| As internationalization efforts in higher educational institutions expand, so does research aimed to understand concepts, solve problems, and address missing pieces. The internationalization of a higher education institution is an essential component in globalization strategies and developmental capacity goals. The development of international branch campuses in multiple countries have given higher education institutions the ability to introduce their programs of study to students all over the world. These cultural environments can be unfamiliar to higher education faculty members from different countries. Many universities in the U.S. have expanded internationalization efforts by developing international branch campuses and often rely on educators from their home country to provide support and quality assurance to branch campus learners and colleagues. However, many educators sent from their home country to branch campuses do not receive the necessary training for the new cultural environment. The lack of cross-cultural competencies by educators, support, and training can significantly and negatively impact branch campuses and the university as an organization. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to evaluate the framework and role of cross-cultural training, and investigate the perceived impact this training has on the professional experiences of U.S. faculty teaching in American international branch campuses in the UAE. The population of this study includes full and part-time American teaching faculty in American international branch campuses in the UAE as well as the school administrators who are involved with the globalization efforts of the American international branch campus in the UAE. |
