Elizabeth Redden covered the consternation among faculty and administrators over the large number of international students (24% of full-time equivalent enrollment) using Green River Community College as a portal to 4-year institutions in the U.S. in an Inside Higher Education piece. Even with Green River struggling to balance its budget and with 1,756 international students paying 2.5 times the amount of tuition charged to students from Washington, some faculty have questioned if international students are given priority over domestic students.
While the question of institutional core mission is important to consider, an institution that benefits so much fiscally might also ask if it is actually delivering the quality experience for international students that they deserve. Green River supports the use of agents in recruitment and continues to rely on the pipeline that has developed since the late 1980s.
William Durden indicated in a separate Inside Higher Education article on international student activism that some U.S. institutions anticipate increasing pressure to provide better services. Particular note is made of the need to support Muslim students who have suffered hostile treatment as an outgrowth of anti-Islam sentiment that has been rising in some communities. Durden notes that, while international student numbers are comparatively small on campuses, they deserve to be heard and are growing impatient with, at minimum, being ignored and, more egregiously, being mistreated by peer students and some faculty and staff. All international students want is to be respected, given credit for contributing to the overall educational purposes of the institutions in which they enroll, and recognized as contributing unique cultural views and insights that can help resolve shared global challenges.
While the question of institutional core mission is important to consider, an institution that benefits so much fiscally might also ask if it is actually delivering the quality experience for international students that they deserve. Green River supports the use of agents in recruitment and continues to rely on the pipeline that has developed since the late 1980s.
William Durden indicated in a separate Inside Higher Education article on international student activism that some U.S. institutions anticipate increasing pressure to provide better services. Particular note is made of the need to support Muslim students who have suffered hostile treatment as an outgrowth of anti-Islam sentiment that has been rising in some communities. Durden notes that, while international student numbers are comparatively small on campuses, they deserve to be heard and are growing impatient with, at minimum, being ignored and, more egregiously, being mistreated by peer students and some faculty and staff. All international students want is to be respected, given credit for contributing to the overall educational purposes of the institutions in which they enroll, and recognized as contributing unique cultural views and insights that can help resolve shared global challenges.
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