Being an International Students Officer Daniel Stevens, NUS International Students Officer Joy Elliott-Bowman, Campaigns and Policy Officer – Immigration International Student Experience Development Day November 27 th 2013

About Us Daniel Stevens, NUS Joy Elliott-Bowman, NUS

What will this session cover? Understand what International Student Representation Means in Detail Explore the role of “International Students’ Officer” in all its forms. Explore who International Students are. Understand the International Student lifecycle and where you can make change.

International students bring cultural diversity, global understanding and a new sense of connectiveness to our campuses. No student wants to be treated like an export; we can not simply treat international students as income sources.

What does being an International Student Officer mean to you? Discussion: International Students’ Officers are elected to represent, campaign for and defend the rights of international students at a local and national level. 1.What changes do you hope to make in the international student experience? 2.What actions do you plan to take to achieve these changes?

Source: HESA and Higher Education and International Student Mobility in the Global Knowledge Economy (2011)

International Unit – International HE in Facts and Figures – Autumn 2013

Source, HESA, UKCISA

Where do International Students come from? International Students in the UK

Top Sender Countries Source, HESA

International Unit – International HE in Facts and Figures – Autumn 2013

Percent Changes from 10/11 to 11/12 Source, HESA

Subject Studied Source, HESA

International Unit – International HE in Facts and Figures – Autumn 2013

Source, HESA

Source: 2006 IPSOS Mori/UNITE: The International Student Experience Report

Engaging International Students Find out the demographic makeup of your international student population. –PGT, PGR, UG? –Self-funded, Government sponsored? –EU/Non-EU (Christ Church) Problem with one size fits all approach. Different groups will have different expectations. (I.e.. Anglophone countries- cultural vs. linguistic barriers)

We suffer from hyper-diversity! By course: pre-sessional, qualifications, PHD, PGT By cultures. By age. Problem with one size fits all approach. Different groups will have different expectations. (I.e.. Anglophone countries- cultural vs. linguistic barriers)

TNE: International Unit 2013 Factsheet pdf

TNE: International Unit 2013 Factsheet acts2013.pdf

Aid 1940 – 1980s Trade 1980s – 1990s Internationalisation Present Internationalisation at Home

v (UKCOSA, Broadening Our Horizons Report)

Challenges and Opportunities Representing International Students Discussion: What do you think are the main challenges in representing International Students? What do you think are the main opportunities/strengths in representing International Students?

Beyond Borders Project -Pre-Induction information doesn’t include information about Student Unions or learning and teaching representation. -Language Difficulties most common barrier. -Cultural difficulties. -Expectations of the role of student representation. -Feedback main way international students get involved. Mainly Surveys.

Finding out what the Issues Are How can you effectively know what some of the main issues affecting international students on your campus are?

Source: UKCISA 2011, Benchmarking Services

The international student lifecycle Arrival, admissions And induction Learning and teaching Careers advice And Next steps Application And Pre-arrival support

Exploring the International Student Lifecycle Discussion: What changes could you make at each stage of the international student lifecycle to make the international student experience better?

The International Student Lifecycle Arrival, admissions And induction Learning and teaching Careers advice And Next steps Application And Pre-arrival support UCAS, Home Office, NARIC Agents, Recruitment Fairs, British Council, UKCISA NASES, AGR, British Council, Prospects, AGCAS HEA, QAA International Unit, I-Graduate, UUK, Study UK, AoC Marketing and Recruitment Student Experience

1. Honeymoon Stage 2. Disintegration Stage 3. Reintegration Stage 4. Autonomy Stage 5. Independence Stage Home Country Home Country UK Source: Adler (1975) “The Transitional Experience, an alternative view of culture shock”, Journal of Humanistic Psychology Vol 15 No 4, pp

Representing international students International Student Officers represent international students at many different levels: 1.Students Union 2.University 3.National Union of Students 4.Government Anywhere else? What does it mean to represent international students at each of these levels?

Creating Partnerships for International Students There are often many different people working to make the international student experience better: -Students’ Union full-time officers -Students’ Union staff -Students’ Union societies and groups -University staff -University International Students’ Office -& Community groups and NUS (discussed later in the day) Can anyone give an example of where they worked in partnership to make the international student experience better?

Challenges What have been some of the challenges of being an international students officer? What are you worried about?

Online Resources The Internationalising Students’ Union Project on NUS Connect - Some great resources including GCUSA’s Internationalising Strategy, Internationalising Student Union Democracy and more. ernational/ ernational/ UKCISA Publications – lots of good practice guides and training resources. Teaching International Students Project – great resource bank on teaching and learning issues for international students. gandlearning/internationalisation/internationalstudentshttp:// gandlearning/internationalisation/internationalstudents

Thank-you Any questions?