagan Administration as a part of what later became known as the Iran-Contra Scandal. Bored with sewing, this young fella snooped around the prison – which was located on an old Air Force base - and discovered a still-functioning flight simulator. When he proposed to the warden that he could train other prisoners to fly in the spirit of rehabilitation via learning new skills, he lucked out and got an OK which allowed him to escape what he found to be the odious task of supporting terrorism.

Now, guess who were his most enthusiastic students? You got it, guys who had been caught smuggling pot across the border by truck or boat and who wanted to diversify their transport options! Malcolm X was right, it seems, when he called prison the “university of the working class.”

At any rate, “awegweiser” is quite right that while profitable for the prison industry (and the drug cartels, as it keeps supply down and prices up) the so-called “War on Drugs” is a waste a time and resources – both human and monetary. Better to legalize all drugs and then spend time and money figuring out why so many Americans feel the need to resort to them – from alcohol and caffeine through uppers, downers, painkillers, glue and pot to cocaine, meth and heroin to make it through their days and nights. Of course we don’t want to do that, because it would reveal the alienation and desperation that pervades American capitalist society.
achilton1987

so instead of ‘war on drugs’ it will be called ‘war on people who will continue to grow pot but not pay taxes’
soonerdgs

So did the government refuse to take the $80,000 in drug money that he used to pay down the student loans? And if not, maybe they can take the $27,000 they seized from Vivenzio and finish paying off his student loan. That way they won’t have to come after him for defaulting on his payments while he’s in jail…
alancontreras

It is quite true that states generally don’t oversee what their colleges do in other states. That’s because, with rare exceptions, a college based in one U.S. state has to go through an evaluation and approval process to operate in another U.S. state. Online offerings complicate this situation somewhat, but the basic principle is that a college can’t operate in a state without that state’s authorization.

One difficulty in trying to translate this approach to foreign countries is that in many cases it is hard to determine what the country’s oversight standards are, or how or whether they were applied.

One minor point that might be worth mentioning is that U.S. accreditors are only “recognized” by the U.S. Department of Education for their Title IV eligible operations, that is, in almost all cases, their U.S. work. Therefore a U.S. accrediting agency has no federal oversight for anything it does with a foreign entity. It operates overseas, if at all, as a purely private organization serving its members.
nacrandell

Universities should not be franchised.

Expading the school outside the state will dilute the quality of education. If foriegn students are interested in the school, then let them enroll in the US. If US students want to participate in study abroad programs, then let the school work with a local and certified college.
daphne00

a big part of the problem is who runs these programs for the universities. I have noticed that colleges ask for international higher ed experience when they advertise these positions… then you see someone hired that has never even been abroad– then they go abroad and cannot manage the culture shock or know how to negotiate their way in a foreign environment. An an American educator that has worked abroad for two decades I can tell you that this is a BIG part of the problem. Maybe external oversight needs to begin with examining the credentials and job performance of those running the programs.
gavin_moodie

This has been a big issue for Australian colleges and universities. Since at least 2000 the federal government has operated a register for institutions that teach international students on shore. Basically, the federal government wont issue a visa to a student unless they have an offer of enrolment (which is normally recorded electronically on the immigration department’s database) in a program and institution registered by the feds.

Almost since its inception in 2000 the separate Australian federal quality assurance body for universities has scrutinised off shore programs closely, almost always inspecting off shore teaching sites (at the university’s expense!).

Nonetheless, international education warrants institutions’ vigilance, as the authors argue.
jmodeste

Oversight and active involvement in the move to establish global centers is necessary and yes, universities should go global bc this effort disseminates knowledge and learning. US education is valuable, spreading it to places where access is limited benefits all. However, the effort cannot be one of “franchising” because this smacks of capitalist desire and would undermine the legitimacy of the effort to establish global centers of learning. Meaningful oversight by those invested in education and knowledge (senior-level academic administrators and such) who partner with international peers would seem reasonable.
rp1953retired

Over my 30 some years in administering international programs at both public and private institutions of higher education I have come across shocking cases of deceit and deception. Unfortunately, where big money is involved the response to inquiries is often an unspoken “We’d rather not know.” The folks running the programs at Dickinson State and Empire State must be amateurs.
sklahr

I would like to add that many institutions in the U.S. do not have a senior international officer, and therefore, there is no coordination or oversight of international initiatives at all. At many institutions, the senior international officer may not be given the authority by the administration to have the necessary oversight due to the level of the position within the organizational structure. Also, there are senior international officers at U.S. institutions who do not belong to the major professional associations and international education organizations that provide the necessary professional development, information sharing, and networking critical to effectively serving in this role, such as AIEA, NAFSA, IIE, etc. The latter is often related to lack of funding, including the lack of travel funds to attend these associations’ meetings, conferences, and workshops.
marjorie_lavin

The post by Lane and Kinser notes that institutions are responsible to assure their own quality. And that is just what Empire State College does.
Our program in Tirana, which enrolls about 110 students per year, is overseen by a regional coordinator based on Prague and a full-time coordinator on-site in Tirana. The regional coordinator, formerly a full-time, tenured faculty member and associate dean at a college center in New York, visits the Tirana program once a term with a team of New York based senior faculty, and at other times as needed. The team meets with students to help them with degree plans, advise on course selection, observe classroom instruction, meet with local faculty and provide faculty development programs. The team visit also provides an opportunity for the faculty of both institutions to collaborate on course and program development. The regional coordinator reviews and approves faculty who teach Empire State College courses.
The international programs office at Empire State College’s administrative headquarters in Saratoga Springs NY provides further academic oversight. A faculty curriculum committee reviews and, if appropriate, approves all courses and curriculum, for Tirana and any other international program. Each student – in the Tirana program and any other Empire State College program – prepares a degree plan and a rationale to justify the selected studies. An assessment committee of faculty reviews these documents for quality and conformity to academic policy. There is a second review of the student’s academic record in the graduation approval process.
The students, the faculty in Tirana and the leadership of the partner college are well-known to us. The program is not something that we pack up in a box and ship overseas; we have full-time staff in daily communication with Tirana students. None of this is a secret.
Marjorie W. Lavin, vice provost, Empire State College
http://www.facebook.com/condottiero Guillermo Pineda

The only objective way in which internationalization should be “a goal” for any university is to keep those international students in/near their campuses. Who are these bureaucrats setting the goals for these universities???
klima

May worry about all the institutions that are not under surveillance. All legal actions necessary to resolve these concerns, the law should be removed.
mscardenas

While I support providing the opportunity of an education to anybody who wants it; I must say that instances such as this creates a very negative connotation to any internationalization. Would an international education society be a good start to overseeing such campuses?