SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
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MEMORANDUM
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TO: ?
Senate
S.03-37
FROM: ?
J. H. Waterhouse, Chair,
Senate Committee on Enrollment Management a
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SUBJECT: ?
International Undergraduate Students at Simon r
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University
DATE: ?
February 13, 2003
At its March 2000 meeting, Senate approved a motion from the Senate Committee on Academic
Planning to extend the 7% limit on admission of international students to SFU for a period of three
academic years (2000/01, 2001/02, and 2002/03).
Action undertaken by SCEMP at its meeting of February
5th,
2003 gives rise to the following
motion:
Motion:
"That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, that a target for the
number of international students, excluding exchange students, who are studying in
undergraduate programs at SFU be established at 10% of SFU's funded undergraduate
FTE target in the academic years 2003/4, 2004/05, 2005/06."
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Simon Fraser University
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SFU International
Rationale
The process of internationalization at Simon Fraser University includes the recruitment and retention
of international students as an important component. International students facilitate an international
dimension to teaching, research and community service, and thereby improve the quality of higher
education for all students. The presence of international students enriches the learning environment
for Canadian students by bringing a greater diversity of languages, cultures and perspectives to the
classroom, thus providing more international knowledge and intercultural experiences for those
Canadian students who do not have the opportunity to study abroad. The presence of international
students on campus helps universities meet their obligation to prepare students for a national
economy and cultural milieu changed by globalization. Moreover, recruiting the best and brightest
international students to Canadian campuses improves the quality and capacity of Canadian university
teaching and research in a range of disciplines, adding new ideas and approaches to help advance
our understanding of key national and global issues.
In the longer-term, as international students return to their home countries, they form a pool of
important contacts for the University, particularly since a portion of them assume or grow into
positions of influence or become entrepreneurs with the potential to develop business, academic and
governmental linkages with Canada and Canadians. Further, returning international students
comprise our audience of international alumni which can and have provided assistance with
international fund-raising, links to international research opportunities and sources of international co-
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op work placements.
In order to fully realize the benefits of international students on our campus, we need to have a
strong, diverse and dynamic community that is well integrated with the domestic student population.
The international student population needs to be large enough to accurately and effectively reflect the
cultures and ideas of the world while at the same time reflecting logistical and geographic realities.
Presently, the international population at SFU is under-represented by students from Latin America,
Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific, Scandinavia and Central Europe and is low, as a proportion of the
total undergraduate student body in comparison with other comparable institutions across Canada.
Accordingly, as suggested by the recommendation in the opening section of this document, SFU
International has developed a number of objectives that aim to strengthen both quantitatively and
qualitatively, the international undergraduate student component of the university's internationalization
strategy. These objectives include:
Objective 1: By 2005, international undergraduate students will comprise 10% of the funded
undergraduate student body and will be drawn from diverse countries (2002/03 = approx 5.8%).
Objective 2: By 2005, US undergraduate admissions will increase to 10% of the international student
body (2002/03 = approx 7.3%).
Objective 3: By 2005, international students admitted from other Canadian institutions will comprise
60% of the international student body (2002103 = approx 65%).
Objective 4: By 2005, international undergraduate students admitted from 'overseas' will comprise
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30% of the international student body (2002/03 = approx 25%).
Action plans and a budget proposal in support of each subsidiary objective will be developed after
Objective I is approved.
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TABLE 1
A
C
New Undergraduate International Students by Country of Citizenship
Sum of fraction ?
year
country
2002/03
China (PRC)
186
Hong Kong
43
Taiwan
32
South Korea
31
Japan
25
United States
23
Indonesia
22
Singapore
12
Germany
12
Malaysia
8
India
7
United Kingdom
7
Norway
6
Mexico
3
Thailand
3
Pakistan
3
Israel
3
USSR
3
Phillippines
3
Iran
2
Sweden
2
Kenya
2
Brazil
2
Sri Lanka
2
Venezuela
2
Turkey
2
Tanzania
2
Mauritius
2
North Korea
2
SENE
2
Other Countries
20
Grand Total
474
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