The American Council on Education and the Institute of International Education have announced a new partnership to “address escalating challenges” in higher education internationalisation.
The organisations have 100 years in higher education between them, and the teamup aims to bring together “extensive research, decades of practice, and deep knowledge from networks of experts across the international higher education spectrum”.
“We know the importance of making the case for internationalisation and we welcome working with ACE to address the emerging challenges facing the field today,” said IIE’s CEO Allan Goodman.
“[The partnership] builds on our joint imperative to support higher education and international education,” he continued.
Mirka Martel, head of research, evaluation and learning at IIE, added that the industry is experiencing a “period of disruption”, and solutions rooted in “evidence and research” are crucial.
“ACE’s and IIE’s collective insights uniquely position both organisations to deliver just that as colleges and universities navigate both challenges and opportunities,” she said.
The first action the groups will take in the partnership is forming a panel of experts to identify and analyse “key challenges” in international education in the US.
The experts will be working with senior international officers, presidents and scholars – and findings from the project will directly contribute to future endeavours of the coalition.
“Global engagement and international education are critical underpinnings of American higher education, and IIE is a pioneer in this space.
“We look forward to working with IIE to strengthen international education programming, expand inclusivity, and address critical challenges,” president of ACE, Ted Mitchell, said.
Also contributing to the first stages of the partnership is some of the pair’s “programmatic work” – this includes ACE’s Education Futures Labs’ Internationalisation Laboratory, and the vital international education data in the annual IIE Open Doors Report – which will be shared between actors from each organisation to further collaboration.
“Coupling IIE’s good work with ACE’s own expertise in this space, accumulated over two decades through the Internationalisation Lab and Mapping Reports, this partnership will be anchored by complementary strengths and will allow us to create space as a think-and-do tank that is learner centric and impact oriented, explained Hironao Okahana, assistant vice president and executive director of ACE’s Education Futures Lab.
ACE is known as a coordinating body for colleges and universities across the US, while IIE coordinates and delivers exchange programs and scholarships in international education.
