Procedures for Establishing a Partnership
The first and most general thing to say is that this is like many / most / all other relationships. You should know what you want, and how the proposed partner can meet your wants and needs. This may sound like basic definitions of politics, or cynical definitions of romance and marriage. But at least in the instance of an international relationship, it is sound advice.
With that in mind, let us review some possible goals – the things that CSUF faculties (departments, colleges) may wish to gain from an international relationship.
1. General goal: to internationalize the experiences of faculty and students. We name this goal because we think that a 21st-century education simply has to have an international component, in order to be thought high-quality. The world is utterly different in terms of trade, travel, and social and political relationships from what it was even thirty years ago. Consider the impact of the Internet; of low-cost travel for persons and goods; of the World Trade Organization; of the emergence of American hegemony in the international system. (The list of factors that make an international component of education important could easily be extended.)
- Almost any international relationship that has any life to it should move a given faculty / program toward that goal, and so almost any relationship is welcome.
- Perhaps junior faculty are the group to whom an internationalization goal should be specially "pitched." The university surely has junior faculty in these times of growth and retirements.
2. Why [this country]? Why [this institution]? Well, often it is because they asked. Why did you dance with that partner at the junior high school dance? Well, he/she asked. But things to consider an international partner can be sketched.
(A) Economic status: if a proposed partner is in, say, a G-7 nation, it may follow that the partner can afford to build a relationship. Conversely, a proposed partnership with an institution in a poor nation is hobbled to the extent that they cannot afford to do things.
(B) English: How widespread is the speaking of English? If widespread, it eases things for we (too-often monolingual) English-speakers. Note that the global reach of English is genuinely remarkable – but not everybody speaks it.
(C) Academic Characteristics of the proposed partner. Are there obvious programs featured by the partner that correspond with programs at CSUF? Close matches bode well.
(D) Opportunities for 3 rd-party support: Interestingly, some economically less-well-off areas may be featured by programs in the U.S. government. Note also that some well-to-do partner nations have well-funded institutions that may be tapped for support (e.g., the DAAD in Germany – the “German Fulbright”).
(E) How anxious is the potential partner? If quite anxious, they are more likely to try hard to meet our needs.
(F) How attractive is the country to Americans? Is the proposed partner country peaceful, a place to which Americans can travel without special concerns for safety (e.g., from anti-government rebels)? We know via formal survey that CSUF students are attracted to studying in Europe .
(G) Reasons specific to CSUF: Are there specific local reasons to develop a relationship with this proposed country or institution? For example, we have a substantial presence on the CSUF campus of students of Vietnamese heritage, and of Mexican heritage. Can we capitalize on the interests that such heritages may represent?
3. Do others at CSUF have similar interests? It can be helpful if others at CSUF share an interest in the country, if not the specific academic institution. Take Germany for example. The College of Business & Economics has an ongoing, fruitful relationship with Fachhochschule Nürtingen, a little place just south of Stuttgart . The department of Mechanical Engineering has a budding, soon-to-be fruitful (we think) relationship with Fachhochschule Karlsruhe. Another Fachhochschule ( Mannheim ) has sought a relationship with public administration.
4. Things CSUF might want . This is a beginning list, against which you might measure and consider your own specific interests. In short, some of these may "fit" or work for a given program; others may not.
A. Opportunities for our faculty to have an experience abroad. Perhaps CSUF faculty would like from a partner abroad a chance to provide a short lecture series. Perhaps in such a program there would be an opportunity to secure some funding help for air tickets, and to pay CSUF faculty a small stipend. CSUF faculty might lecture in January or earliest June. The payoff could be that CSUF faculty return with interests, stories, topics, ideas that they have picked up, and these find their way into lectures and seminars – thus internationalizing the student experience here, in the CSUF classroom.
B. Opportunities for our students to have an experience abroad. Many varieties are possible.
(1) One could imagine a faculty-led student study tour that focuses on the partner institution, and/or generally upon the country of interest. Venturesome students from CSUF could be encouraged to take a semester or year at the partner institution. We could work out details.
(2) CSUF could send a group of local Orange County professionals, led by a CSUF faculty member, perhaps, to a study-tour of the country of interest.
(3) "Traditional" study abroad for a semester or a year is also possible. Problem: our students usually are hard to persuade to do that. But, we could accept some of their students. See item I, below.
C. Bringing partner institution faculty to CSUF. We can hire them, even part-time; perhaps they have some funding from home to add to the always-modest salaries we pay to part-time faculty. We could imagine paying a faculty member from a partner institution to teach during the CSUF Intersession or Summer Sessions. Many models are available.
D. Bringing partner institution students here. Many models are available.
(1) If the partner has undergrads -- or grads, for that matter -- who would like our graduate degree, we can facilitate that, and even offer some ways of reducing our nonresident tuition. The payoff may be to enliven our classes with people who have another national / cultural background.
(2) Would the partner institution like to send undergrads to take part in our undergraduate courses? They could stay a semester or a year....
(3) Would the partner like to send their local in-place professionals to CSUF for short courses / certificates? Our campus has considerable experience in this, e.g., for administrators from China . The CSUF department / unit could make a few dollars from this, and turn any “profit,” perhaps, to fund / support other faculty trips or student activities, whatever you like.
E. Joint teaching in other ways.
(1) We have some faculty developing ways to jointly teach via the Internet. Portions of classes may be brought together. New equipment can allow simultaneous real-time video and audio, for example. Or, students can exchange ideas via e-mail; even an hour-long phone call is affordable: we can put a speaker phone in the middle of a conference table.
(2) Consider a class that begins at the home institution, and finishes with a week at the partner institution. Or, consider a 3-unit class, call it 555, which has an explicit follow-on course. The follow-on could be a one-unit (or two or three, doesn't matter) 556 which takes the 555 topics into cross-national terrain.
(3) Don't forget the Instructionally Related Activities fund, from which departments can request funds for educationally-related student travel.
F. Joint research. Some research funders / agencies reserve support specifically for international projects.
(1) Partner country - American comparisons.
(2) Partner - CSUF team studies processes / institutions in a third country.
The CSUF Director of Contracts & Grants (Linda Patton) has substantial international experience, and could help facilitate grant-writing.
G. Use a center or another administratively convenient unit to do multi-national work. Can you eventually develop a three-part relationship -- Partner country A / US / Partner country B? Can you put on a conference of significance or note? You might request a Presidential Mission & Goals Initiative grant to support it.
H. What if a CSUF department developed a concentration within its BA program that featured the partner country? You could include some foreign language, if you like: note the new, upcoming foreign languages requirement that CSUF will put in place four years from now. How about a major in “Basket-Weaving” with a concentration in French? Compare to the CSUF Bachelor’s in International Business, which requires a concentration in a foreign language.
I. Note that in all relationships like this, we strive for rough parity or equality. Value received roughly equals value sent out the door. Note, though, that we can exchange apples for doughnuts, or oranges for bicycles. The partner could send us some students; CSUF could send them faculty on short lecture tours, more or less in exchange. The point is rough parity, and it is not the case that for every student the partner sends, CSUF must send one in return. It is the case that for every draw upon CSUF resources, we should be able to show corresponding CSUF benefits derived via a draw of some kind on the partner’s resources.
5. A Final Word. Always keep in mind: a department or program needs some faculty who will make the international partnership a priority, lend energy to the partnership, be willing to get involved. If this is everybody's fourth priority, on a long list of good ideas “that we should do sometime,” it won't fly far or well.
