BCCIE 2019

Participants will share best practices for developing Faculty Led Classrooms Abroad from three college perspectives. North Island College will speak to faculty-led programming in Greece and the Philippines; Durham College will share examples of partnership development with USIL, Peru, and TU Dublin, Ireland; and, Humber College will discuss successful field school programming with the University of Gloucestershire, UK, and the Nanjing Forest Police College in China. The workshop aims to answer: 1) what are the best practices to support faculty in becoming champions of learning abroad? and, 2) how can institutions leverage partnerships in development of field school projects?

The University of Saskatchewan has become increasingly conscious of the growing diversity, both Indigenous and international, of the students that it serves. This has given rise to a focus on Indigenization and internationalization on campus. The Building Bridges program is an Aboriginal Student Centre and International Student and Study Abroad Centre partnership. It provides programming with a focus on Aboriginal and international relations and cultural understanding that brings together students in a safe space. The program is able to demonstrate effective relationship building that facilitates an inclusive and supportive environment and strives to bridge the gap in relationships, understandings, and appreciation of cultures and histories.

This session will explore the rise in student demand for international experiences in the fields of Academic Internships, Co-Operative Learning, and Experiential Education. Universities, Colleges, 3rd Party Providers, and Governments are recognizing the demand, and responding to it in creative and innovative ways. Our presentation will explore innovative programs such as the New Zealand government’s Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia and Latin America; a collaboration between Education New Zealand, University of Auckland, and The Academic Internship Council. Closer to home – we will explore partnerships forged by Simon Fraser University with organizations in the US and the Asia Pacific Region. The session will discuss networking opportunities at the Global Internship Conference. The GIC has a sharp focus on best practices, challenges, and collaboration in the world of international experiential learning. Many successful programs and partnerships have been formed as a result of the cross-section of institutions that attend the GIC.

With the rise of terrorism around the world, the notion of security has taken a whole new perspective in developed countries. Schools face increasing safety challenges when pursuing activities abroad and many are not equipped to face their duty of care responsibilities, to keep their students and employees safe, to protect their reputation and to mitigate financial risks linked to legal proceedings from parents. Inspired by the best practices used by renowned international organizations such as the Red Cross and Oxfam International, and integrating the standards enunciated by the internationally recognized risk management norm, ISO 31000, this session presents the guiding principles for mitigating risks in international mobility contexts as well as the elements that must be integrated in the emergency response plans of Canadian educational institutions’ that pursue activities abroad.

A consortium made up of Bow Valley College, College of the Rockies, and Selkirk College was one of only two post-secondary applicants selected by Global Affairs Canada to implement their 2018-2020 International Youth Internship Program. By working together, these three institutions are achieving much more than they could alone in developing internship opportunities with education and training partners abroad. In particular, these colleges have been innovative in creating opportunities for young Canadians to both acquire valuable skills for employment in international development and contribute to the advancement of other internationalization goals of the consortium members and their international partners.

Unprecedented growth in international students at both public and private universities and colleges has posed new challenges that require creative solutions. Executives from across the sector will provide insight into how leadership teams are addressing building and scaling teams to provide basic and specialized student services, managing unexpected changes to policy and legislation, strategic partnership development, recruitment of both a diverse student body and faculty, process improvement and automation to enhance service delivery, program development and enhancement, creation of institutional governance structures, and strategic planning.