A Year Ago Today

Today is the first anniversary of the day that An International Educator received the most traffic ever in a 24-hour period - 1,315 views.  The catalyst?   An interview in the Vietnamese language media (i.e., Tuổi Trẻ Online) about unaccredited US schools in Vietnam that spread like wildfire.   2010-07-30 Title Views Home page 1,015 US-Based or Affiliated … Continue reading A Year Ago Today

Location, Location, Location…

...  combined with the laws of supply and demand=a  small (53 m2/602 ft2) building in downtown Hanoi that recently sold for $2.3 million.    Where this charming Hanoi house once stood is now a pile of rubble.  On this site, at the intersection of Hang Bai and Hai Ba Trung streets in the Hoan Kiem District, which I pass … Continue reading Location, Location, Location…

O Canada! One of the Hottest Destinations for Overseas Study

Canada  permits graduates of public postsecondary institutions and degree programs at private institutions to work for up to three years, depending upon the length of their program of study.  The government has also created an immigration program specifically for international graduates known as the Canadian Experience Class.  Graduates with a Canadian degree and/or work experience … Continue reading O Canada! One of the Hottest Destinations for Overseas Study

Trần Mạnh Tuấn: Bridging Cultural & Musical Worlds

Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.  (Confucius) This is a post about music, a saxophonist par excellence, and one of Vietnam’s finest musicians - a man who has taken full advantage of the opportunity to attend a world-class music college, indulge his passion for jazz and pursue his dream … Continue reading Trần Mạnh Tuấn: Bridging Cultural & Musical Worlds

Reality Check/When One Government Speaks with Two Voices

Below is my response to a 23 June Chronicle of Higher Education article by Beth McMurtrie entitled Colleges Are Warned Against a 'Gold Rush' Pursuit of International Studentsabout how to better promote American higher education abroad, discussed at a recent three-day EducationUSA conference. This may be difficult to comprehend in Washington, D.C. and its corridors of power (e.g., the … Continue reading Reality Check/When One Government Speaks with Two Voices

Honor by Association?

A recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education entitled U. of Wales’s Vetting of Overseas Partners Questioned does not come as a surprise.  The Welsh Education Minister, Leighton Andrews, who initiated the inquiry, was quoted as saying the university must "move quickly" to address the shortcomings.  "The present situation cannot be allowed to continue. The reputation … Continue reading Honor by Association?

Letting in the Fresh Air and the Flies: The Mixed Impact of US Higher Education on Vietnam

Among the growing number of US universities and colleges that have acknowledged Vietnam as a promising market for student recruitment, online and in-country education and training programs (among other activities), most are well-intentioned and accredited. Others, however, see a golden opportunity to reap substantial profits from a market that has rosy long-term prospects. The bittersweet … Continue reading Letting in the Fresh Air and the Flies: The Mixed Impact of US Higher Education on Vietnam

International-Student Recruitment Debate: 6 Views on Agents

My comment about this collection of essays that appeared in the 16 June issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education is below.  Marjorie Smith hit the nail on the head.  It goes without saying that educational consulting companies should, to the best of their ability, represent the interests of their clients, both institutional and individual. This means … Continue reading International-Student Recruitment Debate: 6 Views on Agents

Recent Comments About Hot-Button Issues in the US Higher Education Media

…in response to these articles and other comments.  All are relevant - on some level - to Vietnam. MAA ‘The End of Internationalization?’ by Elizabeth Redden, Inside Higher Ed (3 June 2011) Why We Do What We Do I agree with Dr. Knight that “internationalization has become a catch-all phrase for everything” and that most international educators … Continue reading Recent Comments About Hot-Button Issues in the US Higher Education Media

Industry Takes the Initiative: An Intriguing Example from Central Vietnam

There are number of companies in Vietnam, large and small, that are attempting to creating pipelines of qualified employees by engaging selected universities and offering various types of support.  Enclave  is a small U.S. software engineering firm based in Danang that specializes in providing offshore delivery centers (ODC) for information technology outsourcing (ITO) and information technology intensive operations … Continue reading Industry Takes the Initiative: An Intriguing Example from Central Vietnam