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Collegial Conversations, February 2007
Through these conversations NAFSA hopes to target the best practices and experiences of some of international education's preeminent leaders. Every month the International Education Leader Development Network will ask one of its subscribers to answer the following three questions. Over the coming year we hope to see many unique and thought-provoking answers.
Mary Dwyer
Mary M. Dwyer, Ph.D., is president and CEO of IES, the Institute for the International Education of Students, one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most reputable not-for-profit organizations providing study abroad programs to U.S. college and university students. IES has educated more than 40,000 students since its founding in 1950.
Dr. Dwyer is active in multiple national efforts to advance international education policy and practice. She was appointed July 1, 2006, to a three-year term as chair of the Forum on Education Abroad, the only membership organization founded to set standards for the field. She also is one of two study abroad professionals appointed by U.S. Congress to serve on the 17-member Abraham Lincoln Commission on Study Abroad, a bipartisan presidential and congressional commission formed in 2003 to explore ways to increase the number of American students abroad.
Prior to IES, Dr. Dwyer was a faculty member in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) for 18 years and the campus executive associate vice chancellor for research.
During February, Mary answered questions and offered gems of wisdom. View the Archived Discussion!
What are current concerns and trends that you see as critical from your view of the
There are several factors and trends that require further attention. The good news is that the number of students studying abroad continues to grow at a steady pace of 8 percent to 10 percent a year. Our country needs to educate dramatically more students in key languages and in public diplomacy in order for the United States to remain viable economically and in terms of our long-term security. There are some issues we need to address, however.
First, exercising effective quality control mechanisms such as The Forum on Education Abroad remains a pressing need. The quality of programming is quite disparate and this must be addressed for the benefit of students and the reputation of the higher education community. I’m proud of IES’ contribution in this area through the development of the IES MAP (Model Assessment Program), which is used by hundreds of colleges and universities to design and evaluate programming. Study abroad professionals need to be empowered within their institutions to assess the quality of programming in a systematic fashion using a national set of standards and assessment tools.
Second, the continued shortening of duration of study is a trend that is not going to revert. As a result, we all have to work very hard to design, conduct, and evaluate programs that are effective but are less than a semester in length. At the same time, we need to encourage students to study for at least a semester since many can afford to do so and we know that they will gain more in the process.
Third, we need to develop more clearly shared beliefs of what specific learning experiences contribute to intercultural growth in our students. The instruments for assessing students’ growth in this area must be improved first. We must have effective measurement tools.
Fourth, we need to improve curricular integration so that students experience cohesive, holistic learning. However, we must be mindful that curricular integration should not be achieved at the expense of students experiencing the unique academic offerings and teaching methodologies that foreign universities can provide. We need to be careful about Americanizing the study abroad experience. It’s a grey line but a critical line nevertheless. We also need to recognize that intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cultural growth are as important as cognitive development.
Fifth, we need to advocate for adequate staffing for study abroad offices. As the market has more than doubled in size within the past 10 years, the staff at colleges and universities to support students has not grown appreciably. In the main, study abroad professionals at colleges and universities are serving many more students with no additional resources. This is damaging to students who require labor intensive advising to make the proper choice of program and to be adequately prepared to succeed during their sojourn. It also limits colleges from offering its students a full range of programs that have been fully vetted for academic quality and that achieve global reach.
Sixth, the U.S. government and the business community need to support education abroad much more effectively. Colleges, universities, and third-party providers cannot continue to foot the bill entirely on their own. In order for this to happen, institutions of higher education must add education abroad to their lists of high priority issues that they both lobby government for and ask their development offices to pursue donations for from business and individuals. The window of opportunity is open now due to troubling world events. Action is necessary now.
Seventh, the field needs to engage in more rigorous research across a broad range of research questions. When IES conducted its 50-year longitudinal study to assess the sustainable impact of studying abroad, I was surprised to see how many of the most commonly held assumptions in the field were not supported by the research. More outcomes assessment research is necessary so that we can know versus assume which educational models are effective, the impact of enrollment size on program effectiveness, the impact of learning all courses in the language of the country versus being taught in English, the impact of experiential learning on career and intercultural growth, etc.
Eighth, it’s very important for the field to promote a much more diverse student body studying abroad. The statistics have not changed significantly in terms of participation by race, ethnicity, and gender. This is a basic access issue that must be addressed. It is an educational equity issue.
Also, I am privileged to learn something new and valuable every day from my colleagues at IES and within the field. Of course, serving on the Lincoln Commission on Study Abroad has been an education in its own right and I’ve recently served on a committee for the development of a U.S. Public Service Academy.
Moreover, I serve on several boards of not-for-profit organizations (including chairing the board of The Forum on Education Abroad) and foundations. I served as the chair of the Rhodes Scholars Selection Committee for the Midwest for seven years along with serving on foundation boards and advisory committees of local universities. Many of these volunteer efforts were not directly related to my job. I find that substantive volunteerism and board service are extremely valuable for keeping abreast of best practices in organizations and acquiring new problem solving perspectives.
Sometimes it’s very helpful to step outside your immediate field to learn new skills and perspectives that you can bring back to your current role. This prevents tunnel vision. I would recommend that everyone in the profession—as overworked as you are—volunteer to serve on advisory boards, professional committees, and community organizations if you want to continue to experience professional growth. Research is clear on the point that those who advance the furthest in their careers and assume leadership roles are the most productive individuals. They aren’t narrowly focused on viewing themselves as overworked. They are single-minded in focusing on being productive and inviting and initiating new challenges. They view themselves as change agents. It’s important to move beyond one’s comfort zone.
Mary Dwyer
Mary Dwyer
Dr. Dwyer is active in multiple national efforts to advance international education policy and practice. She was appointed July 1, 2006, to a three-year term as chair of the Forum on Education Abroad, the only membership organization founded to set standards for the field. She also is one of two study abroad professionals appointed by U.S. Congress to serve on the 17-member Abraham Lincoln Commission on Study Abroad, a bipartisan presidential and congressional commission formed in 2003 to explore ways to increase the number of American students abroad.
Prior to IES, Dr. Dwyer was a faculty member in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) for 18 years and the campus executive associate vice chancellor for research.
During February, Mary answered questions and offered gems of wisdom. View the Archived Discussion!
What do you wish you had known 10 years ago that you know now?
As I was entering the field 10 years ago, I had not fully grasped the tremendous amount of market volatility that exists within study abroad. Being armed with the implications of this fact has a major impact on how one negotiates the environment and positions one’s organization to succeed. The impact of receiving 100 percent of revenue in U.S. dollars and having the majority of expenditures in foreign currencies can not be underestimated. The intermingling impact of currency fluctuations, country-specific inflation, enrollment growth, popularity of destinations from term to term, and program pricing is dramatic. I also didn’t know how collegial the field of study abroad is and that’s been a great bonus to being able to affect change. Lastly, I had expected to enter a field that, much like the one I was departing from, was more advanced in setting standards and establishing crisis management planning. I’m happy to report that within the past 10 years all of these issues have been addressed.What are current concerns and trends that you see as critical from your view of the
international education field?
There are several factors and trends that require further attention. The good news is that the number of students studying abroad continues to grow at a steady pace of 8 percent to 10 percent a year. Our country needs to educate dramatically more students in key languages and in public diplomacy in order for the United States to remain viable economically and in terms of our long-term security. There are some issues we need to address, however. First, exercising effective quality control mechanisms such as The Forum on Education Abroad remains a pressing need. The quality of programming is quite disparate and this must be addressed for the benefit of students and the reputation of the higher education community. I’m proud of IES’ contribution in this area through the development of the IES MAP (Model Assessment Program), which is used by hundreds of colleges and universities to design and evaluate programming. Study abroad professionals need to be empowered within their institutions to assess the quality of programming in a systematic fashion using a national set of standards and assessment tools.
Second, the continued shortening of duration of study is a trend that is not going to revert. As a result, we all have to work very hard to design, conduct, and evaluate programs that are effective but are less than a semester in length. At the same time, we need to encourage students to study for at least a semester since many can afford to do so and we know that they will gain more in the process.
Third, we need to develop more clearly shared beliefs of what specific learning experiences contribute to intercultural growth in our students. The instruments for assessing students’ growth in this area must be improved first. We must have effective measurement tools.
Fourth, we need to improve curricular integration so that students experience cohesive, holistic learning. However, we must be mindful that curricular integration should not be achieved at the expense of students experiencing the unique academic offerings and teaching methodologies that foreign universities can provide. We need to be careful about Americanizing the study abroad experience. It’s a grey line but a critical line nevertheless. We also need to recognize that intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cultural growth are as important as cognitive development.
Fifth, we need to advocate for adequate staffing for study abroad offices. As the market has more than doubled in size within the past 10 years, the staff at colleges and universities to support students has not grown appreciably. In the main, study abroad professionals at colleges and universities are serving many more students with no additional resources. This is damaging to students who require labor intensive advising to make the proper choice of program and to be adequately prepared to succeed during their sojourn. It also limits colleges from offering its students a full range of programs that have been fully vetted for academic quality and that achieve global reach.
Sixth, the U.S. government and the business community need to support education abroad much more effectively. Colleges, universities, and third-party providers cannot continue to foot the bill entirely on their own. In order for this to happen, institutions of higher education must add education abroad to their lists of high priority issues that they both lobby government for and ask their development offices to pursue donations for from business and individuals. The window of opportunity is open now due to troubling world events. Action is necessary now.
Seventh, the field needs to engage in more rigorous research across a broad range of research questions. When IES conducted its 50-year longitudinal study to assess the sustainable impact of studying abroad, I was surprised to see how many of the most commonly held assumptions in the field were not supported by the research. More outcomes assessment research is necessary so that we can know versus assume which educational models are effective, the impact of enrollment size on program effectiveness, the impact of learning all courses in the language of the country versus being taught in English, the impact of experiential learning on career and intercultural growth, etc.
Eighth, it’s very important for the field to promote a much more diverse student body studying abroad. The statistics have not changed significantly in terms of participation by race, ethnicity, and gender. This is a basic access issue that must be addressed. It is an educational equity issue.
What are resources that you utilize to keep abreast professionally?
My three academic degrees are interdisciplinary and so I continue to be eclectic in how I learn. Of course, I always read The Chronicle of Higher Education to keep my finger on the pulse of higher education in general. I read The Chronicle of Philanthropy and various trade magazines for not-for-profit CEOs. I read the journals in the field such as Frontiers, International Educator, Abroad View, and Transitions Abroad. I read SECUSSA-L daily and Federal Register online services. But I also read the Harvard Business Review and The Economist, along with any new books that are striving to analyze trends in higher education. A recent book that I’ve found quite helpful is titled Putting Students First: How Colleges Develop Students Purposefully, by Larry Braskamp, Lois Calian Trautvetter, and Kelly Ward.Also, I am privileged to learn something new and valuable every day from my colleagues at IES and within the field. Of course, serving on the Lincoln Commission on Study Abroad has been an education in its own right and I’ve recently served on a committee for the development of a U.S. Public Service Academy.
Moreover, I serve on several boards of not-for-profit organizations (including chairing the board of The Forum on Education Abroad) and foundations. I served as the chair of the Rhodes Scholars Selection Committee for the Midwest for seven years along with serving on foundation boards and advisory committees of local universities. Many of these volunteer efforts were not directly related to my job. I find that substantive volunteerism and board service are extremely valuable for keeping abreast of best practices in organizations and acquiring new problem solving perspectives.
Sometimes it’s very helpful to step outside your immediate field to learn new skills and perspectives that you can bring back to your current role. This prevents tunnel vision. I would recommend that everyone in the profession—as overworked as you are—volunteer to serve on advisory boards, professional committees, and community organizations if you want to continue to experience professional growth. Research is clear on the point that those who advance the furthest in their careers and assume leadership roles are the most productive individuals. They aren’t narrowly focused on viewing themselves as overworked. They are single-minded in focusing on being productive and inviting and initiating new challenges. They view themselves as change agents. It’s important to move beyond one’s comfort zone.
