Purdue's International Student Challenges and Opportunities
Chuck Calahan (2018) tells the story of Purdue's internationalization during the 2010's,
"According to the Purdue University Fall 2012 International Student and Scholar Enrollment & Statistical Report, Purdue University had the second-highest international student enrollment among US public institutions, and fourth highest across all public and private institutions. The international student body represented 21.8 percent of the total number of enrolled students, with almost five thousand international undergraduate students composing over 16 percent of more than twenty-nine thousand total undergraduate students."
To illustrate further, as can be seen here, the number of international students doubled between the years 2000 and 2014, from 4458 to 9080 students.
2010 was a landmark year for Purdue University. For the first time ever in her history, Purdue enrolled more undergraduate (3420) than graduate students (3341). The gap continued to increase in 2011 and for several more years.
Although the number of sending countries remained consistently between 122 and 134 across the decades, the number of students from China saw the most growth during the time period. Here the number of Chinese students are compared to the number of Indian students. India has consistently been a top sending country (always either number one or two) for the last 20+ years.
Chuck continues,
"A small preliminary study among international students indicated some dissatisfaction with the university, prompting concern from the Office of the President, the International Programs Office, the Office of the Provost, and the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE). Faculty also voiced a need for guidance and support when some courses included 30 percent to 45 percent international students, many of whom spoke English as a second language.
"In response to these challenges and opportunities, CIE hired a new staff member to lead global learning faculty and student development. The main purpose of this position was to respond to the significant and continuous increase of international undergraduates on the West Lafayette campus and address related issues proactively as they arose. This new position aimed to maximize the potential for international student success by generating programs to assist faculty in improving the classroom experience; creating materials for faculty development; designing and coordinating corresponding workshops and meetings; and establishing a campus coalition to strategically bring all support units and systems together to assist international students in their success."
Participants in the Global Partners Programs 2016 at the Great Wall
A mandate, based on focus group data, became clear. There was a need "to address the specific concerns of faculty, instructors, graduate teaching assistants, and advisors. To assist faculty as soon as possible, a major first step in early 2012 was to research and compile a "teaching tips" brochure on teaching international students. Every instructor teaching at Purdue at that time received a copy of the brochure. CIE conducted a series of workshops focusing on ESL teaching and learning issues plus best practices and solutions. The Purdue Online Writing Lab staff expanded to assist the increased ESL international student population. The English department created additional English course sections for ESL students. The Office of the Provost and English faculty established two American culture and English general studies courses and eventually required them of the five hundred ESL students needing the most help. CIE provided a series of workshops on teaching international students. The Office of the Provost organized new faculty orientations to address the opportunities and challenges of teaching international students. CIE and the Teaching Academy conducted workshops on fostering academic integrity. The Office of the Dean of Students and the Office of International Programs implemented freshman orientations--one for international students followed by one for both international and domestic students. The Office of International Programs sent teams of academic advisors to China for preorientation meetings with hundreds of Chinese incoming first-year students and their parents. The Office of International Programs organized and supported a community of practice integrating domestic and international students."
Read on to see how integration programming was created to fill the need of international and domestic students.
Calahan, Charles. (Winter 2018). A Six-Year Journey of Global Learning Faculty and Student Development. Peer Review, 20, 1, pp. 8+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A596860401/AONE?u=googlescholar&sid=googleScholar&xid=5f024d35. Accessed 15 July 2024.
