International Higher Education
Higher education around the world is in the throes of transition. Academic leaders, politicians and even students are questioning the basic structures and assumptions of the industry.
Internationalization is becoming a watchword, no matter the country. Many national systems are transitioning from centralized curricula to a dispersed model where universities are responsible for the shape of their own programs and faculty must create their own syllabi and assessment models.
The overnight transition to online education forced by the Covid pandemic left many organizations reeling. But it has also highlighted the potential for hybrid or purely distance education moving forward and removed regulatory hurdles in many countries.
Meanwhile, demographic shifts are creating challenges and/or opportunities, depending on the realities of the specific region. And for every institution there are the everyday issues of program expansion, curriculum reform, faculty and staff development, strategic planning, and budget rationalization.
All of this has left leaders around the world scrambling to successfully negotiate this new higher education landscape; it has increased the need to draw on the experiences of others, to avoid repeating mistakes and "recreating the wheel."
Global Expertise
Lawrence Pintak has led or designed academic programs on four continents. He also has extensive experience in online education. You can read his full bio here.
Pintak is available to consult independently, collaborate on larger initiatives, or assemble teams of experts to tackle multifaceted projects.
His team includes senior academic and internationalization leaders from a U.S. "Research One" university and a network of faculty trainers from around the world that can be drawn on to assemble bespoke teams to apply global best practices to the specific needs of the project.
Potential Services
Senior University Leadership
- Senior Leadership Advice, Counsel & Coaching: We will serve as a right hand to vice chancellors, presidents, and provosts to provide counsel and advice to help them draw on international “lessons learned” when confronting the many challenges of higher education leadership.
Studies & Reports
- Institutional Audits examining the institution’s structures, systems, policies and information flow, highlighting areas of strength and those which would benefit from additional development.
- Global Benchmarking Report documenting how the institution compares to its international peers and international accreditation standards.
- Program/Curriculum Evaluation reviewing existing programs and/or curricula in specific academic areas in the context of international benchmarks, with recommendations for restructuring if needed.
- Needs Assessments/Feasibility Studies that map the local educational landscape to determine feasibility of potential programs.
- Faculty Professional Development and Evaluation that evaluate current structures for faculty professional development and systems for evaluating faculty for tenure and promotion, with recommendations for improvement.
Professional Development/Training
- Leadership & Management Training for Deans and Department Chairs: The skills and talents that make a good professor are very different from those that make good managers or leaders. Group trainings provide academics with a set of skills to enhance their capacity to excel in their new roles.
- Assessment Training: Self-assessment of academic programs is vital to improved quality and industry relevance. Group trainings expose select academic staff or faculty to the techniques for producing accurate and actionable assessment reports.
- International Engagement Protocols: Local academic culture does not necessarily mirror international academic norms. To carry out successful international engagements – whether recruiting overseas tenure reviewers or mounting full partnerships – it is important to understand the expectations and approaches. Group training on these topics can lay the groundwork for success.
- International Partnerships & Exchanges: Building healthy relationships with overseas institutions, and approaching those relationships with realistic expectations, can bolster the quality of an institution. But the process is fraught with challenges. We can help identify potential partners and negotiate the landscape.
- Training in Curriculum & Syllabi Design: As national educational systems transition from centralized structures to devolved approaches that shift responsibility for curriculum development to the academic unit and syllabus design to individual faculty, academic teams require a new set of skills, which can be provided through group training sessions.
- International Teaching Best Practices: Training for faculty in specific academic subjects to expose them to the latest approaches to teaching in their field.
- International Research Best Practices: Training in research skills for faculty in specific academic subjects to expose them to the latest approaches to in their producing quality research relevant to the industries and key players in their field.
- Experiential Learning: Trainings on the latest approaches to engaging students in the classroom and beyond.
- AI in Higher Education: Training sessions on the latest approaches, challenges and opportunities for AI in academic teaching and research.
- Online Education Strategies: Approaches to hybrid and purely online acaddemic degrees and certificates.
Interim Leadership
When a key leadership position is vacant during a hiring search, a member of our team can step in for a few months or more to fill the immediate need and lay the groundwork for the arrival of the new permanent hire, or provided intensive support for the interim leader. An added advantage: If a significant restructuring is required, an external interim leader can implement the unpopular changes to provide a "clean slate" for the new permanent hire.
For a discussion of how Pintak and his team might assist your institution, please reach out:
