In a 12/09 post (State Int'l Education Consortia: Strength in Unity) I discussed the establishment of state higher education consortia as a means of branding a particular state and its higher education system, and recruiting more international students. One that I didn't mention is StudyMaine, which was created by the Maine International Trade Center (MITC) and went live on … Continue reading Vietnam: Attracting Foreign Students to Maine
Author: Mark A. Ashwill
U.S. Higher Education Delegation To Visit Vietnam
In November 2010 a group of 13 senior U.S. higher education officials, including vice presidents, deans and directors from 10 universities and colleges, will travel to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to explore opportunities, including intensive English and university pathway programs, student recruitment, custom-designed short programs, professional Master's degree programs, certificate programs, research … Continue reading U.S. Higher Education Delegation To Visit Vietnam
“Fighting corruption in education sector an uphill battle”
According to Transparency International, corruption in education is particularly damaging because it endangers a country's social, economic and political future: Corruption in education is more detrimental than corruption in other sectors because of its long-term effects. Corruption threatens equal access, quantity and quality of education. Its consequences are particularly harsh for the poor who, … Continue reading “Fighting corruption in education sector an uphill battle”
SaigonEduCamp: 12.12.10 share, collaborate, educate
According to its organizers, this "un-conference," defined as a conference in which participants use their interests, knowledge and experience to generate discussion topics," is for anyone involved in education to meet, share, collaborate and educate. At SaigonEduCamp: Everyone is a participant, no one is a spectator. It is informal: there are no proposals, papers or … Continue reading SaigonEduCamp: 12.12.10 share, collaborate, educate
Continuing Signs of Strength
From a recent Vietnomics update... Despite its challenges, Vietnam continues to impress analysts with its potential. Recent examples: A new McKinsey report (Growing up fast: Vietnam discovers the consumer society) highlights Vietnam’s growth, saying its middle class will reach 25 million households in 2013. McKinsey says Vietnam can grow because retail sales are among Asia’s lowest. … Continue reading Continuing Signs of Strength
“Universities weep over shortage of lecturers”
Fact: According to the Ministry of Education and Training, from 1987-2009, the number of students was thirteen times higher, while the number of lecturers only tripled. Fact: The current average ratio of students to lecturers is 28:1. At the Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology it is 47.3/1, at the … Continue reading “Universities weep over shortage of lecturers”
Hiệp hội cao đẳng Cộng đồng Việt Nam/Vietnam Association of Community Colleges
The community college model is relatively new in Vietnam. The Vietnam Association of Community Colleges (VACC) describes itself as a "social-vocational organization representing the common voice of universities, colleges and other training institutes following community college model in Vietnam." The VACC has 31 members, including 26 universities, colleges and junior colleges. My colleague, Cindy Epperson, who is Professor of … Continue reading Hiệp hội cao đẳng Cộng đồng Việt Nam/Vietnam Association of Community Colleges
Buyer Beware: The Potential Pitfalls of Agency-Based Recruitment
In the remarks referenced in my last post Ambassador Michalak also spent a couple hundred words on the subject of education consultants, or agents. His advice was spot-on (my italics): "Some parents may choose to work through an agent when looking to find the appropriate school for their child in America. Agents are local representatives for … Continue reading Buyer Beware: The Potential Pitfalls of Agency-Based Recruitment
U.S. Ambassador Highlights Accreditation in Remarks
I was pleased to see Ambassador Michael Michalak talk at considerable length about accreditation at a recent ribbon cutting ceremony for the Embassy's new EducationUSA advising office. In fact, over half of his speech focused on this important topic. When I was IIE-Vietnam country director from 2005-09, this was one of my "signature issues," and … Continue reading U.S. Ambassador Highlights Accreditation in Remarks
Offshore Development Centers “Off the Beaten Path”
As promised and following up on my recent Intel post, here are a few words about Enclave Offshore Development Centers, a small forward-looking U.S. IT company in Danang. For some background information about Enclave, check out this 2008 article entitled Da Nang's transformation into Vietnam's 'next place'." While Enclave obviously doesn't have the resources Intel … Continue reading Offshore Development Centers “Off the Beaten Path”
An International Educator in Vietnam 
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