| The purpose of this study is to determine how the Chief International Education Officers (CIEOs) in Canada's 15 research-medical universities perceive internationalization to be operating at their institutions. A pilot study identified seven indicators of internationalization. The researcher conducted telephone interviews with the CIEO at each of the fifteen institutions. The aim of the interviews was to probe their perceptions of what internationalization means and the obstacles to its achievement. The interviews yielded quantitative data on how they rank the seven indicators in terms of importance and difficulty of implementation. The study resulted in five major findings. First, the CIEOs do perceive themselves as the leaders of the reform effort on their campus. Thus, their vision of what internationalization is turns out to be critical to the direction that the institution takes. Second, internationalization is student-centered. The process above all, say the CIEOs, should result in more foreign students and faculty members on campus and more Canadian students going abroad. Third, Canadian research-medical universities actively seek talented foreign graduate students in the fields of engineering, information technology, biotechnology and business administration, especially from Asia, and regard them once on campus as immigrants whom they and the provincial and federal governments hope will remain in Canada following completion of their degrees Fourth, there is a misalignment between the goals articulated in mission statements and strategic plans and the reality of faculty tenure and promotion policies. These policies do not reward faculty members for taking students on a foreign study tour, for adding global content to their courses or providing technical assistance to a developing country. There is also a misalignment between the vision of an internationalized university and budgetary realities. Institutions, for example, with few exceptions, are not making substantial investments in study abroad so that more students can have an international experience. Fifth, the decentralized nature of large, research universities militates against any centrally-led, comprehensive reform of the curriculum. |
