Higher Edge: Institutions: Publications: Overseas, Overwhelmed©, Volume 7, Issue 40

Overseas, Overwhelmed^©
A Bulletin for International Education Professionals
Volume 7, Issue 40; November 26, 2008

1) LET’S GO CANADA – Charest Adds Attracting Foreign Students to Platform
2) ABROAD PERSPECTIVE - Irish University Founder Calls for National Student-Attracting Group
3) OVER THE COUNTER - U.K. University Expels 50 “Bogus” Students, Issues Warning
4) GLOBE TIPPING – Beating Jet Lag: Article Offers 10 Tips

1) LET’S GO CANADA – Charest Adds Attracting Foreign Students to Platform

Quebec Premier Jean Charest is promising a number of measures to attract and retain international students if his party wins Quebec’s provincial election Dec. 8.

A Liberal government, Mr. Charest said, would launch a major campaign to recruit foreign students to the province. It would also grant special certificates to foreign graduates of Quebec universities and colleges, allowing them to live and work in the province.

The premier said it was regrettable that Canada has been outperformed by rivals such as Australia and the U.K. when it comes to attracting students. This is especially important, he said, given that the ability to attract skilled workers globally will become an increasingly important factor in the economic growth of nations in coming years.

According to a recent study by the Canadian Bureau for International Education, only one third of foreign students stay in Canada after they graduate; in Quebec, the percentage is less than one tenth. As a destination for students, Canada holds 14th place out of the 30 members of the Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD).

Source: “Canada's Struggle to Attract Foreign Students Becomes Charest Campaign Focus,” Canadian Press, Nov. 21, 2008

2) ABROAD PERSPECTIVE - Irish University Founder Calls for National Student-Attracting Group

Ireland needs a dedicated national body in order to live up to its potential as a potential study destination, the founding president of the University of Limerick said earlier this month.

The lack of a co-ordinated approach for attracting students has ensured that Ireland distantly trails its only European rival, the U.K., as a magnet for attracting students interested studying in an English-speaking country, Edward Walsh wrote in a newspaper opinion piece.

For example, because of “lax regulatory and quality control arrangements,” Dr. Walsh said, the country’s image abroad has been hurt by “disreputable” schools, some of which function largely as a conduit for illegal immigration. This has led Ireland’s department in charge of visas to take its time processing them. As a result, he said, a student visa that would take U.K. officials less than 48 hours to process could take up to six or eight weeks in Ireland.

Universities in the country, he said, ought to jointly establish and fund a new company to “promote the sector, certify eligible institutions, establish a quality mark, undertake competitor analysis and strategic planning while providing a forum to secure a co-ordinated response from public bodies and agencies.”

Source: “Overseas Students Put off by our Tarnished Image,” Irish Independent, Nov. 10, 2008

3) OVER THE COUNTER - U.K. University Expels 50 “Bogus” Students, Issues Warning

Newcastle University is warning other British institutions to boost the systems they have in place for detecting fraudulent applications after expelling 50 of its students on the grounds of having allegedly bogus applications.

Earlier this month, the university said it had excluded 49 students from China and one from Taiwan after discovering their applications had been falsified. The forgeries, consisting mostly of certificates recognizing English-language qualifications or degrees from other universities, were of very high quality, Newcastle said. Some documents had been entirely forged; others had been altered to show higher grades than students had actually achieved.

The university said that the students appear to have paid crooked agents, based in either China or Britain, to submit the applications on their behalf. It also said it believed many other British universities may be affected by similar hard-to-detect forgeries.

Source: “Warning over Bogus Uni Applications,” Press Association, Nov. 11, 2008

4) GLOBE TIPPING – Beating Jet Lag: Article Offers 10 Tips

Planning a trip across several time zones, and dreading the disorientation that comes with jet lag? An article posted recently on a U.S. travel website features 10 jetlag-beating tips. Among them: Don’t feel you absolutely have to fight the temptation to nap when you arrive at your destination. Although several hours of sleep will impair your ability to recover from jet lag, a “power snooze” of 30 or 40 minutes may actually reduce some of the symptoms.

Source: “How to Beat Jet Lag,” ForbesTraveler.com, Aug. 26, 2008