Professor Rasmussen Describes American Campus Internationalization Experience

Bogor, UIN News Online – Campus internationalization is a pressing point for the 2022 Rakerpim of UIN Jakarta. Therefore, rakerpim committee invited Professor Anne K. Rasmussen from the College of William and Mary to share her experience in leading the management of universities in the United States, Tuesday (03/08/2022).

In her presentation, Rasmussen said there are several aspects that need to be considered in encouraging the campus internationalization.

“One of its challenges is how “worth” the quality of the graduates? For example, between a graduate of the Department of Liberal Arts versus a Bachelor of Engineering,” she said.

This, she continued, depends on how students are equipped with critical, creative thinking skills, and the ability to build extensive networks. Graduates of Liberal Arts may have higher scores because they are equipped with critical thinking skills, creative-innovative, and have a wide network.

Another issue is the allocation of higher education. The internationalization carried out by universities in the US, she said, was to make higher education as an open area for all people.

“For us, the challenge is how higher education can also be accessed by more people, targeting various groups, multi-racial, multi-ethnic,” she said.

In addition, she explained, higher education must also implement decolonization paradigm curriculum. In this case, the curriculum is designed not only oriented towards the West, both in terms of history, religion, and music.

“For example, our Department of Religious Studies also has Professors of Islam, Professors of Hinduism, Professors of Buddhism, not only Professors of Christianity,” she said.

Furthermore, campus internationalization is also carried out by involving the global participation of students and lecturers. At the student level, internationalization is carried out by accepting foreign students or sending their students to study abroad.

“From the lecturer level, universities usually encourage academic collaboration networks with academics and academic institutes from various regions. Research collaborations, publications, and teacher exchanges are some of the programs,” said Rasmussen. (zm/usa)