Approval of Previous Minutes —

Minutes approved at the Oct 30, 2025 meeting without objection. 

New Business —

• The committee goes around and introduces themselves. There are a few new members. This is the first International Affairs Committee meeting of the academic year.
• Julie Myer is the new chair this year and presents the charges to the committee and asks for feedback and suggestions.
• What should be the goal of the committee this year? If guest speakers do come, the committee should likely send some guiding questions to them.  
• The question is asked about the “international survey” which is on the committee’s list of charges. This year should be the year a survey goes out. This could be one of the primary focuses of the committee this fall.
• The question came up regarding collaborating with governance at KU Med and whether KU Med should be incorporated into any of the charges with the “One KU” initiative.
  • The two campus governance structures don’t really merge/collaborate and are quite different.
  • Charli works with Kim Connelly at KU Med if there are questions about the international programs there, but it’s a separate entity from the Lawrence campus. If looking to learn more, Kim would be a great contact; but the current charges of the committee likely won’t apply to the med center right now. 

Lynne Vanahill and Shawn Wetlaufer are coming to speak to University Senate on Thursday, November 20th. 

Charge #2: Conduct a survey of international students in partnership with KU International Affairs, and their concerns/perceptions of KU resources (i.e. inflation, housing and food costs, safety, health/healthcare, and other resources.

•    The survey should likely be a focus for this fall. The last survey was conducted in Spring 2023 so the committee + KUIA want to send out this Spring 2026, ideally. 
•    On the MS TEAMS site are additional details from the previous survey to use as a foundation. 
•    Would Charli and Roberta want to ask others in KUIA about their recommendations or things to add for current international students?

Charge #3: 

• May need some modification that the committee could suggest to Governance to reflect the current context.
• Shayla can assist with bringing up suggested changes from the committee regarding the wording/structure to SenEx and University Senate.

Charge #4: Review the International Student Fee, health insurance, and other fees that affect international students, including how they are utilized, as well as proposed increases and how such decisions are made. Provide insights on the Final Report.

•    Perhaps Lynn or Roberta could visit with the committee and review where these fees stand or how they’ve changed.

Charge # 5: Committee members should monitor events, national and global challenges and consider how these are impacting or being experienced by the KU international community. The committee should monitor KU’s response to such events and subsequent support for the KU international community, and work with the University Senate President to elevate concerns and recommendations to the Provost and Chancellor.
•    This charge, as is specifically written, is likely outside the scope of the committee since the committee meets for an hour, but perhaps the committee could set aside 5 to 10 minutes at each meeting for an update from Charli (if Charli is willing). 
o    If Charli feels there is something the committee could be mobilized to help with that would be beneficial, then it can be further discussed.

Specific Charge:
Track progress on goals outline in KUIA Jayhawk's Rising strategic plan as well as general strategic planning around internationalization, specifically inviting speakers from the Office of International Affairs (KUIA) and International Student Services (ISS). Explore peer institutions response to current international events and national policy regarding travel bans, students’ visas and international student support services.

•    Charli put in the TEAMS site the goals and objectives this year for internationalization under Jayhawks Rising that have been formalized from the Provost Retreat in August and is happy to talk about this in subsequent meetings.  
•    Charli also realized that the previous international student survey is in a sub folder on the Teams channel. Please see that here

The committee plans to get together in late October and in December to work on survey and related items.

Meeting adjourned.