Responding to Crisis with Collaboration and Creativity

Earlier this year, my LinkedIn feed overflowed with news stories about the steep decline in new international student enrollment. Initial reports of moderate and in some cases utterly shocking declines in international enrollment had already been a topic of discussion for months. Colleges with stable or increased enrollments seemed to be outliers. 

But in the fall, two reports—the Fall 2025 International Student Enrollment Snapshot & Economic Impact from NAFSA and JB International and the Fall 2025 Snapshot on International Student Enrollment from the Institute of International Education—validated the anxiety that many of us across the international education field were feeling. We suspected that the challenges related to an already increasingly competitive market for international students were being exacerbated by this year's geopolitical instability, travel bans, shifting visa policies, anti-immigrant rhetoric, federal funding cuts, and inflation (among many other factors).

Building a Cross-Campus Coalition

In response to these pressures, my colleagues at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC)—from global engagement, enrollment management, budget and finance, contract management, and other offices—collaborated on organizational changes that would allow the university to strengthen our strategic approach to student recruitment, enhance our recruitment compliance ecosystem, and, perhaps most importantly, become more nimble in an environment that demands responsiveness and quicker decision-making.

For many stakeholders, this collaboration represented a small but meaningful victory. It showed that perseverance in working through messy new ways of "doing" recruitment within the university can result in positive change and drive the momentum necessary to succeed. And, significantly, it challenged the mantra "but we've always done it this way."

Embracing and Implementing Change

Maintaining the status quo, we realized, was limiting our capacity to enhance recruitment efforts while at the same time, heightening risks due to university offices' disparate approaches to working with contracted recruiters.

For example, we recognized that a unified recruitment strategy for undergraduate students would allow us to strengthen our "organic" recruitment, which has strong potential for growth, to supplement existing efforts with contracted recruiters.

It also became clear that the development of standardized materials for working with contracted recruiters could not only increase the effectiveness of those partnerships but also mitigate potential reputational, ethical, and legal risks—common concerns among higher education institutions that rely on these recruitment services.

While solutions to these international student recruitment issues were already under discussion last year, we focused on the nuts and bolts of implementation this year. This work coincided with more external challenges than we could have ever anticipated.

At my institution, we've been lucky to see a comparatively small decline in new international student enrollment this year. But seeing the realities for our peers around the country invigorated us to act quickly and most importantly, to make the critical decision to dedicate additional resources.

The result: A new international student recruitment office was established under our Enrollment Management office. Global Engagement (my office) will work closely with that new office, as will our colleagues across Enrollment Management, to leverage our collective expertise in strategy, services for international students, and compliance.

In addition to these organizational changes, we undertook an intensive, collaborative project this year to create a tool kit for working with contracted recruiters, which will remain an integral part of our recruitment strategy. Completed over the summer, the tool kit, which is purposely designed to introduce consistency in practices and guidelines for compliance, enables us to be more efficient and effective in our work with contracted recruiters.

Shared Pressures, Shared Purpose

Change can be difficult, even when it's necessary. Higher education is notoriously slow to respond to external factors that demand rapid change, and the work required to effect organizational change can be arduous. It would be disingenuous for me to pretend the changes in our approach to international student recruitment have not taken an organizational and, at times, emotional toll.

Personally, I co-led a task force on the use of contracted recruiters and subsequently took a lead role in developing the tool kit, both of which were more time-consuming and taxing than we initially anticipated. Placing myself at the center of tense and sometimes charged discussions with stakeholders about the structure, implementation, and implications of these changes tested my patience and resilience.

The pressures on others were evident as well, driven by various concerns, including potential further declines in enrollment; the ability to sustain certain graduate programs; and the need to remain compliant with rapidly evolving laws, regulations, rules, and policies. Importantly, we offered space for these difficult conversations, listened to what our colleagues were saying, and apologized when necessary. Ultimately, the experience strengthened our professional relationships and carved a clear path forward that we all believe in.

A Foundation for the Future

UIC concludes this year on a celebratory note. We've laid the foundation for ongoing cross-departmental collaboration, which is essential for us to strengthen our position in a changing global marketplace and continue to attract talented international students who will make a difference in their communities and in the world.

International students are an essential component of our student body and our mission. They expose our domestic students to perspectives from around the world, contribute to and enhance cutting-edge research, and have a significant economic impact on the city of Chicago.

By working together on a matter of critical importance to the university, my colleagues and I recognize the significance of our interdependence and that no one office could accomplish our important work alone. •

Shawn Conner-Rondot, PhD, is director of global relations at University of Illinois-Chicago.