International Service & Higher Education: Toward a Vision for the Field Symposium Summary CSD Report 11-19 March 30 - April 1, 2011 Washington University in St. Louis Sponsored by: Center for Social Development and Gephardt Institute for Public Service, Washington University in St. Louis DukeEngage, Duke University Brookings Institution Building Bridges Coalition ServiceWorld Symposium Partners International Service & Higher Education: Symposium Summary Toward a Vision for the Field CSD Report 11-19 By Amanda Moore McBride and Eric Mlyn Table of Contents Symposium Summary ................................................................................................. 1 Agenda .......................................................................................................................... 5 Speaker Biographies .................................................................................................... 9 International Service & Higher Education: Toward a Vision for the Field Symposium Summary How do students learn the skills necessary International service is not discipline-specific; to work with those who are different from programs can be found in technical and themselves? How do they come to understand non-technical areas and programs, from the the global ramifications of local actions? How humanities to schools of engineering, from the does higher education effectively educate arts to the biological sciences. These diverse students to be global citizens prepared forms of service, which are found across to succeed in an increasingly globalized the wide range of types of higher education world? International volunteer service is an institutions, pursue a wide variety of objectives increasingly important approach for meeting and use different pedagogical approaches. these goals. We know that the number of students from Faculty, administrators, students, and the Unites States involved in civic engagement volunteer sending organizations convened abroad grow every year. This is part of two at Washington University in St. Louis, March broader trends. The first is the increased 30 to April 1, 2011, to discuss the status of globalization of American higher education; international service in higher education and international service is but just one small part how to move the field forward. The symposium of this broader trend where U.S. universities was sponsored by the Center for Social are opening satellite campuses in Asia and Development and the Gephardt Institute for the Middle East, creating partnerships and Public Service at Washington University in St. collaborations with institutions across the Louis and DukeEngage of Duke University with globe, and sending more of our students around the Brookings Institution, the Building Bridges the world while Coalition, and ServiceWorld. More than 40 simultaneously colleges and universities were represented as enrolling were more than 20 volunteer organizations. increasing numbers International service takes different of foreign forms in the context of higher education, students in U.S. spanning course-based and non-course-based institutions. The opportunities. Students may serve abroad in second trend is internships and individual and group projects. the increased These programs may take place during the number of semester, over the summer, or during spring U.S. citizens breaks. They may engage in study abroad, and who volunteer while in country, seek a deeper immersion abroad through experience through service. Students may also government, Former Peace Corps director Carol receive credit through distinct international faith based, and Bellamy discusses international service-learning programs or may participate volunteer sending service and global citizenship. in programs where they do not earn credit. organization washington university in st. Louis | MARCH 30 - APRIL 1, 2011 1 programs (Lough, 2010). These two trends experience. Dr. Paul Arntson from Northwestern together serve to propel this work and emphasized the demand-driven nature of underscore its importance. international service that is focused on capacity building, warning against initiatives that may Main Themes promote dependency by host country partners. Dr. Robbin Crabtree from Fairfield University The purpose of the symposium was to advance also encouraged a cautious stance and knowledge, practice, and policy that supports awareness of the unintended and potentially effective international service implemented in negative consequences of student service. the context of higher education. Noted leaders These and similar points were advanced through in the international service field, including the more than 15 presentations and 13 breakout former Peace Corps director, Carol Bellamy, sessions on related topics. addressed the participants. Ms. Bellamy charged us to consider the local, national, and international ramifications of international service. To her, international service is an applied experience that promotes individual development, which in turn can develop nations and enhance the relations between them. Other symposium presenters highlighted key findings from their research and programs. Dr. Julie Hatcher from the Indiana University- Purdue University, Indianapolis, helped to ground the symposium by considering the diverse forms of international service in higher Robbin Crabtree explains a point to Adam Weinberg and education, marking the line between credit Greg Van Kirk. and non-credit-bearing experiences. Dr. James Huck from Tulane University encouraged us to Implications for the Field view international service as a cyclical, perhaps continuous experience, with learning about Momentum built throughout the two-day international issues beginning at home and symposium, with participants expressing then being applied at home after the service a widely shared view that no such forum currently exists to support the development and implementation of international service in higher education. Symposium discussion then led participants to draw implications for building the field. The implications can be grouped into two areas: creating a learning community across various stakeholders and developing research that advances policy and effective practice. Learning Community. As for creating a learning community, participants asked that a conference be held regularly, perhaps every Eric Mlyn and Carolyn Kadel listen as Paul Arntson answers other year as a stand-alone, focused meeting a participant’s question. on the field. Washington University, Duke 2 INTERNATIONAL SERVICE & HIGHER EDUCATION: AT THE THRESHOLD OF A NEW ERA University, and the Building Bridges Coalition the prevalence of international service on our are currently exploring options for the next college and university campuses is not known; conference in spring 2013, and welcome it is not tracked. Much like study abroad is now potential co-sponsors. Participants asked that tracked by institutions that choose to report the next conference be more interactive and their data to the Institute for International include workshops on particular topics. A Education, we recommend that international general consensus was to expand representation service develop a similar mechanism. across the breadth of higher education institutions as well as to thoughtfully and Second, the meaningfully integrate community partners’ relative and perspectives. unique impacts of international To connect stakeholders between the service on conferences, there was nearly unanimous students’ support for development of an online learning development is community. Participants would like a range hypothesized but of resources available, including links to little examined. program and course descriptions, syllabi, and We propose a related resources that address the many legal, study to assess health, and safety issues that are crucial for the impacts of program implementation. Campus Compact’s international website was cited as a model example. service (credit Additional online resources requested by a and non- majority of participants include information on credit bearing) David Caprara discusses goals for effective practices and a focused, annotated relative to study after the symposium. bibliography. A list-serve and/or electronic abroad with newsletter were cited as ways to create no service component, domestic service only conversation and networking, also driving (credit and non-credit bearing), and students participants to the website. who engage in none of these experiences. As higher education is challenged to enhance the impacts of education on students’ knowledge and skills, a study of this sort would generate information about service in higher education overall. Surveys such as those implemented by the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE) are a foundation to which representative questions could be added. Institutions that participate in COFHE could join their datasets to explore these questions about service across a subset of higher education institutions. Amanda Moore McBride leads discussion on implications for Third, the dearth of studies on host community research, practice, and policy. impacts begs priority. The challenges in advancing community-focused research are Applied Research. As for developing research, logistical and practical. Community-based three possibilities were identified that could research is limited in its ability to isolate advance policy and effective practice. First, effects. Moreover, scale of service is required