Basic economics of internationalization: Nurturing our academics

ACADEMIC institutions that have put up internationalization units as part of their organizational structure are increasing. Internationalization is seen as “something higher education institutions (HEI’s) do, while globalization is something that is happening to them.” With Asean 2015 expected to achieve its goals at end of this 2015, HEI’s have also changed their institutional statements – their Vision, Mission and Goals to blend with Asean. With or without having changed to a more pronounced intention to be an Asean university, HEI’s nevertheless have begun plotting their roadmap to internationalization.

Embedding an internationalization culture in a university needs a slice from the institution’s budget. To take off would entail huge funding. Funds are needed to expose academics and students to foreign life and academic culture. Such activities could be through teacher exchange and junior abroad programs. Even if academics have outsourced scholarships, further studies of these academics in cross border universities entail money– why, because the HEI has to give academics their salary while they are on study leave and at the same time pay another academic for the substituted teaching and/or other workload. Moderately sized private HEI’s (student population-wise eg 4,000 to 5,000 ) usually cannot afford this expense. Also, not every HEI, especially a private non-sectarian one, would consider as a priority this type of faculty development or, as it is referred to in European universities, continuing professional development or CPD. Not when HEI’s are facing a bleak two-year period from SY 2016-2017 when there will be no freshmen and sophomore collegiate enrolment as a transition effect of the K-12 system.