The world comes to Kansas City this week
Universities from around the globe are seeking partnerships this week at an international educators' conference at Bartle Hall.
International diplomacy is on full display in Kansas City's Bartle Hall this week, as more than 7,000 educators and others from at least 120 nations seek to diversify their campuses.
Multimedia University in Malaysia is seeking partners for student exchanges with U.S. universities. Meiji Gakuin University in Japan wants to firm up ties with its 26 U.S. partners. Schools in Missouri and Kansas are eager for opportunities to recruit students from abroad.
The business-card swapping is for a good cause. International exchanges and study-abroad programs benefit students, universities and host nations. The explosive growth of California's Silicon Valley, for instance, was greatly aided by the brainpower of foreign-born scientists and engineers.
But the annual meeting of NAFSA: Association of International Educators also highlights problems. The U.S. is rapidly losing ground to China and Japan as a destination for college students. And at a time when global connections are more important than ever, only 1 percent of American college students study abroad in any given year.
U.S. immigration policies and lackluster job opportunities also drive too many talented international students out of the country after they receive their degrees.
American universities understand the advantages of international education. Most foreign-born students are highly motivated, and more than 70 percent pay full tuition.
But getting policy makers to ease the way for international students is a struggle.
While other nations eagerly recruit scientists, engineers and business specialists to study at their universities and stay once they get their degrees, the U.S. insists on outdated immigration caps and an overly cumbersome visa review process. That has to stop.
Students and scholars, such as visiting professors, shouldn't have to reapply for a visa every time they return home and wish to reenter the U.S.
Foreign students who receive degrees from U.S. universities should have an easier time obtaining temporary employment visas or green cards.
To refuse to remove barriers is to encourage brain drain. Canada, for one, is actively advertising for foreign-born graduates of U.S. universities.
The U.S. must also do much more to encourage American college students to spend time abroad, studying other cultures and languages. They are the nation's best ambassadors.
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/01/1985852/the-world-comes-to-kansas-city.html?story_link=email_msg#ixzz0qTFVjRpN
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