A Basic Formula for Effective International Student Services

During the spring semester of 2018, a survey of international student support services was conducted on 200 randomly selected U.S. universities and colleges using the International Student Support Services Index. Survey results identified the most and least commonly provided international student support services in addition to common patterns of institutional practices around international student support across the US. The research results are complemented by researcher notes and observations in addition to school administrator quotes. This article concludes with recommendations and implications for practice. Colleges and universities wanting to recruit and retain culturally and academically prepared international students may benefit from learning how other institutions offer integration support services.

This case study aims to contribute some understanding as to why a research oriented university with many thousands of full-fee paying international students was believed not to provide adequate funds for international student support services. Drawing on Bourdieu’s notions of fields of power and disciplinary hierarchy, we suggest that the University must allocate resources amongst competing claimants. In the associated internal contest for resources, international student support divisions and disciplines with little intellectual capital but great capacity to attract international students have relatively little bargaining power. This study indicates that the need to build and sustain research reputation led to inadequate funding of support services in an Australian institution heavily reliant on international student income. Ironically, this can mean students who choose a highly ranked university may not receive the support services they require.

The research described in this article concludes that the widely cited U-curve hypothesis is no longer supported by research data because the adjustment of international postgraduate students is a complex phenomenon that does not fit easily with attempts to define and categorize it. Methodological issues, different internal and external factors, cultural expectations, individual responses or attitudes, and global developments are also discussed as aspects associated with the improper application of the U-curve hypothesis. This research adds to theoretical understanding associated with the adjustment of international students and, in practical terms, increases our current knowledge regarding student recruitment and international student support services.

This small-scale convergent parallel mixed-methods study aims to explore loneliness in an international student population in a single university. An online de Jong Gierveld loneliness scale (DJGLS) with additional demographics provided the quantitative data on loneliness in international student population. The qualitative semi-structured interviews explored what the participants themselves said about their experience of loneliness. The online DJGLS suggests moderate levels of loneliness, with three out of four international students being affected. The quantitative data shows a negative relationship between loneliness and the number of university services used by international students (rho (56) = −.52, p < .01). The interviews gave insight into who international students missed most, how they adjusted to the new environment and how they coped with loneliness. In addition, the qualitative data illustrates international student support service use as an important means of expanding social networks. This study is one of a small number of studies looking at loneliness in international students in the UK and one of few using a loneliness scale alongside qualitative data. The empirical data provides support for understanding the scale of loneliness in international students in the UK and as such for tackling loneliness to be part of healthy university and university wellbeing agendas.

An increasing number of medical schools offer support services for international students. Their frequent focus on linguistic and academic support often reflects a rather deficit-oriented perception of international medical students. Therefore, this comment advocates a stronger focus on the integration into the local medical student communities. This happens both against the background of the expected academic benefits and the added value of intercultural learning at medical schools.

The number of international students is an indicator of tertiary performance assessment, so each tertiary institution tries to attract prospective students from abroad with various program offers and services provided. This research was conducted using a qualitative descriptive approach with in-depth interviews with international student services staff with the aim of knowing and analyzing their communication strategies as well as the intercultural communication competencies that international student services staff need to possess. The study results were analyzed referring to the Theory of Communication Accommodation and Theory of Intercultural Communication, which then mapped out the findings based on Byram's Intercultural Communication Competence model (attitudes, knowledge, connecting skills, discovery and interaction skills, and critical cultural awareness). Knowing the intercultural communication strategies needed to serve international students is expected to improve the quality of services provided.

Internationalization in higher education has positioned Chinese universities as attractive destinations for international students seeking globally recognized credentials. While the importance of graduate attributes for employability is widely acknowledged, existing research has primarily focused on Western contexts, which leaves gaps in understanding how these attributes are developed among international undergraduates in Chinese universities. This study adopted a qualitative exploratory approach to address these gaps. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 international undergraduate students, who were recruited from a mixed sampling method that combined voluntary sampling and purposive sampling and were from diverse academic disciplines and cultural backgrounds. Thematic analysis was employed to explore students’ perceptions of key graduate attributes and the factors influencing their development of graduate attributes in Chinese universities. Findings highlighted human capital, including academic qualifications, technical expertise, and transferable hard skills as the cornerstone of employability. Social capital, such as peer networks and faculty mentorship, and cultural capital, including familiarity with Chinese workplace norms, were also deemed critical. Agentic capital, characterized by self-initiative and strategic planning, further underscored the importance of proactive career management. Factors influencing these attributes included well-structured curricula, interactive teaching methods, university career services, and extracurricular activities. The study underscored the need for higher education institutions to adopt holistic approaches to curriculum design, enhance industry collaboration, and provide tailored support services for international students. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and higher education providers aiming to better prepare international graduates for the global job market.

The international higher education export industry makes a critical contribution to the Australian economy. International student new arrivals have distinct needs in terms of adjusting to the new social and academic environment. Therefore, providing quality services to meet those needs is vital for the success of universities in this increasingly competitive industry. This case study investigates the sociocultural and settlement service experiences of two international students in South Australia. The results of this research revealed that more effort should be made to provide a “home away from home” approach to support services and thus promote a sense of belonging so essential to the settlement of new arrivals. This can be achieved by addressing international students’ unfamiliarity with systems in the host country and by offering needs-based services that cater for all groups of students throughout their overseas study journey. Specific recommendations have also been made when discussing relevant service experiences.KeywordsHigher educationInternational studentsSupport servicesUniversities

In recent years, Ontario universities have increasingly targeted Indigenous and international students for recruitment. Focusing on three southern Ontario universities, I examine how service delivery for these student groups is organized in space. In light of Henri Lefebvre’s work, I argue that the spatiality of the information hubs created to support them differs significantly, each being defined in the interactions between institutional assumptions about the student group, the social presence and activities hosted, and the lived experiences of the students utilizing these services. Whereas Indigenous student services are organized as a resource centre to create a separate space for Indigeneity on campuses, international student services take the form of an experience desk to emphasize rapid integration into the mainstream. Based on interviews with students and staff, I reflect on the differences between the two models to discuss the spatial politics of information hubs within the context of Ontario universities.

In recent years, Ontario universities have increasingly targeted Indigenous and international students for recruitment. Focusing on three southern Ontario universities, I examine how service delivery for these student groups is organized in space. In light of Henri Lefebvre’s work, I argue that the spatiality of the information hubs created to support them differs significantly, each being defined in the interactions between institutional assumptions about the student group, the social presence and activities hosted, and the lived experiences of the students utilizing these services. Whereas Indigenous student services are organized as a resource centre to create a separate space for Indigeneity on campuses, international student services take the form of an experience desk to emphasize rapid integration into the mainstream. Based on interviews with students and staff, I reflect on the differences between the two models to discuss the spatial politics of information hubs within the context of Ontario universities.&#x0D;

Background: Peer education has the potential to promote health behaviors and cultural competence for both international and domestic college students. Purpose: The present study examined a peer education program aimed at promoting cultural competence and health behaviors among international and American students in a university setting. Methods: Thirty-six international and 36 domestic students were recruited and matched in March 2013. Peer pairs met twice a week for 6 weeks. The meetings included tutoring, discussion, counseling, and activities. Results: Significant intervention effects were observed for all variables except nutrition knowledge, physical activity practice, and stress management practice. The intervention effects were different between the American and the international students on nutrition practice, smoking cessation practice, knowledge of stress management, and cultural concepts and cultural patterns. Discussion: Peer education appears to be a promising method for promoting health behavior as well as cultural competence among international and American college students. Translation to Health Education Practice: This model may extend to other health behavior or health promotion-related courses that employ service learning or praxis instructional approaches, as well as institutions that offer existing programs for international students.

This study aims to examine the university life adaptation program according to the admission of international students to domestic universities, which has almost doubled over the past ten years. The number of international students at domestic universities is rapidly increasing due to the combination of the Wave of Korean Culture, the government led globalization policy, and the sense of crisis in the university itself due to the decrease in the school-age population. However, the reality is that the proper curriculum system to educate such students still has problems. In particular, programs for international students in the first year, such as those pertaining to students adapting to college life and those promoting academic capability, are crucial because the first year determines the success or failure of college life since international students experience unfamiliar cultural environments.Accordingly, this study proposes a module containing the following three themes for the international students' college life adaptation program: the module that introduces various learning resources provided by the university where international students are enrolled and which they can learn how to use more effectively; the module that overcomes and resolves cultural conflicts based on the understanding of university culture including the peculiarities of Korean culture; and the module concerning the methods and examples of report writing using Korean to increase the excellence of university studies.In addition, this study provides a foundation for the advancement of the university life adaptation program for international students by checking and suggesting improvement directions through satisfaction analysis according to the results of providing these educational modules to students.

As international students continue influencing U.S. higher educational systems, greater attention is placed on innovative cross-cultural curriculum as well as international student recruitment and retention policies. To contribute research-based implications for practice, the authors introduces findings from a phenomenological study which examined pre-departure and post-arrival experiences of eastern Asian undergraduate international students who either completed a pre-departure cultural preparation treatment or received the university's standard international student services at a western U.S. research university. This study contributes a new understanding of one pre-departure online cultural preparation treatment that increased cultural knowledge and cross-cultural coping in addition to eastern Asian students' recommendations for U.S. higher education to improve international education's pre-departure and post-arrival processes.

ABSTRACTEnhancing the educational experience and social connectedness for international students is the responsibility of different involved parties among whom international students themselves and host institutions play a key role. However, the question of how the condition of cross-border mobility has shaped and re-shaped international students’ responsibility towards the home and host country and other social relationships that have been formed via their mobility experiences is often neglected. This paper examines the social nature of international students’ responsibility. It is derived from a research project funded by the Australian Research Council that includes fieldwork and semi-structured interviews with 155 staff and international students from 25 institutions in Australia over 4 years. Using positioning theory as a conceptual framework, the study shows that it is important to take into account the tangible aspects of transnational mobility in understanding international student responsibility rather than merely locating their responsibility in simple cultural, personal or institutional parameters. The study suggests the important roles of host institutions and community in creating conducive conditions and opportunities for international students to exercise responsibility as social members and intercultural learners. Enhancing student social responsibility and capacity for enacting responsibility is essential for nurturing meaningful transnational citizenship.

Despite the significant body of literature on international students’ intercultural development, the core issue of how they see their own responsibility in transnational intercultural spaces is largely neglected. This paper addresses this paucity by examining the intercultural responsibility perceived by international students. It is based on a four-year study that includes interviews with 105 international students and fieldwork in vocational education institutions. It draws on positioning theory and three key concepts: intercultural competence, intercultural capital and national attachment to interpret the nature of international students’ intercultural responsibility. The research underscores four main forms of intercultural responsibility perceived by international students: responsibility to represent the home country, responsibility to respect the host country, responsibility to assimilate into the host culture and responsibility to integrate into the host culture. Intercultural responsibility can emerge from international students’ national attachment and be embedded in their intrinsic commitment and imagination of their role in representing their home country in a transnational space. Intercultural responsibility can also manifest in international students’ self-determined responsibility to respect, accommodate or integrate into the host culture. However, the finding shows that international students’ act of positioning at the periphery of the host community and their perceived responsibility to assimilate into the host culture precludes their capacity to engage in and negotiate reciprocal and respectful intercultural interactions. The study highlights the role of international students’ self-positioning between and across home and host cultures in underpinning their perceived responsibility in transnational spaces.