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[jbookinweiner]

David Cohen's piece in the on-line edition of the Chronicle today is disappointing to say the least. 

I was at the AIEC in Perth and heard somethings very differently from what he reported:

1.  The council being planned is NOT simply an organization of international higher education recruiters; it is a broadly based council of international education organization from around the world.  International education may mean simply recruiting international students where you come from, but to those of us in the field that is simply one very small part of what is involved.  International student mobility is a key component and was significant part of the various sessions held in Perth last week.  Also involved are transnational education programs (another of the significant foci last week) and also internationalization of the curriculum (subject of a pre-conference workshop).

2.  It is not correct to say that government approvals are needed for the Council to come into being.  It is rather the approval of the organizations themselves, all of which are membership groups.  It is the members, through their elected representatives, who must approve involvement of an organization in the Council.  Governments would have nothing to say about it in every case with which I am familiar.

It's disappointing to see something so poorly reported in the Chronicle!!

Jerry Bookin-Weiner
VP, Academic Affairs
The Scholar Ship