Universities and the Digital Age
It’s been a busy month for CRCC Asia’s US University Relations Team, with university partner visits, three conferences, and two academic presentations spread across just a few short weeks. As always, we’ve enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with our partner institutions and to collaborate with colleagues in the field. See below for highlights from November’s conference attendance and a bite-size summary of our presentations.
‘Institutions need to make a commitment to understanding China’
Matthew Rowett, Director of Admissions for CRCC Asia, presented at the 20th annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education, hosted by Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Attended by the Engineering faculty of some of the largest and most renowned engineering universities in the world, the Colloquium focused on one primary question: how can we better provide engineers with the global experience necessary to be competitive in the increasingly globalized field of engineering? Matthew’s presentation focused on the international engineering internship in China – presenting CRCC Asia’s model for engineering programs as well as exploring the history of China’s engineering education. Elaborating on Xi Jinping’s recent policies, as laid out by the 13th annual 5-year plan, Matthew’s speech also explored the idea that “everyone is an entrepreneur” in China and what Xi means when supporting “creativity of the masses”. Matthew’s concluding argument was that institutions need to make a commitment to understanding China as not only a center for manufacturing, but also a rising center for innovation and entrepreneurship, and the importance of a globally-prepared Engineer is only going to grow.
‘New innovative ideas to help students learn and grow throughout the entire internship’
USA University Partnerships Manager, Amanda Reynolds, attended the NAFSA tri-regional conference in Denver, which included many providers and universities from regions I, II, and IV. Amanda Reynolds presented on behalf of CRCC Asia with our partner institution Arizona State University on how to advise students before, during and after an international internship experience. CRCC Asia and Arizona State University partner to provide a customized internship program in Beijing. The presentation provided case study examples from our partnership, and drew great conversation from attendees on new innovative ideas to help students learn and grow throughout the entire internship. In addition to our presentation, CRCC Asia enjoyed attending sessions and collaborating with new and old colleagues in the field.
‘A focus on going digital’
Finally, Director of Institutional Relations, Megan Swanick, represented CRCC Asia in Austin, Texas, for the CIEE Annual Conference. This year’s conference was focused on going digital: meeting students online in the digital age of international education. Megan enjoyed networking with colleagues, attending sessions, and discussing some of the ways CRCC Asia is meeting their students online: through CRCC Asia’s customized pre-departure toolkit, digital storytelling program, on the ground information and support, and re-entry alumni programming.
CRCC Asia specializes in international internship programs that are centered around 5 key learning outcomes: employability, cultural agility, sector specific knowledge, country specific knowledge, and global connections. Our team frequently presents at conferences and collaborates with colleagues on topics spanning China, Asia, professional development, our 18 career fields and how they operate in our program locations, international internship best practice, and digital storytelling. If you are interested in collaborating on a topic, having our team present at your upcoming conference, or want to learn about our programs in China, Japan, Vietnam and England, please email us at [email protected].
