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The IC Collective November 2024 Image gallery

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Rhetoric or Reality? 

TNE, International Student Recruitment and European Partnerships

About this event

The IC Collective is an opportunity for senior managers in internationalisation and global engagement at UK universities to share knowledge and test ideas with peers in a supportive and friendly environment.

At The IC Collective on 07.11.24, we discussed and reflected on the theme of ‘Rhetoric or Reality? TNE, International Student Recruitment and European Partnerships’. We also learnt best practice, sector-leading insights and debated key topics impacting the international education sector, including:

  • Rhetoric or reality? Lessons learnt from real TNE examples
  • Update on the international student recruitment scenario
  • The future of European partnerships and student recruitment

Kindly hosted by the University of Glasgow

In collaboration with our Gold Sponsor, IDP Connect

Find out more about this event

Image gallery

The IC Collective November 2024

By Collective previous, Event, Featured
This event is an opportunity for senior managers in internationalisation and global engagement at UK universities to discuss and reflect on the theme of ‘Rhetoric or Reality? TNE, International Student Recruitment and European Partnerships’. Learn best practice, sector-leading insights and debate the key topics impacting the international education sector now, including: Rhetoric or reality? Lessons learnt from real TNE examples Update on the international student recruitment scenario The future of European partnerships and student recruitment
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The IC Collective Jan 2024

The IC Collective January 2024 Image gallery

By Event, Featured, Uncategorized

The IC Collective

Reigniting International:

Enabling Recruitment and Enhancing the Student Experience

About this event

The IC Collective is a fantastic opportunity for you to network with your peers, learn valuable information on recruiting high quality international students to your institution and explore critical issues and key priorities affecting senior staff at UK institutions NOW. In the 2024 event we are excited to share with you highlights of the new Route to International Directors Research, as well as discuss the link between employability and international recruitment, and highlights from the British Council’s first comprehensive review of ‘Recruitment channels and pathways to undergraduate study in the UK’. The research was conducted by The IC Global.

In collaboration with Pagoda Projects.

Image gallery

The IC Collective Jan 2024

The IC Collective January 2024

By Collective previous, Featured

The IC Collective

Reigniting International:

Enabling Recruitment and Enhancing the Student Experience

| The IC Café

| Roundtable

| Research Insights

Location | Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Date | Friday 12 January 2024

Time | 10:30 – 15:30 (UK time)

Book now

About this event

The IC Collective is a fantastic opportunity for you to network with your peers, learn valuable information on recruiting high quality international students to your institution and explore critical issues and key priorities affecting senior staff at UK institutions NOW. We are excited to share with you highlights of the new Route to International Directors Research, as well as discuss the link between employability and international recruitment, and highlights from the British Council’s first comprehensive review of ‘Recruitment channels and pathways to undergraduate study in the UK’. The research was conducted by The IC Global.

In collaboration with Pagoda Projects.

Pagoda Projects Logo 250x90

Event details

Time Activity Speaker/s
10:30-11:00 Arrival, registration, refreshments and welcome
11:00 – 11:15 Welcome
11:15 – 12:00 The IC Café: How to recruit high quality international students and support on-campus diversity? Dr. Janet Ilieva
Dr. Anthony Manning
12:00 – 12:45 Lunch (will be provided)
12:45 – 13:00 Highlights of new IC Global research into ‘The Route to International Director’

Following on from the successful launch of the PVC-I report

we will be sharing key findings from a new report published by The IC Global on the background, skill set, leadership attributes, diversity, inclusion and challenges of an International Director. You will learn how the international voice is heard within universities in the context of internal governance and internal positioning, and you will discover what the future of the international portfolio looks like at the International Director level.

Sirin Myles
13:00 – 13:45 The IC Roundtable for networking: What are your top 3 priorities right now?

In this part of the programme, you will have the opportunity to debate key roundtable topics in small peer groups and share your findings with colleagues to enable wider and deeper discussions. The topics will include:

– Student recruitment cost of acquisition and return on investment
– How to influence international strategy and the delivery of the institutional targets, within our roles
– The drain of decision making
– The process and governance of an International Office
– Reputation management for institutions

Sirin Myles
Professor Abigail Gregory
Dörte Stevenson
Mike Gibbons
13:45 – 14:00 Break (refreshments will be provided)
14:00 – 14:30 How to boost international student employability and the benefits to recruitment Professor Bill Russell
Andrew Wright
Anne-Marie Graham
Professor Abigail Gregory
14:30 – 15:15 Pathways to undergraduate study Jacqui Jenkins
15:15 – 15:30 Closing remarks

Senior management with responsibility for internationalisation and global engagement at UK institutions will benefit from attending the events.

The Café and roundtable will provide you with cutting-edge knowledge, advice and best practice from our expert speakers. You also have the benefit of joining your peers and colleagues in a friendly, supportive and reflective space in person.

Our practical IC curated sessions will give you the knowledge, tools and skills that will support you with developing strategy and building operational plans that you can immediately implement into your work environment. Whether you are new to working in an international education role or you are experienced in your position, the workshop will offer tailored knowledge and expertise to maximise your effectiveness within your institution.

Charlene Allen

Charlene Allen, Co-Founder and Director, The IC Global Partnership

Charlene has over 20 years’ experience in higher education. She has held senior roles across several universities in the UK, held a national sector leading role as Chair of British Universities International Liaison Association (BUILA) and sat on strategic international advisory boards for the British Council, Universities UK International and the UK Council for International Students Association. Her work has included the development and implementation of various internationalisation projects, lobbying on internationalisation matters and working with the Department of Education and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy International Team on the UK International Education Strategy.

Anne-Marie Graham

Anne-Marie Graham, Chief Executive, UKCISA

Anne-Marie Graham is the Chief Executive of the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA). Anne-Marie joined UKCISA in 2019, before that she was the Chevening Scholarships Director for just over two years and worked in the area of outward student mobility for Universities UK International.

Professor Abigail Gregory MBE

Professor Abigail Gregory MBE

Professor Abigail Gregory MBE is Director of Academic Strategy at Pagoda Projects, a socially engaged company specialising in global internships and sustainable global experiences. She is also an HE Consultant (Internationalisation and DEI), Executive Coach and Mentor.

Professor Gregory has more than thirty years’ experience as an academic and is a Professor of Comparative Sociology, specialising in gender equality and work-life balance. She has a strong senior leadership track record, most recently in the roles of Faculty Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor, Faculty Head of International, Associate Dean International and Associate Head Marketing and Recruitment for multi-disciplinary academic units at Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.

A linguist by background, Professor Gregory has particular experience of and passion for internationalisation. Skilled at working with diverse stakeholders across cultures and disciplines, she has developed and led internationalisation strategy at home and overseas, creating enterprising and impactful student-focussed and income generating activities globally, and notably in East and Southeast Asia and North America. She has been a Department of International Trade Export Champion and was awarded an MBE for services to export in November 2019.

Dr Janet Ilieva, Founder and Director at Education Insight

Janet is the Founder and Director of Education Insights and the creator of the Global Engagement Index. Janet is an Economist whose work has informed national and international level HE strategies here in the UK and overseas. Janet regularly undertakes research in higher education engagement for government departments, international organisations and universities.

Jacqui_Jenkins_portrait looking right

Jacqui Jenkins, Global Relationship Manager (Education), British Council

Jacqui is the British Council’s global lead for international student mobility and marketing at the British Council.  Jacqui leads the British Council’s work with those that influence international students (agents and counsellor) in countries that send more than a 1000 new international students to the UK annually. Jacqui has had an extensive career at the British Council, she was the original producer of the Going Global conference series in 2004, she founded the global Study UK Alumni Awards in 2013, she was the education adviser to the UK’s Government GREAT Britain Campaign Study UK in 2016 and in 2022 she launched the Agents and Counsellor Hub.

Dr Anthony Manning

Dr Anthony Manning, Dean for Global and Lifelong Learning at the University of Kent, UK

Dr Anthony Manning is Dean for Global and Lifelong Learning at the University of Kent, UK. Through his role at Kent, Anthony is responsible for the development, implementation and review of International and Lifelong Learning activity which includes international programmes, international pathways to higher education, online learning and higher and degree apprenticeships. Anthony is a Principal Fellow of AdvanceHE and a National Teaching Fellow. He has published widely in fields linked to international education, assessment and internationalisation at Home and has worked as an external examiner for more than 10 Universities in the Uk and overseas. Anthony has lived as and worked in five countries and has led educational development activities in more than 50 nations around the world. Anthony is also the founder of various networks and fora including Innovations in Internationalisation at Home. As well as being an IC Global Fellow Anthony is a trustee for the British Accreditation Council (BAC) and is also the current Chair of BAC’s Accreditation Committee.

Sirin Myles

Sirin Myles, Co-Founder and Director, The IC Global Partnership

Sirin is a highly experienced International Leader and specialist in higher education. She has more than 20 years of international marketing and leadership experience in diplomatic and higher education organisations. Sirin’s career includes the British Council in Istanbul, marketing British education; Regional Director at the University of Southampton and Director of the International Office at the University of Reading. At Reading, Sirin had joint responsibility for all of the University’s Marketing, Communication and Engagement. Since 2016, Sirin has been providing a specialist independent consultancy, individual and leadership coaching to higher education institutions.

Professor Bill Russell, Deputy Dean, School of Business, University of Dundee

Dr Bill Russell is Professor of International Business at the University of Dundee School of Business.  He graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1985 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (Honours) before undertaking an M.Phil. and D.Phil. in Economics at the University of Oxford which were conferred in 1996. Prior to arriving at the University of Dundee in August 1996, he had worked for ten years in the Research Department of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Details about his research and publications are available at www.billrussell.info

Over the past ten years Professor Russell has been closely involved in the building of high-quality programmes for the School of Business and the University of Dundee that focus on employability, content, and with engaging and innovative methods of delivery.  He has also been engaged in developing innovative agreements with universities that deliver important benefits to the students and institutions involved.

Andrew Wright

Andrew Wright, Associate Director (Employer Engagement & Work-based Learning); AGCAS Employer Engagement Task Group (Chair), King’s College London

As Associate Director (Employer Engagement & Work-based Learning), Andrew has overall responsibility for the strategic and operational running of King’s employer connectivity, its global employer reputation, and its relationship with all stakeholders, including employers, suppliers, alumni and donors.

He leads the planning, development and oversight of King’s entire Employer Engagement function including employer relations and business development, events and work-based learning initiatives including internships, industry placements, work-related projects, experiential and skills learning both in the UK and internationally. Working with a variety of organisations, industry bodies and stakeholders he ensures our partners are kept abreast of news and developments about graduate recruitment, labour market insight and international student policy and that King’s remains a top target for employers around the world.

He has extensive knowledge of key international markets including China and Europe, with a specialist interest in careers and entry-level recruitment in North America, where he has worked in numerous cities including New York City and Washington D.C. Alongside working with employers, he regularly delivers student workshops for students from China, India, the United States and Europe.

What is the cost of the event?

  • There is an early bird price of £145 which ends on 8th December 2023.
  • The General Admission ticket cost is £185. These ticket prices are possible due to the support of Pagoda Projects.

The price includes all sessions, refreshments and lunch.

How do I book a place for the event?

How do I pay for the event?

  • You can pay via EventBrite which accepts credit or debit cards and PayPal.

Do you offer a group discount?

  • We have kept the registration fee low to cover costs and therefore a group discount cannot be offered.

What is the location of the event?

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Elliot House, 151 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WD

How do I get to the venue?

https://www.gmchamber.co.uk/contact-us/

Can you cater for different dietary requirements at lunch?

  • We will provide a range of food to cater for different dietary requirements. If you wish to contact us for further information, please email [email protected].

What is your refund policy?

  • If you are unable to attend the event, you can receive a full refund minus £30, to cover administration and catering costs.

Who can I contact if I have further questions?

You can email [email protected] and the team will be happy to answer your questions

Reflections on EAIE conference 2023

How can we “connect currents” in international education?

By EAIE

How can we “connect currents” in international education?

Reflections on EAIE conference 2023 recurring themes by Dr Vicky Lewis (Vicky Lewis Consulting) and Sirin Myles (The IC Global Partnership)

What were the key conference themes?

You know how you attend an amazing conference, come away buzzing with ideas, then day-to-day commitments take over and push all that learning to the back of your mind? We figured we’d try to maintain momentum following the recent EAIE annual conference in Rotterdam.

So we got together to chat about the themes that really resonated with us. This blog includes some of our reflections in an effort to share our learning with those who were unable to attend the conference – and to reignite enthusiasm among those who were there.

Reflections on EAIE conference 2023

What are the challenges of responsible internationalisation?

We both picked up the theme of responsible internationalisation. In the host country for the conference, the Netherlands, there have been challenges related to insufficient accommodation for international students. These have led to resentment from local communities where expanding international student numbers have had negative impacts on services and facilities. These challenges are familiar to those of us working in international education in the UK, Canada and elsewhere.

It is so important that universities proactively discuss their growth plans with local government, developers and other key players in their region, ensuring these plans are sustainable in the context of local infrastructure. The drive for global engagement should not compromise universities’ civic and regional responsibilities.

How can inclusive internationalisation be achieved?

  • The need for internationalisation to be inclusive was a theme across several sessions. Vicky was impressed by the Inclusive Comprehensive Internationalisation project, a multi-institutional, multi-country project co-funded by the EU’s Erasmus+ Programme.
  • The vision is to ‘help co-create equal opportunities with and for all students to benefit from internationalisation, regardless of their background, orientation or capability, and to improve their international and intercultural competencies. We need every voice to help create a peaceful and sustainable world’.
  • Students are heavily involved in this, at institutional and network level. A guiding principle is the notion that ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’ so we need to ask other people what our blind spots are.
  • Newcastle University, a deserving winner of the 2023 EAIE Award for Excellence in Internationalisation, strives to be an internationally inclusive institution. This shines through within their international strategy, which emphasises inclusive approaches to student mobility and staff development and builds on their status as a University of Sanctuary, supporting refugees and asylum seekers.
  • It’s also evident in the people-centric approach adopted when consulting on their strategy, inviting stakeholders to submit videos capturing their aspirations for Newcastle’s global engagement, which then fed into the set of values-led global pledges at the heart of the strategy.
  • In a session on ‘Global Citizenship from an EDI perspective’, the importance of levelling the playing field for international students and graduates when they are seeking employment was highlighted.
  • A 2019 Australian study (see this pdf) showed that only 26% of international graduates who stayed in Australia were in professional roles, as compared to 47% of domestic graduates. There are both structural impediments and cultural bias at play here and – behind the statistics – there are huge levels of personal disappointment, loss of face and financial hardship as a result of not being able to find employment.
  • One way universities can help to address this is by developing work-integrated learning (linked to the student’s discipline) as part of the curriculum to build up the experience, confidence and networks of international students.

Artificial intelligence: friend or foe?

Unsurprisingly, we noticed a plethora of sessions and conversations about AI. Sirin attended a campfire session on this topic which allowed for informal exchanges of good practice. Despite initial ethical concerns about the ways in which the technology might be used (or misused), she came away with a broader understanding of its potential. Using it for summarising texts, translating speech into different languages and assisting with routine tasks can save an enormous amount of time, potentially leading to a better work-life balance.

Artificial intelligence: friend or foe?

We experimented with getting Zoom’s AI summary tool to summarise our conversation about the conference. It did a reasonable job of picking out key themes and provided a useful starting point for structuring this blog (but we’re not ready to hand over the writing task just yet!).

We agreed that AI needs to be integrated as a valuable tool to enhance both teaching and services at universities. Staff are on a steep learning curve so professional development is required – especially if they are to guide students to use it responsibly and ethically.

Or will it be the students guiding the staff?

Are you living by ‘actions not words’?

Judging by the opening plenary of the conference, at which Jahkini Bisselink and Hajar Yagkoubi delivered an insightful speech on what makes Gen Z tick, students from this age group are one step ahead not only when it comes to technology, but also when it comes to ethical considerations.

A key takeaway from this session and the conference as a whole was the need for ‘actions not words’.

Gen Z was described as an activist generation (though this can manifest itself in a range of ways). Many are frustrated at the inaction and denial of those in charge when it comes to navigating the series of crises our world is facing (‘polycrisis’): from climate emergency to global pandemic to war to inequity and exploitation.

They are willing to walk away from brands where there is a dissonance between their advertising campaigns (and stated values) and the way they treat their employees and those in their supply chain.

Universities take heed! If we don’t walk the talk, students are likely to vote with their feet.

What are your next steps?

  • The IC Global runs complimentary online IC Cafés to provide the international education sector with cutting-edge knowledge and advice on the key issues facing the sector NOW.
  • The IC Cafés are designed to support professional development, networking opportunities and information sharing.
  • We would love to welcome you to be part of the IC community, where you will have access to these Cafés.