International Generation

If Michael Ignatieff, leader of the federal Liberal party, has his way he will "'internationalize' an entire generation of young people." This idea adds another layer to the emerging discussion of international activities that can benefit students and the post-secondary education community in Canada.  The Ontario government announced in the spring it wishes to see the number of international students increase by 50% in the next five year.

Hearing stories from friends that took advantage of the opportunity to study abroad I now look back on my own student experience and wish I had given traveling abroad to study more thought. Perhaps the increased attention of these international activities will entice current and future students to consider the opportunities of connecting with an international student on their campus or going abroad to enhance their own student experience.  

Student Housing's Next Evolution?

Over the last half century Canadian student housing has evolved many times. Some of the milestones have included: a major residence building boom beginning in the 1960's, the introduction of the RA position and the eventual adoption of professional staff to supervise student staff , a suite style building wave began in the 1980's, the first Living Learning Communities were seen around 1990 and about 20 years ago private developers began constructing and operating residence buildings. 

The next evolution in Canadian student housing seems to be upon us. A struggling economy combined with rising government debt means schools must seek out new solutions when new construction is considered. Last week, an article in the Globe & Mail highlighted that several schools, including University of Toronto, Trent University and Simon Fraser University, are exploring the P3 model (public-private-partnerships) as a way to add student housing without taking on debt. My school can also be added into the mix.

With university and college executive along with developers not being intimately aware of the factors involved in operating a residence an opportunity exists, at this early stage, for student housing professionals to point out a set of values important to creating successful residence communities where student success is maximized.  OACUHO and RLPA are in a great position to take a lead on communicating this set of values and they have the advantage of looking south to use the US as a guide since the P3 model is further along the evolutionary path.  

"In order to ‘engage’ we must ‘be engaged’"

Want to engage students? The University of Waterloo believes that students can be engaged more effectively if staff and faculty are engaged first. Be Engaged has been set up by UW to help promote staff and faculty engagement. To kick start the initiative staff organized a student panel for a recent staff conference. A book club has also been set up. Student Affairs staff on any campus can benefit greatly by starting projects, like Be Engaged, that promote dialogue as it will lead to a deeper understanding of student engagement and promote collaboration between different stakeholders.

The Competition for International Students Begins

Now that members of the university community in Ontario have had time to digest the throne speech I expect that we will see an adjustment in strategy by some schools and new initiatives by others. Competition for international students is sure to heat up though as Premier McGuinty hopes to see a 50% increase in the number of international students over the next five years.

Recently, Western President, Amit Chakma, set a new standard for UWO to reach in a speech at London's Rotary Club. The London Free Press article about the speech highlights that Chakma wants to "open up" Western to the rest of the world and he intends to do this, in part, by bringing international student enrollment in line with some of Canada's top schools. Chakma stated that 6% of the students at Western are from outside Canada and he would like that number to increase to 10%, which is where the University of Toronto currently sits. McGill's international student population is about 20%.

A greater number of international students will bring opportunities and challenges. Doug Owram, in a University Affairs article, points out that "universities need to invest in the students’ success after they arrive on campus. Most universities have created some level of support, and international centres and special orientation programs are common. However, these programs vary considerably in length, resources and substance. All too often, support for international students seems to exist outside the main academic mission of the institutions."

The Premier set the stage and now the players are jockeying for position. Student Affairs is in a strong position to do well in this "race" too.  

Alex Usher: A Consultant Worth Following

Over the past few months I have seen a few articles by Alex Usher that I have found to offer some keen insights in Higher Education. Usher is a Higher Education consultant and his company is Higher Education Strategy Associates.

The first article was Back to the future in University Affairs where he offers his perspective on what higher education in Canada will look like over the next 25 years.

The second article, posted yesterday, is an interview of Usher posted on the Higher Education Management group's blog. In this interview he talks about the value of university rankings, compares Canada's higher education system to other countries and he shares his views of how tuition influences access to education. 

Blame Roy Giroux for My Blog

Dr. Roy Giroux was a professor in my Master's program who has had quite an impact on many students and education professionals in Canada (including me). He served as a Vice-President at Humber College for many years and was instrument in bringing Central Michigan University's Master of Arts in Education program to Ontario. 

Roy taught two of the courses in my Master's program and as we were nearing the end of the program, he challenged my classmates and I to find a way to continue using our new knowledge and to share it with others. He suggested we could present, publish our research or continue with our studies. Blogging was not one of the choices he suggested, but it seemed to me to be a way of extending my learning beyond my masters program while still satisfying Roy's challenge.

It was about a 18 months ago that I started blogging and I recall searching for blogs to see if I could find some examples or models to follow. I did not have much luck. It was not difficult to find blogs about education, but they tended to be elementary or high school teachers or college faculty. It was difficult to find blogs about student affairs in Canada or the US.

I was not sure what to expect when I started sharing my blogs publicly. Part of me wondered if anyone would notice. Making a contribution by writing was not familiar territory for me. Fortunately, given some time, a few people did notice. I recall being surprised to find the first comment on one of my blog posts - it took me a few weeks before I even noticed. Other surprises followed, such as someone signing up to follow my blog, and Joey Coleman, a post-secondary education reporter, sharing a link to one of my posts in his blog. 

Blogging has become a new way for me to explore my thoughts about my work and education in general. It has also allowed me to engage with colleagues in a different way. It has been great to discover new blogs about student affairs, especially from Canada. If you have not read the blog Deanne Fisher started called CACUSS Reads or Ross McMillan's blog at studentaffairs.ca then I would encourage you to do so. Perhaps you will even be inspired to start your own blog. Just remember to blame Roy. 

Digital Community Facilitator: A New Role at Ryerson

A year ago at the Empire Club my school's President, Sheldon Levy, gave a speech where he said, "In Ontario we are moving away from manufacturing and into technology - and I would refine this by saying we are moving into digital media."  The President's overall message was that Ontario has a chance to be a leader in the new digital economy and Ryerson is well placed to take advantage of this opportunity by undergoing an evolution of its role as City-Builder.  To be a leader he sees Ontario designing solutions, not implementing solutions created elsewhere.

The President goes on to highlight that "[our] students are the first generation [to grow] up completely digital. So they bring a measure of real comfort and confidence to problems that rely on digital tools for a solution." Traditionally at Ryerson, and elsewhere, activities organized by student affairs units focus on bringing students together face-to-face.  The internet has been used in large part to support face-to-face events. This approach will continue to have great value, but digital media is providing new opportunities to help us achieve our goals.
 

To take advantage of these new opportunities we are introducing a new position called Digital Community Facilitator. The idea behind this new role is to leverage Web 2.0 tools, such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, to create community as an end in and of itself. The hope is that we can pair the existing and emerging digital communities with the vibrant face-to-face communities that already exist at Ryerson. As a new role, with few models to compare, the position is bound to evolve over time, but I thought there would be value in sharing the responsibilities we currently envision for this position. Comments and questions are more than welcome.

• Conduct periodic assessments, with input from community members, of the health of our digital media communities, measuring engagement, size of community, participation levels, fan interest and performance against university objectives. 
• Grow digital community followers, friends and subscribers within current digital networks related to Ryerson and by identifying emerging digital networks and platforms 
• Launch and manage digital communities, including applications, for networks such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, and provide support,encouragement & advice to students and colleagues who wish to leverage these tools to enhance community development by (a) Creating frameworks for determining when new communities should be launched and supported and (b) Making recommendations on timing, roll-out and objectives of new communities
• Keep up to date with the general digital media landscape and act as a digital media evangelist in the Ryerson community for digital media and the digital media communities.
• Identify and support the most relevant influencers in a wide range of digital communities
• Participate in and stimulate online conversations on behalf of Ryerson to enhance student learning and the student's experience
• Leading ongoing education and awareness initiatives to keep community members abreast of marketplace developments and changes in the digital media space.  Provide advice and support to students and colleagues in digital media best practice and participation strategies.
• Work effectively with cross-functional teams who are seeking ways to integrate digital media within their programs; provide guidance, expert advice and strategies that fit within Ryerson's overall digit media strategy and academic plan