Becoming a truly global University– we can all play our part
02 May 2024
Caroline Baylon, PVC International, outlines her proposed internationalisation and global engagement plans
When I first arrived at Reading, I found a university with great strengths, a global community and a great deal to offer students heading to the UK from overseas.
But league tables and our own surveys have shown this is not always what prospective students and partners around the world see when they look on from the outside. We need to change this and show the world what we are excellent at and great for.
I am therefore excited to share a new proposed Internationalisation and Global Engagement Strategic Framework I have developed as part of my Pro-Vice-Chancellor brief.
The Framework sets out an ambition to embed an international approach within our existing work. It sets out objectives and priorities for the next three years and beyond that will help us interact more meaningfully with the world.
Read more about these ambitions in the Strategic Framework proposal.
Student recruitment and global profile
At the heart of the Framework lie two fundamental priorities. Firstly, to elevate Reading’s reputation on the global stage to increase international student recruitment and partnership opportunities. And secondly to embed a University-wide mindset and approach to being international in all aspects of our work.
Aside from culturally enriching our campus population, it’s no secret that international students fees are a critical source of income, not just for us but all universities.
Increasing our international student numbers is therefore vital to our strategic growth plans in response to ongoing financial challenges.
Our current proportion of international students is 21%. However, other research intensive universities like ourselves tend to have 30-50%. The Framework therefore sets a target of 25% international students by 2027, and at least 33% a decade from now.
Enhancing our global profile, through targeted campaigns and engagement will be essential to achieving these targets. This reputation-building work will also help increase collaboration with international partners and employers, and push us up in international league tables.
Branch campuses and overseas operations
Engaging better with the world around us means making sure the assets we already have are delivering maximum benefits for us.
Our branch campuses and existing overseas operations are therefore key to this ambition. The Framework proposes to take advantage of these to develop Global Engagement Hubs, which will act as gateways for students and partners around the world to access and engage with Reading.
This change will strengthen our presence in our key markets, make operations there more financially sustainable, and align them with our institutional priorities. I am aware of the interest among colleagues in our branch campuses and other large partnerships and want to be clear that this is about helping them to be sustainable and deliver maximum value.
Increasing our international student recruitment will be the primary initial motivating factor for the hubs. They would offer students the choice of studying at Reading in the UK, at one of our overseas hubs, or a combination of both. Making this choice and these possibilities clear from the start will help us to better promote ourselves to the international student market.
We plan to trial the Global Engagement Hub model in South East Asia, taking advantage of our Malaysia branch campus first of all. This Hub will form the focus of our student recruitment and academic partnership work across South East Asia as a whole.
Further hubs will be scoped out in Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe – where Henley Business School has existing campuses – as well as China, where we have a number of large transnational education partnerships, including a large joint institute in NUIST, and in India, where we have now opened a new representative office.
We can all play our part
Embedding the internationalisation approach outlined in the Framework will require some changes in how we operate.
Some of this will be led at management level, and some smart, targeted investment will be required to return greater rewards. However supporting increased numbers of international students to have a positive university experience will require all of us to reconsider how we work day-to-day.
It is important to say that I do not intend for this Framework to create a whole package of additional work for colleagues. Rather, this is about making small changes to what we already do well to enhance the results.
For example, lecturers might have to be sympathetic to the fact a larger proportion of their classes are adapting to new UK teaching practices, on top of cultural and language shocks, and try new styles or approaches to help them. Student Services colleagues will also have to place more focus on welcome and integration activities that are important to international students.
This shift in mindset in all roles is needed for the Framework to succeed.
Have your say
For this reason, your feedback on the plans is essential. I want it to be driven by your needs and priorities and so I welcome perspectives on potential flaws and suggestions to refine the approach.
I will therefore be arranging meetings with Academic Schools and Professional Services over the next few months to allow opportunities for input and collaboration.
I look forward to working with you on developing this Framework. All these different improvements can combine to help us operate across the world more smoothly, rather than in silos as we do too often at present.
The pieces of the jigsaw are already there to a large extent. This is about making them work better for us, to deliver a complete and coherent package.