1. Title of presentation umanitoba.ca Helping Hands Come in Many Different Colours: Support Services for International Student Success Presenter: Soon Kong Academic Advisor University 1 First Year Centre University of Manitoba Canada

2. University of Manitoba

3. Agenda  International Students in Canada and U.S.  Economic and Social Impact.  Why U.S. and Canada?  Internal findings and services at the University of Manitoba.  Best Practices in Canada and U.S.  Impact on domestic students, academic staff, faculties, institution and in the communities.  Essential resources.

4. National Level  Canada  Plans to double its international student body by 2022  265,377 in 2012-2013  450,000 by 2022  China, Vietnam, India, Brazil, Mexico, and the Middle East- North Africa region.  B.C. /Ontario combined: 68 % of all international students. Source: CBIE

5. National Level U.S.  819,644 in 2012-13  China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada  California hosts over 100,000 - 12% of total international students  Less than 4 % of all students (21 million)

6. Economic & Social Impacts Canada  $10 billion annually  86,000 new jobs  GDP Contribution  Tax revenue  Recruiting skilled labour  Building relationships with other countries for potential trade opportunities U.S.  $24 billion annually  313,000 new jobs

7. Why Students Choose North America for Higher Education?  Highly competitive to get into prestigious universities in home country.  Marketability.  Better Education System.  Critical & creative thinking skills  Teamwork skills  Communication skills  Language skills  Opportunities to work/to immigrate/overall quality of life.

8. Findings at the U of M  Assessing International Student Performance  High School grades above 80%  62-65% (Manitobans) vs  82-83% (International Students)  Academic performance: less than 2.0 GPA at the end of the first year of study.  2005-2006 : 31.38% (All University 1) vs  42.30% (International)

9. Why Do International Students Struggle?  Language  Different education system  Culture  Isolation  Climate  Other

10. Areas of Support  “Cultural identity”  “Psychological and emotional support”  “Professional and academic support”  “Multicultural network”

11. Student Services: Best Practices – Canada and U.S.  “ Psychological and emotional support”  “Professional and academic support”  “Multicultural network”  Orientation  Pre-arrival package/Handbook  Mentorship Program/Pioneer or Pioneer  Student Advising/Academic Advising  Workshops  U of A+ (boot camp)  Global Friendship  Language Bank  Global Learning Centre

12. Student Services: Best Practices – Canada and U.S.  Global community  Community connections  Global café/Weekly coffee hour  English conversation program  Cultural events throughout the year including field trips  Cultural centres  Newsletter  Social media  Homestay Program  “Psychological and emotional support”  “Professional and academic support”  “Multicultural network”

13. Student Services: Best Practices  U of A+ (University of Alberta, Canada)  Mentorship Program (U.S. and Canada)  Global Café/Weekly Coffee Hour (U.S. and Canada)  Global Community (University of Victoria, Canada)  International Friends Inc. (The University of Arizona)  Language Bank (U of Calgary, U of Manitoba, others)

14. International Student Mentorship Program (ISMP)  Designed to help new international students during their transition and induction into life at the University of Manitoba.  Runs from September to the end of April.

15. Institutional: Best Practices  “Internationalizing the Curriculum” – University of Victoria, Canada  Guest lectureship  Tour  Academic links  Study visits of teaching staff  Intellectual Exchange Conference  Workshops  Confucius Institute

16. Discussion  In groups (5 minutes)  What kind of programs does your institution offer for international students?  How do the program(s) operate? Do you measure outcomes of the program(s)?  Did you find any program(s) that you (or your institution) might be interested in developing further?  Share best practices within your group.

17. How International Students Impact on Various Levels?  Domestic Students  Academic Staff  Faculties  Institution  Communities

18. Impact on domestic students  Benefits  Diversity in classrooms  Make connections with international students  Learn about different cultures  Broaden their minds and knowledge  Become global citizens  Consideration:  Mutual stereotype

19. Impact on academic staff  Benefits:  Opportunities to incorporate global materials and perspectives within curricula.  Opportunities to bring up global issues to share with domestic students.  International perspective.  Attitudes toward cultural diversity may change.  Consideration:  Understand, acknowledge and accommodate (as needed) that some international students may have difficulties in classes.

20. Impact on faculties  Benefits:  Bring international perspective for students and staff.  Diversity in classrooms.  New opportunities for research.  Opportunities to form partnerships with international institutions.  Contribute to the institution and society in general.  Considerations:  Ratios between domestic and international students – should there be a quota?  Require more resources.

21. Impact on institution  Benefits  Internationalization  Partnerships  Diversity on campus  Diversity in staff  Potential employment  Revenue  Funding opportunity  Economic contribution  Considerations  Less spots for domestic students?  Require more staff  Academic discipline cases  Require more support resources  Budget constraints

22. Impact in the community  Benefits:  Contribute to local economy.  Strengthen international awareness  Considerations:  Discrimination.  Very little is known – research opportunity.

23. Discussion  Within groups  How do international students impact on the behaviours of academic staff and institutions (if at all)?  Is it necessary to change some of the curricula to incorporate international context?  More within global context than a North American context?  If curricula should not change, then would there be any accommodation in diverse classrooms?  Attitude towards international students  Academic staff  Domestic students

24. Are we doing enough?  Always room to improve!!!

25. Essential Resources  Budget  Research  Staff  Support services: programs/projects  Time  Expertise  Diversity  Language Barriers  Cultural Barriers  Attitudes

26. Reference Blais, C. (2010). University 1 International Student Profile 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. University of Manitoba CBCNEWS: British Columbia (January 15, 2014). Canada wants to double its international student body. Retrieved May 25, 2014 from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canada-wants-to-double-its-international-student-body-1.2497819 CBIE(Canadian Bureau for International Education) (2014). Canada’s performance in international education, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2014 from http://www.cbie.ca/about-ie/facts-and-figures/ ICEF Monitor (2014). Canada’s international student enrolment up 94% over past decade. Retrieved June 22, 2014 from http://monitor.icef.com/2013/11/canadas-international-student-enrolment-up-94-over-past-decade/ Education Counts (2014). The impact of international students on domestic students and host institutions. Retrieved June 22, 2014 from : http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/international/14684 Hefling, K. (November 11, 2013). Study: Record number of foreign students hit US. Retrieved June 22, 2014 from http://news.yahoo.com/study-record-number-foreign-students-hit-us-050217743.html Institute of International Education (2014). Open doors 2013: International Students in the United States and Study Abroad by American Students are at All-Time High. Retrieved June 22, 2014 from http://www.iie.org/Who-We-Are/News-and-Events/Press-Center/Press-releases/2013/2013-11-11-Open- Doors-Data NAFSA (2014). Internationalizing higher education. Retrieved June 29, 2014 from http://www.nafsa.org/Find_Resources/Internationalizing_Higher_Education/ http://www.nafsa.org/Find_Resources/Internationalizing_Higher_Education/

27. Thank you very much for your participation!!! Soon Kong Email: soon.kong@umanitoba.ca Phone: 204-474-8699soon.kong@umanitoba.ca Questions?

28. Title of presentation umanitoba.ca