International Affairs Committee FY2022 Final Report


Report on Specific Charges

Specific Charge 1: Provide Input to ACE Internationalization Lab

Support and provide input to the Steering Committee of the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internationalization Lab as it prepares reports and recommendations to university leadership regarding the appropriate governance procedures that should apply to new University policies and other matters affecting international studies, research, teaching, and exchange.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • KUIA has been kept updated by the Committee’s ex-officio, Charlie Bankart, about the activities and their implementation of the Steering Committee of the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internationalization Lab. The current committee chair, though not a member of the Steering Committee, is involved in the ACE lab’s other action plans.
  • This charge and other charges of KUIA are closely associated with Jayhawk Rising. The Committee learned institutional priorities and objectives, the procedure, and the timelines of Jayhawk Rising. Although the Committee learned that there will be heavy community engagement in the future in Jayhawk Rising, it was concerned about the little involvement of students, faculty, and staff in the units in the process of developing and implementing Jayhawk Rising.

The Committee recommends that:

  • KUIA needs to continue to work with the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internationalization Lab to keep track of the work of the Lab and the recommendations that the Lab provides to the university leadership.
  • KUIA needs to learn more about the progress of implementing different objectives outlined in Jayhawk Rising and continues to share any concerns that it may have about Jayhawk Rising and checks about how these concerns are addressed.

BACKGROUND & FINDINGS

The Committee’s ex-officio, Charlie Bankart, is one member of the Steering Committee of the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internationalization Lab. He provided a regular update on the activities and their implementation of the Steering Committee. KUIA has already been connected to the Steering Committee for the previous chair’s (Virginia Harper Ho) work on both committees, and last year’s committee recommendations from KUIA were already reported to the Steering Committee. Although this year’s committee chair, Haiying Long, is not a member of the Steering Committee, she has been a member of the ACE Lab/Strategic Plan Implementation-International Agreements and worked closely with Rachel Sherman Johnson, director of Internationalization and Partnerships and committee chair, to align the Lab findings from self-study of international activities in the last year with the Jayhawks Rising strategic plan and to provide procedural and implementation recommendations that were developed by the Lab subcommittee on Collaboration & Partnerships.

Because this specific charge and other charges are closely associated with Jayhawk Rising, the committee invited Corrine Bannon, Director for Institutional Effectiveness at Analytics, Institutional Research, and Effectiveness (AIRE) to provide an overview of Jayhawk Rising and the procedure of implementing it at the committee monthly meeting on January 26th, 2022 and discussed with Corrine how our work at KUIA can align with Jayhawk Rising. Charlie Bankart is an objective leader in the objective of strengthening service to local and global communities and implementing the objective.

From Corrine’s presentation, we learned three institutional priorities that focus on student success, healthy and vibrant communities, and research and discovery and 13 objectives that correspond to the three priorities. Of all the objectives, though only a few are explicitly related to the university’s internationalization and globalization efforts (e.g., strengthen service to local and global communities), many others are closely related to those efforts. For instance, increasing student enrollment includes the enrollment of international students; improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging includes international efforts and targets international students too.

Corrine talked about her office’s plan to communicate the Jayhawk Rising with the community in the coming months in a better way and build toolkits and focus on individual stories and how these stories align with missions at KU. She also shared the timeline of her office for implementing the strategies and achieving the objectives, for example, in April 2022, the office will provide strategy implementation status updates presented in the dashboard format to the campus community. She also introduced the Jayhawk Rising website https://jayhawksrising.ku.edu/ and shared a few ways that we can find the information we need or if we want to be involved in the Jayhawk Rising effort.

After Corrine’s introduction, the Committee members shared their concerns that the higher administrative people are mainly engaged in the process of making the institutional priorities and objectives but people who are most affected by Jayhawk Rising objectives, such as students and staff in a unit, have been actually involved very little in the process. For instance, the committee members mentioned that the process of making the objectives is super confusing and unmotivating because a lot of objectives, though they look very good, are not trickled down to people who do everyday implementation in the work. The objectives and timelines for implementation are only on paper and many others who work around campus do not know what is going on with these plans, what the purposes are, how far along we are, how we can exactly engage with these plans, where the implementation is, and how this happens. It was also mentioned that the student senate was not consulted about the Jayhawk Rising.

Charlie Bankart shared the process he has been using for the objective that he is leading and explained how the process can engage more campus and community stakeholders in the decision-making process. For example, he assigns a leader who leads each action plan and will reach out to pertinent stakeholders for the action plan. He is also working on the international engagement index, which will greatly engage international students and rely on their input.

Corrine explained that Jayhawk Rising is just at the stage of laying out the framework and plan. There will be hundreds of community members who will be involved in the process of implementing the action plans. KUIA members will be asked to serve on many subcommittees or task forces on the Jayhawk Rising objectives or action plans and work with others, including an engagement council, to think about matrics, future strategies, and broader implications of the objectives. The engagement council will have a representative from the governance to be involved.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • KUIA needs to continue to work with the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internationalization Lab to keep track of the work of the Lab and the recommendations that the Lab provides to the university leadership about policies and matters affecting international studies, research, teaching, and exchange.
  • KUIA needs to continue to work with Corinne and other relevant parties on campus to learn more about the progress of implementing different objectives outlined in Jayhawk Rising, particularly those objectives that affect international students, research, teaching, and exchange. KUIA needs to continue to share any concerns that it may have about Jayhawk Rising and regularly checks with relevant parties about how these concerns are addressed. KUIA needs to ensure that it is constantly and appropriately consulted for any matters that are relevant to the international affairs in Jayhawk Rising and that its voices are heard at the university leadership level and by other stakeholders.

Specific Charge 2: University Policy Governance & Oversight Procedures

In consultation with the KU Office of Integrity and Compliance, review and provide recommendations to SenEx regarding the development or implementation of policies proposed by the Office of Global Operations & Security (GOS) that will affect international studies, research, teaching, and exchange.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • No policies have been proposed by the GOS that affect international studies, research, teaching, and exchange during FY2022.
  • The Committee has been working closely with Jennifer Anderson, Director of Policy and Compliance, to keep track of any policies that GOS may recommend that are relevant to international studies, research, teaching, and exchange.

The Committee recommends that:

  • KUIA continues to work with GOS and monitor any policies that it may recommend that are relevant to international studies, research, teaching, and exchange and ensure KUIA’s input in the review, approval, and implementation process.
  • This charge should be extended to FY 2023.

Specific Charge 3: GOS Governance & Oversight

In consultation with the KU Office of Integrity and Compliance and University Senate leadership, identify ways to ensure KUIA’s direct and continued leadership in public communications and the development of policies that relate to international affairs. Promote greater visibility for KUIA with the Office of the Chancellor and greater engagement of KUIA by GOS with respect to all matters pertaining to international affairs and foreign nationals at KU.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • The description of the process of developing a university policy seems vague and general. Although the leader at the Policy Office seems to be aware of KUIA’s key role in developing any policies related to international affairs, there are no specific or clear procedures in place to ensure it.
  • GOS is in transition and experiencing changes during this academic year. Because GOS and KUIA have overlapping responsibilities, KUIA could be consulted to provide insights into this effort and be kept updated about its progress. However, this did not happen.

The Committee recommends that:

  • KUIA needs to continue to monitor the policy development process.
  • KUIA needs to urge relevant offices to create clear procedures to ensure KUIA’s engagement in policies and issues related to international affairs.
  • KUIA needs to communicate with the leadership about the importance of including it in the conversation about the transition of GOS.
  • This charge should be extended to FY 2023.

BACKGROUND & FINDINGS

Given the KUIA of 2020-2021 had concerns about the policy development process, particularly that GOS did not proactively and consistently engage KUIA at stage 1 of making the Visitors Policy, the Committee Chair, Haiying Long, contacted Jeffrey Chasen in November 2021 about the KU Office of Integrity and Compliance and was told that the office was experiencing changes and Jeffrey Chasen was in a new position as the Assistant Vice Provost for Employee Growth, Development, Accessibility and Inclusion. But Jeffrey got the Committee connected with Jennifer Anderson, Director of Policy and Compliance. The Committee Chair consulted with Jennifer separately and then invited her to the Committee meeting to introduce the work her office has been doing, the process of how a policy was proposed, reviewed, and approved, and the functions of the Policy Library. The IAC discussed with Jennifer how KUIA can be engaged in the process if the policies that are relevant to international affairs are made.

The Committee found from these conversations that the Policy Office clearly outlined the steps of developing a university policy on their website (https://policyoffice.ku.edu/developing-university-policy). In step 1 of developing a policy, the Office strongly encourages primary policy contact and promises to serve as a consultant for the primary policy contact to coordinate with stakeholders and functional experts for policy draft review. In step 2 of reviewing the policy, the office will work with the primary policy contact to coordinate the comment period when the policy is sent to the entire campus and any other stakeholders for comment and feedback. The Office will also seek input from General Counsel and alert appropriate executive sponsors of policy development. In step 3 of approving a policy, the Office will submit the final draft to Provost, Chancellor, or appropriate Vice Provost or Vice Chancellor for approval.

In these three steps, it seems general and vague to just state “stakeholders and functional experts” and it remains unclear whether this procedure means that KUIA is included in the process of developing policies that are related to international affairs. Although it is clear from our conversations with Jennifer that she is aware of the KUIA’s role and will consider KUIA a key stakeholder and communicate with KUIA if any policies that are related to international affairs are proposed, there are no specific or clear procedures in place to ensure that. Further, there is no way that the KUIA would know whether KUIA’s role is ensured because there was no relevant policy proposed during this academic year.

This year, GOS is in transition and experiencing changes. Because GOS and KUIA have overlapping responsibilities, KUIA could be consulted to provide insights into how to improve GOS and meet KU’s internalization and globalization missions. However, this did not happen, and KUIA was not informed about any specific changes that were taking place at GOS and how KUIA can contribute to the changes.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • KUIA needs to continue to monitor the policy development process, particularly whether KUIA is involved and consulted as a key stakeholder in developing policies related to international affairs. KUIA needs to continue to work closely with the Policy Office, GOS, and Office of the Chancellor on all matters focusing on international affairs. Additionally, because GOS is currently in transition and experiencing changes, it is necessary for KUIA to touch base with GOS again in the next year to further discuss these issues. We recommend this charge should be extended to FY2023.
  • KUIA needs to discuss with the Policy Office, GOS, and the Office of Chancellor about creating explicit, clear, and implementable procedures to ensure KUIA’s engagement and key role when handling policies and issues related to international affairs.
  • KUIA needs to communicate with the university and senate leadership about the necessity of including it in the conversations or actions about the transition of GOS so that KUIA can provide insights into how to shape GOS to better meet KU’s internalization and globalization missions and gain a better idea of how the changes happening at GOS would affect KUIA and other international efforts on campus.

Specific Charge 4: Report of ACE Internationalization Lab

Review final report and action plans from the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internationalization Lab and provide recommendations to SenEx regarding how to promote KU’s internationalization efforts and future strategy.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • KUIA reviewed the 2021 annual report and action plans of the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internationalization Lab and acknowledged the current strengths in KU’s current internalization resources and international activities as indicated in the report and discussed the feedback with the Committee’s ex-officio, Charlie Bankart.
  • The Committee learned from the ACE Internalization Lab that a delegation of peer international education experts visited KU in March 2022. They met with the Chancellor and Provost and constituencies across campus and will be drafting a report with recommendations which should be available in 6-8 months.

The Committee recommends that:

  • KUIA continues to work closely with the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internalization Lab to monitor and evaluate how the recommendations proposed in the annual reports are implemented.
  • KUIA will touch base with the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internalization Lab in fall 2022 to review the peer experts’ report with recommendations and provide recommendations to SenEx about KU’s internalization and globalization efforts.

BACKGROUND & FINDINGS

The Office of the Provost’s ACE Internationalization Lab planned to develop a strategic action plan to position KU to be a global leader among internationally engaged research universities from fall 2020 to spring 2021. The KUIA committee’s ex-officio, Charlie Bankart, shared reports of the ACE Internationalization Lab of 2021, including an executive summary of the Lab that was drafted on October 8, 2021 and the subcommittee reports. The executive summary finds three major themes that would help KU engage in institutional changes that embed international activities in KU’s institutional structure and establish shared comprehensive internationalization efforts. These three major themes are: to improve communication and coordination of international resources with external stakeholders, staff, students, and faculty; to re-imagine structures and supports by investing in existing strengths; to develop a culture that values and rewards international activities. The summary also makes several recommendations for the Chancellor, including communicating and operationalizing KU’s identity as a globally engaged research institution externally and internally, codifying what constitutes a strategic partnership and collaboration and institutionalizing and staffing a process that is implemented at all levels, and create comprehensive plans for recruiting international students and provide institutional supports.

KUIA reviewed the final report and action plans from the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internalization Lab. The Committee concluded that the final report and action plans highlighted the current strengths in KU’s current internalization resources and international activities while addressing the areas for improvement in internalization. The Committee discussed the report with the Committee’s ex-officio, Charlie Bankart, and noted that the recommendations from the Internalization Lab are exhaustive while considering a wide range of related stakeholders on and outside the campus and using a multi-faceted approach for internalization in research and education at KU. At the end of the academic year, the Committee learned from the ACE Internalization Lab that a delegation of peer international education experts visited KU in March 2022. They met with the Chancellor and Provost and constituencies across campus. They will be drafting a report with recommendations which should be available in 6-8 months.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • KUIA should continue to work closely with the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internalization Lab, its steering committee, and its subcommittees to monitor and evaluate how the recommendations proposed in the annual reports are implemented and provide insights into how to better serve international students, faculty members, and any other international stakeholders.
  • KUIA should touch base with the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internalization Lab in fall 2022 to ask about the peer experts’ report with recommendations, review the report, and provide feedback. Based on peer experts’ report, KUIA will provide recommendations to SenEx about how KUIA and SenEx can be more engaged in and contribute more to KU’s internalization and globalization efforts.

Specific Charge 5: Review COVID-19 Survey Results

Review the COVID-19 survey results obtained by the committee in FY2021 and integrate these findings into its report and recommendations with respect to other Standing and Specific Charges.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • The Committee reviewed the main findings and recommendations of the COVID-19 survey results obtained in FY2021 and provided more recommendations regarding how to better support international students in the future.
  • The Committee learned more about International Support Services’ plans for how to engage international students in their academic and social life and how to meet the needs of students with diverse backgrounds.

The Committee recommends that:

  • KUIA continues to monitor the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and communicate with international student representatives in the Committee to learn about the challenges and concerns of international students about the pandemic and any other related issues.
  • KUIA can conduct surveys or interviews with international students about their perceptions of the pandemic and how KU can improve its responses to it if COVID-19 continues.
  • KUIA needs to continue to work with international student support services to identify international students’ needs in programming and building communities and support international supportive services.

BACKGROUND & FINDINGS

The Committee reviewed the COVID-19 survey results received in FY2021 about the emergency response by KU and how it affected international students. The main findings and recommendations of the survey included:

  • Financial difficulties were a significant concern for the majority of students, which were especially challenging for international students who can’t work off campus. This calls for continued financial support for students as an institutional priority.
  • International students experienced pandemic-related isolation, which makes it important for students to access mental health services regardless of their financial means.
  • International students may have trouble getting to the campus on time given the current online instructional mode. Therefore, maintaining instructional mode options going into summer and fall 2021 may be useful; however, this is not a permanent solution. [This finding may not be relevant anymore.]
  • International students had concerns about racism and a lack of understanding of their cultures from many domestic students, staff, and faculty. Therefore, Intercultural Competency and Inclusion Training should be required annually like Sexual Harassment Training and KU Information Technology’s Security Awareness Training.

There are other issues to keep in mind based on survey results:

  • In future emergencies, better social networks are needed to overcome isolation 
  • Better and more empathetic communication, concise and personalized where possible, are needed, such as hotlines, town hall meetings, and people reaching out in their native languages.
  • More ways need to be planned for international students to connect with domestic students

Many other thoughts emerged from the Committee’s discussions about how to better support international students. They include:

  • KUIA may not always be included in the university’s discussion on issues related to international students. The Committee needs to advocate for themselves at the university and senate leadership to ensure its voices be heard.
  • The promotion of an “internationalized campus” at KU should not be just a slogan. A higher priority should be placed on valuing international students through different strategies.
  • International students do not have a say in a lot of issues that affect them. For instance, KBOR required international students to pay a fee for training but this was not brought to international students for discussion or approval before the provost’s signing.
  • With the COVID-19 pandemic still going on and many policies at KU still developing, international students need more explanations and clarifications about the policies and procedures. Extra town hall meetings should be held for international students to ask for international students’ ideas and perceptions, answer their questions, and clarify their confusion.
  • Guidelines for international travel vary by different countries, which is confusing to international students. Clarifications on those guidelines are needed.
  • Mental health support is an essential part of supportive services for international students. However, there are limited resources for international students seeking mental health counseling. Most therapists are white, monolinguals, and lack cross-cultural competencies, and international students have difficulty expressing themselves properly or understanding the therapists well during the counseling sessions.
  • Career Fairs should invite businesses and corporations that are cross-culturally competent and willing to hire international employees.
  • When the university is communicating with the graduate students, international students are not included. The message could have been carefully structured in a way to address international students’ unique situations.
  • It is critical to expand our understanding of international students’ unique challenges and to look for additional ways to support international students.
  • Resources and support are generally limited for international students.
  • International students may have a low level of sense of belonging or may not feel fully integrated into the KU community. Programs that can reach out to international students should be developed.
  • International students do not feel included in the classroom, which may be related to instructors’ low level of cross-cultural competencies. Training on DEI and cross-cultural competencies that are related to understanding international students should be mandatory for faculty members and staff on campus.
  • International students have additional financial burdens as they have to pay fees that domestic students don’t. Therefore, international students need more financial support.

There are also declining scholarship opportunities at KU for international students, particularly for undergraduate students who are from low-income backgrounds, which makes retaining them more challenging. The Office of International Affairs led by Charlie Bankart discussed these issues and plans to work with an organization to understand price points, student needs, non-resident inclusiveness or inclusiveness of international students, and how to create scholarship opportunities for international students to make studying at KU more affordable and successful. This is also a cross-sector effort to ensure all students’ voices are included.

During the academic year 2021-2022, although KU resumed in-person instructional mode, COVID-19 has still been ongoing, and understanding how to support international students is still important. Therefore, the Committee invited Ira Kirschner, Assistant Director for Student Engagement of International Support Services, to our monthly committee meeting on April 25th, 2022 to introduce his role and his plans for supporting and assisting international students.

Ira described his role around three pillars: orientation, student resources, and program, through which students feel supported, find communities and feel happier, therefore, becoming successful academically and feeling safe. His work focuses on figuring out what’s working and what needs to be improved for the three pillars, but his current focus is on orientation, drawing from what has been done about orientation in the past years. Though the orientation is done mostly online, Ira still remembers the importance of in-person communications between students and supporting staff. Once orientation is completed, the support services will focus on programming to meet students’ needs for extracurricular and co-curricular opportunities. Through programs, particularly some regularly held events, communities can be built gradually between international students themselves, between international and domestic students, and among identity-based students. Students will be provided with resources and know what is offered and how to reach out to these resources and be reached out by supporting staff individually.

The Committee expressed concerns about the lack of engaging programs for international students during COVID-19 to build community, especially for those programs that have to be just offered online. We also discussed with Ira how to work together with student groups around campus to obtain funding for programs, how to work with student representatives in the leadership positions to be connected to other international students, how to connect between orientation and programs, how to work with alumni with international backgrounds to guide students through the job searching process, how to organize job affairs that do not discriminate against or only target international students, and how to facilitate the connections between international students and faculty members.

Although the Committee learned a lot about how International Support Services are doing and will do to support international students, we are aware that many programs and ideas are still under discussion and need time and effort to build up and implement.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • KUIA continues to monitor the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and communicate with international student representatives in the Committee to learn about the challenges and concerns of international students about the pandemic and any other related issues. KUIA needs to work with other relevant offices on campus to ensure international students’ voices are heard and their concerns are addressed and situations improve.
  • KUIA can conduct surveys or interviews with international students about their perceptions of the pandemic and how KU can improve its responses to it if COVID-19 continues. The results obtained from new surveys or interviews can be compared with those obtained from last year’s survey to see if KU has improved its responses across the years and how this improvement informs KU’s future reactions to any similar emergencies.
  • KUIA needs to continue to work with International Support Services to identify international students’ needs in programming and building communities, provide advice on the implementation of the programs and other plans that were discussed, and advocate funding and other support from the university for the support services.

Report on Standing Charges

Standing Charge 1: Develop Contact with International Student Organization

Develop contact with the leadership of International Student Association and organizations and international student senators.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • KUIA currently has two student members that are deeply involved in the international student community. They have served many leadership roles in international affairs around campus and provided many insights and made contributions to KU’s internationalization and globalization efforts.
  • KUIA needs new student representatives after these two student members end their tenure at KU. KUIA is also aware that pushing forward the internalization efforts at KU cannot only rely on student representatives in the Committee and that it is important to engage international student organizations and their members.

The Committee recommends that:

  • In the FY23, KUIA needs to reach out to KU international student groups and their advisors to develop connections that outlast specific students and their tenure at the university. Such student groups are but are not limited to the International Students Association, International Student Advisory Committee, Association of Indian Students, CSSFA, and VSA.
  • KUIA needs to ensure its key role in building a broader international community at KU and reach out to other international groups on campus, including many international faculty and staff groups, such as the Black Faculty and Staff Council and the Asian and Asian-American Faculty and Staff Council.

Standing Charge 2: Access of International Students to Supportive Services

Continue to review and as needed make recommendations on how the University may better accommodate access of International Students to supportive services.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • KUIA reached out to Ira Kirschner, Assistant Director for Student Engagement of International Support Services, to learn more about his role and his plans for supporting and assisting international students and better accommodating access of international students to supportive services (also see SPECIFIC CHARGE FIVE).
  • Many thoughts and recommendations have been shared about international students and how to better serve them during the KUIA committee meetings. These thoughts and recommendations range from the role of KUIA, students’ need for more cross-culturally-competent mental health services to cross-cultural competency training for faculty members and staff. However, these thoughts and recommendations are not exhaustive.

The Committee recommends that:

  • KUIA needs to work with international student organizations and international students to hear their concerns and communicate with university and senate leadership about their concerns.
  • KUIA needs to keep monitoring and reviewing the progress that the relevant offices on campus are making to address the issues that are raised during the committee meetings.
  • KUIA needs to continue to keep international students’ unique needs and challenges in mind when making any recommendations that are relevant to international students to the senate leadership.

Standing Charge 3: Input on New Policies

As needed review and provide input on new policies that relate to international studies, research, teaching, and exchange programs.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

No new policies that are related to international studies, research, teaching, and exchange programs have been proposed in FY2022 because the Committee .

The Committee recommends that:

  • This standing charge will be extended to FY 2023.

Standing Charge 5: Assess DEIB Mission

Continue to assess and as needed make recommendations on how the University may better acknowledge and support international students and incorporate cross-cultural competencies within the university’s diversity equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) mission and initiatives.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During the 2021-2022 academic year, the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging saw several transitions in leadership. As well, the University continues to update efforts and convene stakeholders to develop and implement cohesive DEIB practices, such as, the University asks each unit to work on an Inclusive Excellence toolkit. The committee was unable to obtain information to update the charge at this time.

The Committee recommends that:

  • This standing charge will be extended to FY 2023. KUIA continues to follow up with this item including inviting the VP of DEIB to a committee meeting following the successful conclusion of the search process.

Standing Charge 6: Review the International Student Fee

Review the International Student Fee and how it is utilized.

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • KUIA in FY2021 discussed the international student fee and agreed that it should be subsidized institutionally rather than being supported solely by international students. Charlie Bankart has demonstrated a commitment to this.
  • It happened before that the International Student Advisory Committee as well as other involved international students were not consulted on any fee increase, although it did not happen this academic year.

The Committee recommends that:

  • KUIA continues to monitor any increase in the international student fee and ensure that the International Student Advisory Committee as well as other involved international students are consulted on any fee increases that may need to occur.
  • This standing charge will be extended to FY 2023.

Proposed FY2023 KUIA Charges

These charges are in addition to others that University Senate and SenEx may assign to the Committee.

FY2023 Proposed Standing Charges, as amended FY2022:

  1. Reach out and connect with the leadership of many international student associations and organizations and international student senators that serve different international student bodies on campus.
  2. Continue to review and as needed make recommendations on how the University may better support and provide supportive services for international students and accommodate their access to the supportive services.
  3. As needed review and provide input on new policies that relate to international studies, research, teaching, and exchange programs.
  4. As needed review and provide input on new policies that relate to international studies, research, and teaching, received from SenEx and the Policy Office.
  5. Continue to assess and as needed make recommendations on how the University may better acknowledge and support international students and incorporate cross-cultural competencies within the university’s diversity equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) mission and initiatives.
  6. Review the International Student Fee and how it is utilized as well as any other fee increases for international students and how the decisions are made.

FY2023 Proposed Specific Charges:

  1. Support and provide input to the Steering Committee and other subcommittees of the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internationalization Lab as it provides recommendations to university leadership regarding matters affecting international studies, research, teaching, and exchange.
  2. Support and provide input to the institutional priorities in Jayhawk Rising that are related to international studies, research, teaching, and exchange and to objective leaders of Jayhawk Rising that work on objectives related to international studies, research, teaching, and exchange.
  3. In consultation with the KU Office of Integrity and Compliance, review and provide recommendations to SenEx regarding the development or implementation of policies proposed by the Office of Global Operations & Security (GOS) that will affect international studies, research, teaching, and exchange.
  4. In consultation with the KU Office of Integrity and Compliance and University Senate leadership, work with relevant units to create explicit, clear, and implementable procedures to ensure KUIA’s direct and continued leadership in public communications and the development of policies that relate to international affairs. Promote greater visibility for KUIA with the Office of the Chancellor and greater engagement of KUIA by GOS with respect to all matters pertaining to international affairs and foreign nationals at KU.
  5. Review the peer experts’ report with recommendations provided by the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internalization Lab. Evaluate how the recommendations proposed in the annual reports of the Office of the Provost’s ACE Internalization Lab are implemented and provide recommendations to SenEx regarding how to promote KU’s internationalization efforts and future strategy.
  6. Continue to monitor the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and assess the necessity of conducting more surveys or interviews with international students. Continue to work with International Support Services to identify international students’ needs in programming and building communities, provide advice on the implementation of the programs and other plans that were discussed, and advocate funding and other support from the university for the support services.