Advocacy: Québec election 2008

CBIE was interviewed for a Canadian Press news report on the Québec election campaign. On November 21, CP published “Charest focuses on struggle to attract foreign students.” Premier Jean Charest, re-elected on December 8, linked international students and Québec prosperity in his re-election platform. See the Parti Libéral du Québec media release at: http://www.plq.org/fr/comm_21_11_2008_01.php "Le Québec : destination privilégiée des étudiants étrangers."

Peter Rakobowchuk of CP wrote:

The premier said attracting smart students will be critical to success in the 21st century economy and he lamented that countries like Australia and the United Kingdom have outflanked Canada. Charest promised a major recruitment campaign to attract more young talent from outside the province if his Liberal government is re-elected on Dec. 8….

A recent study by the Canadian Bureau for International Education found that only one-third of international students remain in Canada after graduating - this despite chronic labour shortages in the country.

Québec has fared even worse, with less than one out 10 graduates remaining in the province…."In a few years, Québec and Canada will be in strong competition with other countries to recruit qualified manpower," Charest said. "We don't see it today but in five, six, seven, eight years, you'll see a real competition to get manpower to build our economy."

The international education bureau said 66 per cent of Canadian employers have reported trouble finding qualified people to fill positions, far higher than the 40 per cent global figure. And the country is not faring particularly well at attracting students to fill the gap: Canada ranks 14th among 30 OECD countries as a preferred destination. Less than three per cent of international students who leave home head for Canada compared with 22 per cent for the United States and 12 per cent for the UK.

The education bureau's Jennifer Humphries says countries like Australia have pulled together with a coordinated national effort to market the country abroad. Her organization notes that federal and provincial websites from Canada often provide confusing or even contradictory instructions to foreigners. "It's really been very frustrating over the years because even though there's good will, there's no coordinated strategy," she said in an interview. Humphries said a new Education Canada brand which was launched by provincial education ministers in September, might finally help attract foreign students.

The federal Conservative government has also adopted strategies over the past year similar to the ones Charest promised Friday, as part of a broader reform of immigration rules. Ottawa is also putting in place rules to make it easier for foreign students to find work here.

"Now all of the provinces have to pull together," Humphries said.

See Northern Lights: International Graduates of Canadian Institutions and the National Work Force. http://www.cbie.ca/english/media_resources_reports_e.htm

back to top

International Development in Africa

Did you know that CBIE has an important program and four country offices in Africa?

The Canadian Education and Training Awards—Africa (CETAA) is supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). CETAA’s goal is to strengthen the capacity of civil society in Ghana, Ethiopia, Mali and Sénégal, assisting them to make a measurable impact on the policies and practices of regional and national government commitments towards poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

CETAA supports two streams of activities:

- Individual capacity-building: young professionals and other individuals in priority areas are identified and supported in professional education and training through a competitive award mechanism; and

- Organizational training and capacity-building: 1) organizations are supported in strengthening their skills and knowledge to contribute to the advancement of the country’s poverty reduction strategies and progress towards MDGs; and 2) training institutions are supported in designing and delivering training to organizations in governance-related and other organizational strengthening areas.

CETAA depends on Canadian institutions and experts as partners in delivering organizational training and capacity-building. For information on specific needs, contact Valeria Iannitti at viannitti@cbie.ca and visit www.cetaa.ca.

back to top

Conference 2008
CBIE’s 42nd annual conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador offered something for everyone in our broad constituency. Among the most popular events were the keynote address by Dr. Gwynne Dyer and two half-day workshops, one on coping with the mental health issues of our international students and the other on Europe’s Bologna Process. Participants completing our conference survey overwhelmingly rated the conference either excellent (31%) or good (59%). Other feedback:

- Networking and the opportunity to learn are paramount in making the decision to attend the conference
- Speakers rank next, narrowly ahead of location;
- 85% would recommend the conference to a colleague;
- Internationalization effectiveness is the theme most would like addressed at conference 2009.

back to top

Conference Statistics

- Number of conference participants: 350
- Countries represented: 25
- Canadian provinces represented: 10
- Number of Canadian educational institutions represented: 75
- Number of other institutions represented: 57
- Sponsors: 26 (21 were also exhibitors)

back to top

Community Site

CBIE has taken a new step in promoting our annual conference. In partnership with LearnHub, we have created the first CBIE social networking site. CBIE’s conference community site has allowed us to create a post-conference networking site where conference delegates and the wider public can access and upload presentations (20 are there now) from workshops and sessions as well as participate in discussions. Our goal is to create a forum by which members and conference delegates can communicate with each other year round. The page will help CBIE foster new ideas and plan further conferences in the best interests of our membership and stakeholders.

Currently we are investigating options with regard to a bilingual platform. We would value your views on this and on the general theme of social networking within CBIE. Please consider joining: http://cbie-2008-conference.learnhub.com

back to top

Keynote: Worldviews by Gwynne Dyer

Gwynne Dyer’s keynote speech at Conference 2008 focused on shifts in geopolitics over the 20th century and into the 21st. Truly wide-ranging, Dr. Dyer took listeners on a tour through:
- despair at the state of our most important multilateral institution (currently the United Nations is “desperately battered”);
- concern at the villainization of Islam (“radical Islam probably transient phenomenon”)
- awareness that “what we need to really worry about is major climate change which has the potential to disrupt everything on earth”; and
- relief that the climate change “denial industry” is less effective, that 85% of Americans now believe it is “for real”, and that there is still time to alleviate its worst effects – a window of only 20 years, however.

back to top

Governance Plan Affirmed at AGM

On November 4, 2008 at the Annual General Meeting in St. John’s, the membership of CBIE unanimously approved a resolution from the Board of Directors for a change in the governing structure. The Board based their recommendation to members on findings from a review of governance conducted by an independent governance consultant. Key points stemming from the review:

- The role of CBIE’s Board should be policy and strategy;
- To achieve this, the Board needs to be reconfigured to serve the strategy of the organization;
- This reconfiguration includes infusing more senior level experience into the Board, downsizing for more effective operation, identification of expertise required, and a review of the processes for Board selection (election v. appointment) to gain required expertise;
- The Board needs strength for building external relations to ensure that CBIE is an organization with a voice that will be listened to;
- The Board requires particular expertise, rather than representativeness, while maintaining representation from the various education sectors/levels (university, college and school board).

The Board made clear that they plan to continue to draw on membership through chapters and regional meetings, and through vehicles such as technical working groups and membership surveys. The new Board will comprise 15 members (3 officers, 12 regular members) of which 7, including the three officers (chair incoming or past chair, and treasurer), will be appointed by the Board and 8 will be elected by CBIE’s membership. The Board intends on a gradual transition, using the current term expiry date of members and moving from 21 members to 15 members with the desired composition by 2011.

back to top

Brand Released

Canada’s Education Brand – “Imagine - Education in Canada” – was launched in September and made its first international public appearance at a major Chinese Education Fair. The first major in-Canada presentation on the brand took place at CBIE’s Conference in St. John’s in November.

Currently only in use by federal and provincial governments, CBIE continues to urge rapid roll-out of the brand for institutional and association use.

Canada has long needed an education brand, the current brand and the new information kits are a good start, but big visibility can only be gained through education providers and associations representing them.
See “Imagine” at: www.educationau-incanada.ca

back to top

Canadian Doctoral Students Benefit from UK Rethink

Thanks to CBIE advocacy and lobbying on both sides of the Atlantic – notably by eminent alumni – the UK government has renewed its commitment to the Commonwealth Scholarship Program with Canada.

The restoration was made possible by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, with shared funding from individual universities. The awards are for doctoral study only, not for master’s and doctoral programs as in the past. Nevertheless, the reinstatement is welcome and bodes well for the continuation of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, now entering its 50th anniversary year.

CBIE administers the Commonwealth Scholarships in Canada on behalf of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT). CBIE was informed of the return of the awards in October and immediately launched promotion. Despite minimal lead time, the competition generated 198 applications from keen doctoral candidates from across Canada.

October 8 - Globe and Mail “Commonwealth scholarships get a new, leaner life”. See: http://www.cbie.ca/english/media_news_e.htm

back to top

CECN: CBIE Remarks

Jennifer Humphries, CBIE’s Vice-President, Membership and Scholarships, spoke on a plenary panel at the Conference of the Canadian Education Centre Network, November 25, 2008 in Montréal. On the theme of inter-organizational collaboration, she emphasized CBIE’s longstanding focus on working together in the realms of advocacy, services and events. Highlights of Jennifer’s remarks:

…What about inter-association collaboration, CBIE-style?

First off, CBIE believes in collaboration. In fact, we’ve been advocating for 20 years, at least since 1988, for a national, pan-Canadian, all-party strategy on international education.

In the 90s we continued to urge collective action. We worked with AUCC and ACCC on a report conducted by Dr. Jane Knight that suggested common interests in international education among education, business and government. Still a common vision eluded us. In 2000 we did a cross-country survey, with Dr. Robin Farquhar, supported by the Human Resources Department. We were trying to assess the chances for a national strategy, which really hadn’t gotten any lift over the 90s. Sadly, this study concluded that collaboration wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon.

That didn’t stop us in our tracks, nor did it stop our efforts to work with our partners here at this table. Why? Because the stakes are too high.

Let me ask you: What do we all want for Canadian education? I would suggest that we want it to be world-class, both by its intrinsic solidity, but also extrinsically by a multiplicity of connections to the world of learning outside our borders and by being a respected member of the world education community.

That’s why associations and organizations representing educational institutions advocate, do research, hold meetings and conferences together wherever possible. Canadian education on the world stage is the business of all of us.

Let me give you three examples of collaborative action where CBIE took the lead.

ONE: In ADVOCACY, in 2007, CBIE undertook research to identify the successes and challenges in the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program. The findings of our report, entitled Northern Lights: International Graduates of Canadian Institutions and the National Workforce grabbed headlines, generated debate, and stimulated re-thinking of policies relating to immigration and international students.

TWO: In REPRESENTING Canadian education at major professional conferences and events, DFAIT identified the need to have a national presence at the NAFSA Conference and Education Fair in 2006 here in Montréal. CBIE acted quickly to draw together the partners and successfully made a “splash” at this 7,500-participant event right here on our home turf. We were delighted to have the support of DFAIT, the provinces, AUCC, CECN and others at this event.

THREE: In CONFERENCES, we have been working with CECN to ensure that, beginning in 2010, our conferences will be back to back. Ideally they will also be in the same city, but if that is not possible, in proximity, to make it easier for participants at one to attend the other.

back to top

Events

February 22-25, 2009: AIEA Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Register online at https://aieaworld.american-data.net/events/2009conf/fees.php See also www.aieaworld.org

March 4, 2009: Attracting International Research Students: Strategy and Practice, conference of the Association of Commonwealth Universities Higher Education Unit and I-Graduate, London, UK - http://www.i-graduate.org/events/rethinkingHE2009.html

CBIE Québec Regional, March 25, 2009 - Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), theme: “Health and Safety concerns for International Students”. Session proposals requested by January 23, 2009 on:
1. International student services: orientation, insurance, security, crisis management
2. Mobility and exchanges: best practices, online tools
3. Admission and Enrolment services: transfer of credits, recognition of degrees, the Bologna process
Session proposals should be submitted to: fatim.chaki@mcgill.ca

CBIE Ontario Regional, May, Nipissing University, details to follow

November 8-12, 2009: CBIE Conference Toronto, Ontario. Block these dates in your agenda!

back to top

Deadlines

April 30, 2009 - tbc: DFAIT International Scholarships competition for Student Exchange Programs - GSEP and CUSEP. See www.scholarships.gc.ca