From the Chancellery
Executive Director and Vice President: International and Development
Dr Anna Ciccarelli
In
recognition of the benefits of international education, student mobility and
open borders in particular, the Federal Government is bringing international
education to the fore as a key strategy in foreign policy initiatives.
For instance, the billion dollar tsunami reconstruction commitment to Indonesia includes significant funds for scholarships and for building educational capacity, while Pakistan and India have both received significant Endeavour Scholarship commitments.
Also, the AusAID scholarship budget has doubled and UniSA is looking forward to re-engaging in this important international education program and rebuilding our links in Indonesia and growing our relationships in Vietnam as a consequence.
Further, Minister Bishop recently launched a discussion paper on "The Implications of the Bologna Process for Australia", a plan which aims to "harmonise" degree structures and build a European Higher Education Area across some 45 countries.
The goal is to make Europe the most competitive economic block in the world by 2010 through the alignment of education awards into a graduate, masters and doctoral program structure in order to facilitate both student and labour mobility.
A national response to the discussion paper may serve to position Australia in multilateral regional discussions about harmonisation of higher education award structures in the Asia Pacific region. Again, this would facilitate the mobility of students and recognition of Australian awards as well as employment of Australian graduates, whether domestic or international.
Australia faces some significant challenges at the 20-year anniversary of the introduction of the full fee paying program. The national slowdown in commencing international students should encourage all Australian universities to take stock and focus on all aspects of the international student experience in the classroom, campus and community.
To this end, UniSA has developed initiatives such as the "Network Mawson Lakes" and the "Aussie Family" program for commencing international students. These innovative programs effectively reduce isolation and foster deeper connections between international students and our community. To further facilitate successful study outcomes for our international students, English proficiency is a 2006 corporate project.
UniSA recognises that the academic and social communication skills of all our graduates is vital to successful employment and further study outcomes. In the long term, the quality of our graduates, along with the calibre of our research, provide the most effective way to present UniSA to the wider world.