International Partnerships

Taking Advantage of the Perfect Storm:
Developing International Partnerships and Cross Border Education

In the late 1990s and the early part of the 21st century, institutions of higher education were being buffeted by the elements of a perfect storm. Globalization in the form of technological ubiquity, environmental change, an emerging dependence on knowledge and knowledge workers, and the powerful influence of new values and ideas crossing borders endlessly everywhere is perhaps the most influential force. Combine the dynamics of globalization with the implications of worldwide terrorism, skepticism about international travel, decreased governmental funding, widespread calls for accountability and productivity, an inability of newly industrializing and developing countries to meet the demands of more citizens seeking postsecondary opportunities and you find a higher education industry caught in the throes of powerful economic, political, and societal forces coming together in what is best described as a "perfect storm." If it had not been clear before, this litany of events, developments, and issues made the need for internationalization of the campus and the curriculum an unimpeachable reality. Yet, the ability of the United States to attract international students had been diminished by these same forces and aggravated by domestic funding problems that would not go away.

Reacting to the need to be intentional about its future, Fort Hays State University (FHSU) began in 1999 to meet this perfect storm of complex forces by combining flexibility and innovation at the institutional level in the form of cross-border strategic international partnerships with one and eventually four partners on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Turkey. As defined by The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), cross-border education is "higher education that takes place when students follow a course of program of study that has been produced and is continuing to be maintained in a country different from the one in which they are residing." FHSU is providing almost 2300 students living in China with an American-conferred Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) degree with five concentrations. Cross-border education is centered in partnerships with four Chinese institutions: SIAS International College of Zhengzhou University in Xinzheng City, Henan; the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, Shenyang Normal University in Shenyang, Liaoning; Tak Ming College of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Canada; and Bachceshir University in Istanbul, Turkey.

These partnerships provide international students the ability to receive a fully accredited American education. Equally important, FHSU faculty and students link up with partnership institutions for new study and research abroad opportunities, the local curriculum is enriched via new program and course demands, foreign language instruction is strengthened, and local and state businesses experience new markets and sales associated with the physical movement of academic staff, goods, services, and students accross borders seeking even more education. Visit the FHSU Office of Strategic Partnerships for more information.

CCIEE Sino-American 1+2+1 Program