UW-Madison Students Improve Ecuador Water Quality

CONTACT: Jeff Russell, (608) 262-7244, russell@engr.wisc.edu

UW-MADISON STUDENTS IMPROVE ECUADOR WATER QUALITY

MADISON - “I’ve got a project for you,” University of Wisconsin-Madison civil and environmental engineering professor Peter Bosscher told Jonathan Blanchard and Kevin Orner in August 2007, during one of the trio’s weekly gatherings at Bosscher’s home.

Blanchard and Orner, civil and environmental engineering students who graduated in May 2008, listened as their mentor described a design to fix a water pipeline serving five small communities in central Ecuador.

“The day he told us, we said, ‘Yes, we’ll do it.’ We went home and started putting together a proposal that week,” says Orner.

Along with fellow civil and environmental engineering student David Tengler, Blanchard and Orner tackled the project for their senior design capstone project, a requirement for all civil and environmental engineering seniors.

The result is a 10 kilometer-long system of PVC pipes that provides equal amounts of water to the villages of Larca Cunga, Agualongo, Panecillo, Yambiro and San Juan Loma.

Water equity is a major improvement: Before the project, the communities furthest from the mountain spring could only draw water for one hour late at night while the communities closest to the source drew an estimated 100 gallons per person per day.

“We all felt privileged to do a project that influences people’s lives in such a positive way,” says Tengler.

Weak dollar drives up cost of studying abroad [USA Today]

By Sarah Butrymowicz, USA TODAY

For years, rising numbers of U.S. college students have been packing their bags and flying overseas, typically to Europe, for a semester or year abroad and a wealth of irreplaceable memories. Lately, though, these students have been stung by a nasty adversary that they and their parents didn’t have to worry about till recently: the sinking U.S. dollar.

The dollar has dropped steadily just as more students have been heading overseas. In the past decade, the number has surged an average of about 9% a year. In the 2005-06 school year, 223,534 students took classes abroad, compared with only 89,242 a decade earlier, the Institute of International Education says. Those figures are projected to climb as more colleges stress the value of a global education.

The result is that more students are feeling financially squeezed overseas. The dollar has sunk especially low compared with the euro, the currency used by most Western European countries, and with the British pound. Britain was the top study-abroad destination in the 2006-07 year, followed by Italy, Spain and France. Germany and Ireland also made the top 10.

For students on tight budgets, the cost of many goods and services overseas, especially in Europe, is now crushingly expensive. A one-month student pass for the Tube in London? That’ll be $130, please. Dinner for two at a modest Parisian restaurant, with dessert and a couple glasses of wine each that might cost around $60 in the U.S.? More than $95.

Top 10 Cures for Study Abroad Boredom [examiner.com]

By Jessica Warnock, examiner.com

Inevitably, once you arrive to your new country, once all the orientations, paper-work filling sessions and unpacking is complete, you will at some point become incredibly and mind-numbingly bored. While it is easy to assume the first few weeks will be a whirlwind of cultural infusion and fun, most likely, after the first week or two, you won’t have any idea what to do with yourself. This unexpected affect is completely normal in any new situation. You are not familiar with your new area and what it has to offer and probably haven’t made too many friends yet. You suddenly find yourself chalk full of free time with no idea how to spend it. For this, I offer tried and tested methods to kill the monotony so you don’t end up playing hundreds of games of FreeCell on your laptop.

1. 1. Volunteer: This is a boredom killer that not only passes the time, but makes you feel like using your time positively. It is also a great way to meet some locals and get to know a new area that may not be covered in your Lonely Planet. As to be expected, the most common volunteering option is to teach or tutor English. However, I encourage you to look past this option for something a little more intriguing. For instance, one of the kids in our current group will be spending three weeks after the semester ends volunteering in two Costa Rican national parks. Rainforest vs. English grammar? No contest.
   2. Read…in your host language: Trust me, if you are looking to kill time, reading in another language you are just starting to learn will make the hours fly by, especially when it takes a half-hour to read one page. Also, reading is the best way to pick up new vocabulary. Try reading the local version of one of your favorite magazines (my favorite: Spanish Cosmopolitan). If you are feeling courageous, pick a book written by someone in your host country. Once you finish your first whole book in another language, you will feel incredible!
   3. Go to a local café or bar you have never been to: Exploring the bar/café scene in your area is essential to the beginnings of any study abroad semester. Take your new gringo buddies and find the best cup of coffee in town. Once you have found a great spot, you will always have a place to come back to.   Regarding the club scene, try and sit at the bar and make friends with the bartender to practice your new language (also a great way to meet potential study abroad boyfriends and girlfriends, hint hint).
   4. Have a Multicultural Cooking Night: Whether you are living in a host family or in an apartment with roommates, suggest a night in which each person brings/cooks something specific to her region. For instance, if you are from Kansas, make some delicious BBQ for your new friends. This is a great way to try some homemade foreign food and is a great conversation starter.
   5. Join a Gym or Sports Team: If you are studying in a large university town, there are probably some sports teams you can join.

From Molecular Science to Political Science: Pasteur Internship Introduces Students to Global Public Health

By Masarah Van Eyck, Division of International Studies

Trucks, cabs, and horse-drawn carts compete for space with pedestrians and even goats below the skyscrapers of downtown Dakar, Senegal. But passing through the iron gates into the Pasteur Institute’s garden courtyard, one is greeted by a bust of Louis Pasteur himself and the air settles into a certain calm.

In the medical virology building, UW-Madison undergraduate student and Mineral Point native Dean Sayre greets me from the other end of the hallway–a tall, shyly smiling 22-year-old in jeans and a Bucky Badger t-shirt. After a tour of the facility from Sayre’s supervisor Dr. Kadar Ndiaye, we descend the stairs for lunch on Gorée Island. Leaving our halting French behind us, Sayre begins to relax into speaking and he easily offers up statistics to put his work and newly discovered passion in context.

“It’s estimated that 600,000 kids die a year around the world from rotavirus,” Sayre says. “And more than 80 percent of those kids are in Africa and Asia.”

Contrast this with the 40 or so deaths per year from the virus in the U.S.

Faced with the disparity between the state of healthcare in Senegal versus his native U.S., Sayre is far from defeated. If anything, it has made him a more devoted researcher.

“It’s not that more people are infected in Africa,” Sayre explains, “it’s just that more die from the virus. Today there are two licensed rotavirus vaccines in the world, but they are primarily available in Europe and the Americas.”

“That’s what’s really interesting,” he continues, “the tools are actually out there to avoid this.”

Those “tools,” he has come to understand, are not just the vaccines engineered in labs like his. Equally important are programs like the PATH Rotavirus Vaccine Program, established to bring vaccines to the populations that need them most urgently.

All Abroad! Overseas Study Required at Goucher College [The Chronicle of Higher Ed]

By Karin Fischer, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Goucher College’s picturesque campus, on 290 leafy acres just north of Baltimore, plays well in college-admissions materials. Officials at this private liberal-arts institution, however, hope students will also be attracted by the opportunity to get away.

Two years ago, Goucher began requiring all students to earn some academic credit abroad, one of possibly just two American colleges to make overseas study mandatory.

Goucher officials wanted to “convey in no uncertain terms that a cross-cultural experience is critical,” says Eric Singer, associate dean of international studies. They also hope that the requirement, which comes with a $1,200 voucher to help defray some of the expense, will make the college distinctive to prospective students.

The Goucher experiment is still in its infancy — the college will welcome the third class to enroll under the requirement this fall. And several colleges, like Kalamazoo, in Michigan, and Dickinson, in Pennsylvania, have succeeded in sending nearly all their undergraduates abroad without such a requirement.

But with academic, business, and political leaders in agreement that international study is one of the best ways to produce globally literate citizens, administrators at other institutions say they are closely following Goucher’s experience as they seek to increase their own foreign-study participation rates.

“We have to look at what’s happening — or not happening — on campuses to find more ways to make study abroad available,” says Allan E. Goodman, president of the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit organization involved in international exchanges. He notes that 55 percent of collegebound high-school seniors in a recent survey said they planned to study overseas, but just 1 percent of American students actually do so.

In many ways, Goucher’s experience magnifies the challenges other colleges have faced as they seek to expand international study.

Administrators here have wrestled with concerns over cost and capacity as they seek programs of sufficient variety and quality to accommodate growing demand. In this first phase, at least, Goucher has found itself relying on short, faculty-led trips as it begins the slow process of vetting longer-term programs. Some faculty members and students, however, have questioned the educational value of such brief stints abroad. And a number of professors say they sometimes feel in over their heads as they struggle to be both academics and travel coordinators.

Faculty buy-in is important, international-education experts say. Without it, foreign study risks becoming disconnected from the rest of the college experience.

“The number of students abroad itself, that’s just the input,” says Brian J. Whalen, president of the Forum on Education Abroad, a consortium of American and overseas colleges and study-abroad providers. “The real measure is the impact on the institution and on what students are learning.” [Click here to read the full story. Subscription only.]

UW senior serves as translator for Bucks’ Yi Jianlian [The Capital Times]

By Todd Finkelmeyer, The Capital Times

Matt Beyer is the first to admit he’s catching his breath just a bit as he wraps up a whirlwind senior year at UW-Madison.

“I’m not going to lie, it was really intense,” said Beyer, who is taking two courses this summer to complete his undergraduate degree. “When the year was over, I felt a little burned out.”

A little burned out?

Not only was Beyer putting the finishing touches on a triple major of Chinese, East Asian studies and journalism, but from October through April he served as the interpreter for Milwaukee Bucks 7-footer Yi Jianlian, a rookie from China.

The Bucks play 82 games during the regular season, with half 75 miles down the road in Milwaukee and the rest at various NBA cities around the country. And with rare exception, Beyer was at Yi’s side as an interpreter for media interviews both before and after every game.

“You know what the strange thing is?” said Beyer, who recently turned 23. “As intense as it was, I miss the season already. It was so fun, and now watching the NBA playoffs on TV I wish the Bucks were still in it. I didn’t sleep much during the year, but everything was so exciting and new, I just felt grateful to be in that position.”

Beyer, who grew up in Elm Grove, a suburb of Milwaukee, was first introduced to Chinese culture when he traveled with his family to the city of Xi’an, where his parents adopted a young boy and girl from an orphanage. He was 10 at the time.

Beyer eventually became so interested in China that he spent two years studying there straight out of high school before enrolling at UW-Madison in the spring of 2005.

Send More U.S. Students Abroad [The Christian Science Monitor]

We can’t be competitive globally if we lack exposure beyond US borders.

By Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton

from the June 12, 2008 edition

Both presidential candidates have identified the decline of America’s international prestige as one of the most serious problems that the next administration will face. But neither have yet come forward with a detailed plan to address it.

One crucial step the United States could take to improve its long-term understanding of and effectiveness in world affairs is to establish study abroad as an integral component of US undergraduate education. Legislation to address this need is languishing in the Senate. Its passage would provide the next president with an important tool for advancing US interests.

Polls have consistently shown that most students enter college wanting and expecting to study abroad. Yet few do. The reason is not only a lack of funding but institutional barriers and curriculum rigidities at colleges and universities.

About 1 percent of those enrolled in all US higher education institutions study abroad for credit in any given academic year. About 10 percent of those graduating from college in any given year will have studied abroad for credit at some point in their undergraduate education. Of those who study abroad, the vast majority does so for a semester or less, nearly half for only a few weeks, and nearly half in only four Western European countries. Study abroad participation is overwhelmingly white and two-thirds female. Minorities and students of limited financial means are underrepresented.

International Exposure Leads UW Student to Form Innovative Student Group on Stem Cell Research

By Dana Bedessem, Division of International Studies

Bundled-up students file into the Paul Ebling Symposium Center with wind-burnt red cheeks and noses, brushing off the snow before finding a seat among the crowd. The auditorium is loud with chatter - mostly about the blizzard they had all just braved to make it to this special event. The lights go down and a wave of silence rolls across the auditorium. Adrenaline pumping music booms through the walls and a series of sharply colored power point slides begins with, “We’re here to make a difference, to make things better, to educate ourselves, each other, and the WORLD.” The momentum rolls on and the crowd is mesmerized.

Blame this hypnotic state on the ambition and passion of UW-Madison senior Adam Ericsen and his new student organization, Discussions on Advancing Regenerative Therapies (DART). UW-Madison is leading the country in stem cell research and its companion fields under the world renowned research of Gabriela Cezar (picture at right), Clive Svendsen, James Thomson and other faculty. Ericsen founded DART under the teachings of these scientists. The four initiatives of DART are: education and outreach, classroom outreach, to provide a constructive outlet for ambition, and to develop international research prospectives. DART aims to provide every student, despite their major, with the international resources to conduct regenerative research and ask questions to find their own answers while bridging the gap between professors and students.

“It’s student organizations like DART that are necessary for undergraduate students to take the first step in realizing their own full potential,” says Dean of the Division of International Studies, Gilles Bousquet. “Today that potential must entail a significant degree of global competence that DART encourages.”

Brainstorm: Why Study Abroad? [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

By Stan Katz, The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle recently reported on a new American Council on Education report (“Mapping Internationalization on U.S. Campuses: 2008 Edition”) on the status of the internationalization of American campuses. The report concludes that some progress has been made — the percentage of schools offering education abroad has grown from 65 percent in 2001 to 91 percent in 2006, more funding is available for faculty to lead study programs abroad and for hosting international faculty.

But the report also cites declines in general education requirements to take international courses and notes that most campuses do not have a full-time person to coordinate internationalization, and that a large number of campuses had no students studying abroad. The ACE report is important, and one hopes that data of this sort will be kept systematically so that we can continue to monitor the situation.

But of course the important question is what constitutes “the situation.” We have been proclaiming the importance of internationalization (or, more recently, globalization) for a generation now, but these terms mean very different things to different people, institutions and classes of institutions.

Some of the emphasis has been on curriculum — do we have courses relating to foreign cultures? About globalization? Should we require international studies for degree completion? Some of the emphasis has been on human resources — do we have faculty who come from (and/or were trained) abroad? Do we have faculty who are genuinely knowledgeable about other parts of the world?

Much attention has been paid to study abroad — shouldn’t we require our students to spend at least one term outside this country? Don’t we need more foreign students on American campuses? And so forth. These are all important questions, and they move us beyond promotion of the junior year abroad, which for too long was the primary response of U.S. higher education to calls for internationalization. (Click here to read the full story. Subscription only.)

Alumni Donations Make Study Abroad Possible: 2008 Study Abroad Award Ceremony

This year 50 undergraduate students received scholarships to study abroad in 23 different countries. The students come from all over Wisconsin and the U.S. and are highly diversified in majors and destination countries.

At the award ceremony in April two UW seniors and former study-abroad scholarship recipients, Stephanie Koczela, who studied in Nairobi, Kenya, and Ben Harguth, who studied in Budapest, Hungary, gave advice and insight on what incredible adventures the students were about to encounter.

“Being there [Nairobi] I realized that the goals you have for yourself are often shaped by experiences that you have, and I hadn’t had enough experiences to understand how I could have the impact I wanted to have.” said Koczela. “I then realized that my goals could be better met by taking a different path than I had originally intended before studying abroad.”

“You will change,” said Harguth. “You’re going to learn a lot about yourself, others, and different cultures.”

Both Koczela and Harguth expressed their gratitude for the scholarships they received to make their study-abroad experiences possible and discussed how they will apply their new perspectives in their future careers.

From Mexico to China, UW students will create mind-opening experiences for themselves and bring their international awareness back to campus, all made possible by the generous donations of UW alumni. There are currently seven study-abroad scholarships available to students through alumni donations: Study Abroad Telethon, Chuo-Kuo-Ping, Gerend, Joe Elder, Makward, Chicago Rothschild Fund and Pritzker Pucker. This year, these funds were able to award a total of $84,500.

Foreign Universities Want More U.S. Students [The Chronicle of Higher Ed]

By BETH MCMURTRIE for the Chronicle of Higher Education

A new report by the Institute of International Education says that foreign universities would welcome more students from the United States but that American students increasingly prefer short-term programs to the semester-long and yearlong programs that many overseas institutions continue to offer.

The report, “Meeting America’s Global Education Challenge: Exploring Host Country Capacity for Increasing U.S. Study Abroad,” asks whether universities abroad are able and willing to take in more American students at a time when both colleges and lawmakers in the United States are seeking a rapid expansion of study-abroad numbers.

More than 530 universities responded to a survey by the institute last fall, with 64 percent of the responses coming from Europe.

The survey found that virtually every institution would welcome more American students but that the programs most institutions offer for study abroad were designed for a full semester or a year. Only 16 percent offered programs two months in length, and only 22 percent provided programs of less than two months.

That is at odds with trends in the United States. About 53 percent of students who travel abroad from the United States participate in such short-term programs. Only 37 percent study abroad for a semester, and only 6 percent do so for a full year. (Click here to read the full story. Subscription only.)

New Exchange Program to Build Bridges Between UW and India

CONTACT: Aseem Ansari, (608) 265-4690, ansari@biochem.wisc.edu

MADISON - Although still recovering from jet lag, a group of 15 undergraduate students from India are getting situated in various labs across the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, where they will spend the summer conducting research.

They are the first official participants in the university’s Khorana Scholars Program, which aims to create new opportunities for promising young researchers in one of the world’s most populous nations.

But the new program isn’t just about giving students a new scientific and cultural experience. Aseem Ansari, a UW-Madison professor of biochemistry who co-directs the program, explains that the Khorana Scholars’ visit is part of a broader effort to forge a closer relationship with India.

“The hope is that this program will lead to stronger ties between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and leading educational institutions in India and to the creation of virtual scientific communities across the globe,” he says.

The students, who hail from seven leading Indian universities, will fan out across campus to join labs in the College of Engineering, the College of Letters and Science, and the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. While the students are expected to have some trouble adjusting to campus life here, organizers of the visit expect that they will return home more adept at navigating American culture-and with a deeper sense of what it means to be a research scientist.

Study abroad students featured in más+menos magazine

The new online version of más+menos 9 at www.ciee.org/masmenos, the magazine created each semester by students on the Liberal Arts program at the CIEE Study Center in Sevilla, Spain features stories by UW-Madison study abroad students. Philology students at the Universidad de Sevilla are paired with CIEE students and staff to work together on the creation of articles, personal stories, interviews, and reports around a given topic.

The UW students featured are:

• Bryan Morris “Home”
• Chelsea Lavin “¡Levanta! ¡Rapido!”
• Stefan Bloomfield “From the Cave to the Suburbs”
• Nesse Lovendahl “A House Full of Memories”

Into Africa: Holmen grad embarks on medical journey to test skills and help

By JO ANNE KILLEEN for Onalaska Community Life

Natalie Ammerman, a 2004 graduate of Holmen High School, has been accepted as part of a group of professional students to tour Uganda and help in hospitals, medical clinics and pharmacies.

Ammerman, 22, is a doctor of pharmacy candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy. The university has an ongoing project in Uganda for pharmacy, medical and nursing students and sends students for three weeks each summer. Ammerman and 15 other UW students will travel to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, on May 24.

“I’m really excited,” Ammerman said. “I’ve never been outside of North America. Even though we’re prepared, we really don’t know what to expect. I don’t think I’ll be ready emotionally for what I’ll see. In America, we don’t see emaciated people sitting on the side of the road. It’ll be a culture shock.”

This semester she’s been in a special, for-credit class focusing on Uganda and its culture. “It gets you in the mood. You learn about different aspects of the country, what it has gone through,” Ammerman said. “After many hours of reading texts and discussing the frustrating injustices of life in developing countries, I am eager to offer my knowledge and skills to those who are greatly in need.”

Ammerman has learned Uganda is a country home to many diverse cultures and problems. “Abducted children are forced to fight as soldiers and are powering a rebel movement to overthrow the government in the northern part of the country,” she said. “The urban settings in Uganda have become crowded with displaced children who have fled their homes to escape abduction. The AIDS pandemic has also left many children without parents or a place to live. Most Ugandans live in extreme poverty and do not have access to the basics standards of living such as food, clean water and health care.”

New foreign student and export income geographies in the UK and Australia [Global Higher Ed]

By Kris Olds for GlobalHigherEd

I’ve been visiting the University of Warwick for the last two days and have noticed a serious level of international accent diversity at various campus sites, far more than was the case when I was a PhD student in Bristol in the mid-1990s. Not surprising, perhaps, given Warwick’s position as the third largest recipient of foreign students in the UK, as the Guardian coincidentally noted yesterday:

The universities with the largest numbers of international students.
2006-07 (latest figures)

1. Manchester University 8345
2. Nottingham University 7710
3. Warwick University 7435
4. Oxford University 6555
5. City University 6380
6. Cambridge University 6340
7. University College London 6135
8. London School of Economics 5980
9. Westminster University 5735
10. Birmingham University 5505

Grand total of international students in all years (ie not just in their first year) at all universities in the UK and including undergraduates and postgraduates was 351,470

A related graphic on the regional “hotspots” in the Guardian is here. Recall that the UK is the second largest recipient of foreign students in the world.

Meanwhile in Australia, the 5th largest recipient of foreign students in the world, Australian Education International just released an interesting Research Snapshot (May 2008) that captures some of the economic effects of receiving foreign students

The ‘Supply Side’ of Study Abroad [Inside Higher Ed]

By Andy Guess, Inside Higher Ed

Much of the research on study-abroad programs has looked at the growing number of American students who spend a summer or semester overseas, or the number of foreign students who come to the United States. A new survey, released today, looks beyond the “demand” side of the equation — the American colleges pushing for an increased focus on international education — to the “supply” of available programs and finds that responding institutions in Europe and elsewhere overwhelmingly seek to attract American students, along with those from other major “sending” countries.

The catch, however, is that while most American study-abroad programs range from three-week sessions to a summer or semester, most of the receiving institutions said they had the most room for growth in longer-term and degree programs. “These findings suggest a potential supply-demand conflict: while the majority of overseas institutions indicate that they offer mid-term and long-term programs for non-degree students, most U.S. students tend to study abroad for shorter duration,” says the report.

Of the colleges outside the United States surveyed, 89 percent said they had long-term programs for study-abroad students not seeking a degree — lasting for a full term or a year — while only 38 percent had programs lasting 2 months or less. According to the IIE, 53 percent of American students take “short-term study abroad sojourns,” and only 6 percent spend an academic year or more in such programs.

Souvenirs: A Collection of International Experiences

Souvenirs: A Collection of International Experiences is a brand-new publication on UW campus this year, sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Directorate Global Connections and Publications Committees. Souvenirs features stories from students’ experiences studying, traveling and volunteering abroad, a message from U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, and travel tips and advice. Pick up a free copy around campus today. Locations include Memorial Union, Union South, Morgridge Center for Public Service, Study Abroad Office and more!

2008 Study Abroad Photo Contest Winners Announced

CONTACT: Katie Saur, 608-890-0939, kbsaur@bascom.wisc.edu

Madison, WI – International Academic Programs (IAP) in the Division of International Studies has announced the winners of the 2008 Study Abroad Photo Contest. A reception to honor the winners and have them discuss their photos will take place on Thursday, May 1st from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the On Wisconsin Room at the Red Gym. The reception is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Each year IAP holds a photo contest asking past study-abroad students to submit their favorite photographs to promote the many and diverse study-abroad programs UW offers. This year 72 students submitted an average of eight photos for four photo categories: people and culture, natural landscapes, urban landscapes, and “Badgers abroad.”

For a list of student winners visit: http://www.studyabroad.wisc.edu/alumni/photos/2008_contest/

“Study abroad is one of the best ways we extend the boundaries of the campus to encircle the globe,” says Gilles Bousquet, dean of the Division of International Studies. “This is how we produce global citizens—and that means global talent for a strong state economy. That’s the role of any great global public university.”

Last year 1,600 UW–Madison students studied abroad. IAP offers over 100 study-abroad programs on six continents, including academic year, semester, summer and winter inter-session options. Programs are available to students of any degree or major, freshmen to seniors, as well as graduate students. Visit the Study Abroad Resource Room located in 250 Bascom Hall or www.studyabroad.wisc.edu.

The winning photographers received special prizes from local businesses. The local businesses donating gift certificates are: Fromagination, Husnus, Ian’s Pizza, and the Sunroom Café.

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US Council of Graduate Schools survey reports overseas student applications slow to 3% [Global Higher Ed]

by Susan Robertson at Global Higher Ed

A US Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) survey out this week paints what must be a worrying picture for all countries dependent on income generated by transborder higher education, whether dependent directly on the fees income, or on the brain-power that these students contribute to R&D in the host economy. As we know, many graduate students, particularly from India and China, stay on in their host country once completing their graduate studies, and make important contributions to economic productivity.

The picture painted by this 2008 CGS survey is that the number of foreign students applying to American graduate schools increased by only 3 per cent from 2007 to 2008, following growth of 9 per cent last year and 12 per cent in 2006. This is despite considerable efforts over the past couple of years in reviewing the visa restrictions imposed after 9/11. This had not only discouraged potential applicants, but very lengthy processing times created a disincentive to potential applicants. Other efforts have included more funding for international students and attention to recruitment. What, then, is going on? Let’s first look at the pattern reported in the CGS 2008 Survey.

While the US still has the lion’s share of the global graduate market (65% of graduate students studying abroad study in the US), the CGS report (see table below) shows that while there was strong growth – 12 per cent - in applications from both China and the Middle East, these have to be compared to gains of 19 per cent and 17 per cent last year, respectively. There was no growth in applications from India after a 12 per cent increase last year. China and India are the two countries that annually send the most graduate students to the US.

International-Education Conference Focuses on Ethics and Access [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

By Karin Fischer, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Discussions of access and ethics dominated as the Forum on Education Abroad convened its annual meeting here on Thursday. The conference, which ends today, drew some 700 participants from colleges, overseas-study providers, and foreign host institutions, a turnout that is unprecedented in the consortium’s six-year history.

Also unprecedented is the amount of attention now being paid to international education. As a growing premium is placed on workers who can function in a multilingual and multicultural environment, educators, business leaders, and public officials have called for a substantial expansion in the number, and diversity, of students who study abroad.

Meanwhile, the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut have opened inquiries into the business relationships of college overseas-study offices and outside providers, actions that have spurred the Forum on Education Abroad and other international-education groups to take a tougher look at their own practices. The forum, whose 300 members include American and overseas colleges and outside providers, last month released a code of ethics for study abroad.

The two dynamics of the growing public interest in and scrutiny of international education appear to have largely driven the agenda here. Over the two-day conference, a half-dozen sessions will focus on ethical standards; those that have been held thus far have been standing-room only. Click here to read the rest of the article (subscription required).