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Plenty on the table at internationalisation conference
19 September 2012

Leadership: Dr Mark Hay, executive director of the Council on Higher Education; Dr Nico Jooste of IEASA; Prof Ernest Aryeetey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana; Dr Max Price; and Dr Mvuyo Tom, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare, lead the discussion at the conference's Leadership Symposium.

If there’s one thing that keeps him awake at night, said Dr Max Price, it is that institutions like UCT are not keeping pace with the changing landscape of internationalisation in higher education.

The Vice-Chancellor was speaking at the opening of the 16th Annual International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) Conference in August, attended by over 300 delegates.

"We may be doing our institutions a disservice in the long term by not really understanding the way that the higher education game is changing as a result of internationalisation, and that we may wake up five years later and discover that we've missed the train," he added.

There's an array of issues to consider on this front, such as the attributes that university graduates will need in order to work in other countries. Add to this concerns about how the university’s infrastructure will cope with greater numbers of international students from Africa and beyond – and what of international research collaborations, and the issue of joining − or not joining − the plethora of international networks?

International ranking systems − flawed though they may be – cannot be ignored either; such is the influence they wield over prospective students, scholars and funders, said Price.

In addition, universities have to come to terms with the growing number of satellite campuses set up "in our own backyard" by international universities, eating into any previous geographical advantage local universities may have held.

"Should South African universities consider setting up their own satellite campuses elsewhere?" Price asked.

Highlights of the conference included a symposium of university leaders, chaired by Price, which discussed the role of university leadership in internationalisation; and a research indaba on the opening day, facilitated by Professor Danie Visser, deputy vice-chancellor for research.

It also marked the launch of a special interest group on internationalisation in the curriculum, and the signing of a historical memorandum of understanding between IEASA and the African Network for International of Education (ANIE).

View a video of the conference

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