A New Project at the Center for International Higher Education, Boston College

To undertake a comparative analysis of the current issues and emerging trends related to the internationalization of higher education (HE) in selected African countries and the region as a whole.

The internationalization of higher education is increasing in importance and complexity. It is contributing to the quality of higher education and research, the level of regional and international interaction and connectivity, and the development of human resource capacity especially for countries active in the knowledge society. The growth in the international dimension of higher education including student/scholar mobility, regional and international networks, curricular reform, research initiatives, new types of providers, and commercial crossborder program delivery- brings new opportunities, challenges and risks to higher education systems and institutions in Africa and other regions of the world.

This project builds on the extensive work and information gleaned from the African Higher Education: International Reference Handbook (Teferra and Altbach, 2003), the conference/ seminars organized by the Association of African Universities on Crossborder Education, and the regional comparative studies on internationalization done in Latin America, Asian Pacific, Europe and North America (Knight and de Wit et al, 2005, 1997, 1995). It responds to the growing need for further information and analysis on what is happening in African countries regarding the new developments in internationalization and how to promote and reap benefits from further regional integration and international alliances.

1. Overview of National Higher Education System and Trends:
The purpose of this section is to provide the reader with a brief overview of the higher education sector in the countries included in the study. This will give the reader some contextual information to better understand the internationalization activities, issues, trends and challenges that will be discussed in the report. The following topics will be addressed in a clear and concise manner.

2. Significance, Rationales, Policies and Actors of Internationalization: National/ Sectoral Levels
The purpose of this section is to provide information and analysis of the priorities, policies, rationales and key actors involved in the international dimension of higher education sector at the national/sector level in your country.

3. Organizational Policies, Strategies and Structures at the Institutional Level
The purpose of this section is to provide information and analysis on the integration of internationalization into the policies, plans and structures of the institutions of higher education. The following points will be addressed.

4. Internationalization Elements and Activities
The purpose of this section is to provide statistical data and analytical discussion on the different internationalization strategies/activities at the national and institutional level. This is a key section to the report and will include the elements and activities listed below which are relevant and important at the national level.

Types of Internationalization Elements and Activities

This will include those elements and activities that are relevant to the country and will cover the following points in the discussion and analysis. Issues at institutional, national and, where applicable, regional level will also be addressed.

5. Critical Issues and Challenges
The purpose of this section is to identify and discuss the most important issues and emerging challenges related to the international dimension (ID) of higher education in your country. Examples of some of these include the following:

6. Concluding Remarks
The purpose of this section is integrate the findings and analysis of each of the previous sections into a coherent whole and highlight particular developments, issues and trends which are occurring, and what might be anticipated in the future. While recommendations are not expected, a discussion or questions about desirable changes in policy and practice are appropriate and relevant.

There are two primary activities to this project. The first is the preparation of thematic papers and country studies, according to a common but flexible outline. The country reports will be written by home-based authors who are especially knowledgeable about the status of internationalization in their country. The thematic chapters will be prepared by project directors, advisory members, and other experts. The second part of the project focuses on building an international education network in Africa and capacity building of key individuals and organizations through the network, project seminars and possibly a conference to disseminate findings and launch the book. This second phase is dependent on adequate funding and support. We are soliciting funding from diverse sources to realize the second activity.

Extensive resources relevant to the theme of the project will be presented soon. These include web links, published online references, web loads, and others.

Project Directors
Dr. Jane Knight and Dr. Damtew Teferra will act as the project co-directors. They bring to the project a broad base of knowledge, contacts, networks, and experience in the internationalization of higher education and the African higher education system. They will also be the co-editors of the book.

Project Advisory Committee
Scholars in the field of higher education and leaders in the African higher education community will provide advice on the choice of African researchers and case studies, the analysis of research findings and the preparation of the thematic chapters. The committee members include:

Countries and their Authors

Theme Issues and their Authors

We have secured grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford Foundation. We have also approached other funders to help expand the scope of this project.

We are anticipating to complete this project by early 2008.