Latitudes: 'They Didn't Want to Miss the Dream'

Why a veteran international-education leader remains bullish about the field’s post-pandemic future. ADVERTISEMENT [Latitudes Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. A conversation with IIE’s Allan Goodman As chief executive of the Institute of International Education, Allan E. Goodman is one of the most prominent voices for international mobility of students and scholars. Despite the setbacks caused by Covid-19, he’s also been one of the most consistently positive about the ability of the field to rebound. I recently got him on the phone to discuss the source of his optimism, what he thinks we’ve learned from the pandemic, and the continuing challenges for both international enrollments and education abroad. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I want to start with the elephant in the room: How do you think American colleges are doing in emerging from the serious shocks to global mobility caused by the pandemic? By nature, I’m optimistic. Every sign that I can see says people want to continue exchanges. People are willing to travel, are anxious to travel. Campuses want international students. So I’m on the the bullish side of projecting that we’ll be seeing a continued upward trend. Nobody’s lost interest in international education, whether it’s study abroad or interning abroad or outreach to students from abroad. I talk to a lot of students who say, “I was really disappointed in two things during the pandemic. One, my graduation had to be virtual. And the other is, I had a great study-abroad program that had to be canceled.” It’s is part of the mind-set of students that this needs to be resumed, and that makes me very hopeful. When it comes to international students specifically, what factors make you optimistic about a rebound? Even through the worst of the pandemic, there were international students and scholars who were prepared to get on an airplane, to quarantine on campus when they arrived, to line up to get vaccinated — because they didn’t want to miss the dream that they had planned on. I’ve talked to a fair number of international students, who say, “If I had stayed behind in my country, I’d probably never get a chance to study abroad.” And they also might be five years away from getting a vaccination, given how quickly the U.S. rolled it out and how quickly campuses made it available to international students. I think Covid is teaching us a lot about how to handle the next crisis. I wouldn’t think that the next one is going to cause huge drops in international-student mobility or the desire to study abroad. And I bet you can hang up on this call and talk to the next 10 people and they’ll say completely the opposite. Probably! The pandemic has been the focus of our attention for the last few years. Are there other issues you think could affect international mobility, particularly among students coming to study in America? I think [you pinned down]( the one issue that is on a lot of minds, and that’s [mass shootings](. And that was true before Covid. I had more parents and students ask me about safety than about, “Why are costs so high?” or “What will the transition be like?” It’s not a new problem for American educators. Our campuses are safe, but it’s awfully hard from abroad to see that if every other day there’s a headline about a shooting. I think it will cause people to be maybe even more worried than Covid. I do hear from parents that when they realize the institution they’re sending their son or daughter to is aware of this as a problem and is taking taking precautions, that’s reassuring. Yes, I think there was some hesitancy among colleges to discuss gun violence because they didn’t want to raise the issue. But it’s a concern that’s already there with students and families, and colleges can help them make sense of it. Let’s shift to education abroad. I know you had hoped that more institutions would emulate colleges like [Goucher]( which made studying overseas a requirement. Why do you think we haven’t seen more aggressive action to increase access to study abroad? I remain mystified by it. I doesn’t help that so few Americans have a passport. We started the [IIE American Passport Project]( to get 10,000 students of limited means a passport in their freshman year. It’s like getting a driver’s license — once you have it, you actually want to use it. You know I’m crazy so I thought presidents of colleges should do away with ID cards and get everybody passport instead, so that students would be used to showing it. And that idea did not sweep the country. The passport is an example of the hurdles students face that are not huge but are persistent. Are there other things that have to change to make study abroad a more accessible experience? I am impressed with the numbers of first-generation and self-identifying minority students who are applying for the [Gilman scholarship](. I think we made a lot of progress there. There are disciplines like business and engineering encouraging their students to have a study-abroad experience. The NCAA is now helping with the rules for coaching so that the students actually don’t practice 13 months a year, and there is room in their schedules to have a semester or six-week program abroad. But until your faculty member says, “You need to have this experience to really be educated in our discipline and I’m going to help you do that,” it’s hard to change. We’re finding when faculty take that interest in a student, we are making progress. I think faculty are just decisive, they’re very central to to be expanding one’s horizon. ADVERTISEMENT A virtual event on international education Please join The Chronicle and the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education for a [virtual forum]( on what’s next for study abroad and global partnerships. I’ll be joined by a panel of experts from Australia, South Korea, and the United States to discuss the pandemic’s immediate impact on student mobility — and what its lasting imprint could be. The webinar will be held Thursday, September 1, at 5 p.m. ET. It’s free, but [registration]( is required. If you can’t make the session, please sign up, and a link to the recording will be sent to your in-box. SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. And finally ... You might notice that this week’s newsletter is shorter than usual. That’s because I’m on vacation. Here’s a few news items that came across my desk before I logged off: - The number of international students at Arizona State University, including those on campus and enrolled in online-degree programs, will [increase]( 24 percent this fall, the university said. - An international student who is a graduate teaching assistant has filed a [class-action lawsuit]( against St. John’s University, alleging the college underpaid such assistants for the hours actually worked and took advantage of pay limits imposed on foreign students. - The University of California at San Diego reached a [settlement]( with a postdoctoral scholar from China who said her contract was allowed to expire following her complaints about data methodology in her lab, putting her visa in jeopardy. - A Saudi woman was given a 34-year [prison sentence]( for following and retweeting dissidents and activists while a student in Britain. - The disappearance of 43 Mexican college students in 2014 was a “[crime of the state]( according to an official inquiry. Please let me know what I missed while I was away. Plus, I’m still looking for sources for an article on [international students and intimate-partner violence](. If you inform or support international students about campus sexual assault in your role, I’d be interested in talking about how cultural context affects your work and what programming or approaches you find promising. Thanks for reading. I always welcome your feedback and ideas for future reporting, so drop me a line, at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on [Twitter]( or [LinkedIn](. If you like this newsletter, please share it with colleagues and friends. They can [sign up here](. SPONSOR CONTENT | Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore [Building Experience Through Remote Internships]( ADVERTISEMENT NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK [Please let us know what you thought of today's newsletter in this three-question survey](. This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Read this newsletter on the web](. 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