Percent Change in Stock • Percent Change in Row

The decline in new student flow rose from -5 percent between 2003 and 2004 to -9 percent in the first

six months of 2005 as compared to 2004.

The Canadian data include both graduate and undergraduate students. Data for British Columbia

provided by the B.C. Centre for International Education separates graduate students (25 percent of

total university in 2003/04) and undergraduate students (75 percent of total university in

2003/04).

On student visas or similar documents. Note that comparisons between countries are prone to inaccuracy

because of different definitions and that all comparisons over time are affected by changes in immigration

regulations.

Data is not available for

2004/05

but for the 1997/98 - 2003/04 period BCCIE shows the following

university international undergraduate enrollment (heads) for B.C.

This 350 percent increase in just six years is quite impressive but there are indications that the rate of

increase slowed markedly in 2004/05.

Simon Fraser's own stock of international undergraduate students shows the following changes over this

period. (Headcount statistics from Analytical Studies are only available for fall semesters each year.)

The rate of increase over the comparable period (1997-2003)15 lower than for the B.C. university

system as a whole but still Large enough to suggest that our international student enrollment target of

10 percent is achievable.

Another dimension of Simon Fraser's international student objectives is the diversity of its

international student body. As shown below, the top four origin countries (which have changed over

the period) have accounted for an increasing percentage share of undergraduate international students

since the fall of 2000. China and Hong Kong, which accounted for just 27 percent of undergraduate

international students in the fall of 1997, accounted for 45 percent in the fall of 2005.

The statistics presented in this section Likely include international exchange students; for Simon Fraser

they certainly do. However, Simon Fraser's international student targets have been set to by Senate to

achieve 10 percent of funded enrollment from international students who enroll seeking SFU degrees

and who pay SFU international student tuition fees. Thus, for 2004/05 we should have enrolled enough

international students to generate 1541 FTEs; the FTEs generated by these students in 2004/05 only

totaled 1380. In 2005/06 (projected) international students should generate 1595 FTEs while actual

international FTEs are expected to be 1473. Each year's shortfall increases the recruitment target in

subsequent years, if nothing else changes.

6. International Undergraduate Student Recruitment

Potential international undergraduate students go through a five-stage decision process before they

appear as registered students at an overseas university.

Whether to study abroad

2) Which country to study in

Which city to study in

Which program to study

Which university to choose

Effective international student recruitment programs have to contribute to the decision process at

each of these stages. (Pimpa, 2003) There are many methods of reaching international students - a list

prepared by the B.C. Centre for International Education includes about thirty techniques.

At Simon Fraser, international student recruitment is the responsibility of SFU International. About 2.5

person-years of recruiting effort are aimed at the global international student market. This effort

yields about 40 percent of new international undergraduate students, the balance having been

recruited in British Columbia, presumably as a by-product of domestic student recruitment efforts.

Students are recruited from overseas in various ways, including international high schools that we have

targeted for Long-term associations; public high-quality high schools in key countries that are regularly

visited; highly specialized recruiting fairs in key countries organized by either the Government of

Canada or by the Canadian Higher Education Committee, and, on a pilot program basis, the use of

recruiting agents.

SFU also has agreements in place that intend to create a flow of international students originating in

various partner institutions.

The Tsinghua-SFU Bridge Program where Tsinghua University in Beijing provides about

one year of academic and English preparation for Chinese students who are then

expected to meet our normal admission requirements into first year programs.

An agreement with a two year college in Malaysia of the "2 + 2" variety where students

spend two years in Malaysia and two years at SFU before receiving an SFU degree, not

unlike the general nature of our articulation arrangements with B.C. community colleges.

The recently launched Dual Degree Program (DDP) in computing science co-delivered

with Zhejiang University in China that should result in about 25 very high-quality new

international students per year arriving at SFU to complete the final two years of a

degree program.

Opportunities for the further development of similar programs in several countries remain promising

and at least four dual degree programs are in various stages of exploration.

7. International Student Recruitment at Other Canadian Universities

ALL Canadian universities recruit international undergraduate students; some are more committed

and/or more successful than others. Larger and older universities with Large overseas alumni numbers

are likely to be more successful than newer and smaller universities with fewer overseas alumni, not

least because they are able to deploy more resources in international recruitment and reap Larger

enrollment returns per dollar expended.

In this section the international student presence at three other Canadian universities (University of

B.C., University of Waterloo, and University of Victoria) are compared to Simon Fraser University's.

Unfortunately, the data (international student headcounts) are not exactly comparable but give a fairly

good picture of the relative international student presence at each university. (Note that some of this

data, including Simon Fraser's, includes international exchange students; increasing their presence is

an important internationalization objective, but it is not addressed by this proposal.)

2003

2004

2005

University of Victoria

1344

1595

University of Waterloo

According to these data, Simon Fraser is ahead of two similarly-sized comprehensive universities in its

1360

1526

degree of internationalization via international student enrollment and it also led, in proportion to

size, the University of B.C. in 2003.

All four universities have similar geographical concentrations among their international students as

shown by the percentage of international students accounted for by the top four countries. The

University of B.C. had a more diverse international student population in 2003 using the "top four

share" measure - -using more comprehensive diversity measures would likely have reinforced this

Undergraduate

University of Victoria

University of Waterloo

It is difficult to ascertain exactly what other Canadian universities do to recruit international students

and how much they spend doing it. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the University of B.C. spends

about five times as much as Simon Fraser as well as benefiting from a larger international presence and

reputation and a larger alumni network.

8. The Risks of Not Diversifying International Enrollment

The most distinctive feature of Simon Fraser's international student population over the last three

years is the rapid increase in students from China. Students from China now comprise a large majority

of international undergraduate students from the top ten origin countries as shown in Appendix 1 on

page 16.

Students from China clearly deserve special consideration in the long term international student

recruitment plans of the University because of their rapid growth and the huge future potential.

China's university system has experienced many drastic policy shifts since 1950. During the 1950s and

1960s, higher education was based on the Soviet model up to and including the assignment of university

graduates to jobs by their sponsors after graduation. The Cultural Revolution demolished this system.

Universities closed and students were exiled to rural areas for "re-education". Reconstruction of the

system began in 1978 and proceeded rapidly. By 1994, 2.8 million full-time students were enrolled in

courses offered by more than 1,000 public higher education institutions.

The trend to increasing enrollments, at both the undergraduate and graduate level has continued. In

1994, about 2 percent of the relevant age group in China attended higher education institutions.

Compared to other countries in the region this proportion was low. For example, enrollment rates

were 10 percent in Indonesia, 19 percent in Thailand and 51 percent in Korea. Even India, a poorer

country than China, enrolled 8 percent of its 20- to 24-year oLds in higher education. However, by

2003, massive investment in the post secondary education system, coupled with system reform, had

changed the enrollment ratio to 17 percent, comparable to the average 14 percent for the East Asia

and Pacific region and far surpassing India's 12 percent. In 2004, there were more than 16 million

undergraduate students in China and the government target is 30 million by 2010. This expansion

program has been described as "the biggest university expansion in history." (The Economist,

September 10, 2005)

At Simon Fraser last fall, students from China represented nearly 40 percent of all international

undergraduate students and almost 80 percent of at[ international students from the top ten sending

countries. China has been virtually the only source of significantly increasing numbers of

undergraduate students. It is not likely that any other country, including India, can replace China as a

source of international students in the near future and we are thus very exposed to variation in

numbers of Chinese students. Recent changes in Canadian immigration processing for student

authorizations from China and China's rapidly developing post-secondary capacity indicate that we

should act to improve our recruitment of students from China while at the same time doing everything

possible to diversify our international student origins.

International Under

raduate Student Retention at SFU

Simon Fraser's international students have a much Lower retention rate than do its domestic students.

Recent one-year retention rates are approximately 15 percent lower for international new students

than for domestic new students and the retention of international students admitted from BC or

foreign Grade 12 is as

much as 40 percent poorer. Low retention has a personal cost for students who

are unable to continue but it also increases the University's recruitment targets in subsequent years

because the enrollment expected from these students must be replaced by enrollment from new

international students.

The reasons for the poorer retention experience of international students are still being explored but

possible causes include:

• weak English language skills;

• study skills acquired in a learning environment where rote memorization is emphasized;

• insufficient academic advice on suitable program choices for individual students.

Various social and cultural adaptation issues also challenge international students.

Other Measures to Improve International Student Recruitment

Besides the proposal for an affiliation with IBT Education, Ltd., the University will be undertaking the

following steps to improve international student recruitment.

Combine international and domestic student recruitment for more strategic recruitment

and efficient admissions processing.

Improve the conversion ratio of new admits to registrants through better contact and

admissions procedures.

Expand the number of recruiter-advisors at the Faculty level

Review procedures for articulating courses and programs with other institutions

Expand in-house recruiting and develop a global network of recruiting agents and

agencies that feed students either directly to SFU or to a local college partner

Create partnerships with one or more community colleges in B.C. to serve as bridging

institutions for international students who require additional academic preparation or

acclimatization to our academic environment prior to entering SFU.

Strengthen existing articulation agreements with B.C. Community Colleges by giving

stronger guarantees of program and course access.

10. Background of IBT Education Ltd.

IBT Education Ltd. is an Australian company that provides pre-university and university pathway

programs for domestic and overseas students at separate colleges. Information on the company is

available at http://www.ibteducation.com/

. Almost all IBT's programs are offered in conjunction with

associated universities in an on-campus college model. The programs provide an opportunity for

students to enter the associated university's programs and subsequently obtain a university degree.

IBT's business model is based around three core principles:

providing superior education services, including advising support;

associating with quality selected universities;

• marketing effectively to prospective students.

IBT's first operation was established in Perth, Western Australia in 1994 in association with Edith

Cowan University. Over the past ten years, the IBT Group has grown to provide similar pathway

programs with associated universities in Australia in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, and

internationally in the United Kingdom and Africa. The company was listed on the Australian Stock

Exchange in 2004

The pathway/access programs were developed to facilitate access to university degree level programs

for students with Year 12 (or equivalent) grades and other preparation that falls marginally below what

is required by universities for direct entry to first year courses. To remedy this problem, a tiered or

staged university pathway/access system with different entry and exit points was developed. In this

system, students can, if necessary, enhance their English language and mathematics skills and then

undertake study at either first year university Level (Diploma) or, in cases where Year 12 results were

too far below university entrance level, a university entrance program followed by the Diploma

program which then Leads to university access at second year level. Recently, a "Pre-Masters'

Qualifying" program has been developed for students wishing to undertake graduate study.

IBT Education Ltd. operates the following private higher education colleges:

• Perth Institute of Business and Technology (PIBT) - Perth, Western Australia

• Sydney Institute of Business and Technology (SIBT) - Sydney, New South Wales

• Melbourne Institute of Business and Technology (MIBT) - Melbourne, Victoria

• Queensland Institute of Business and Technology (QIBT) - Brisbane, Queensland

• South Australian Institute of Business and Technology (SAIBT) - Adelaide, South Australia

• Curtin International College (CIC) - Perth, Western Australia

• Eynesbury Institute of Business and Technology (EIBT) - Adelaide, South Australia

• London International College of Business and Technology (LIBT) -London, United Kingdom

• HIBT - Hatfield, United Kingdom

• Australian Institute of Business and Technology (AIBT) - Lusaka, Zambia

• Australian Studies Institute (AUSI) - Nairobi, Kenya

The first of these colleges (PIBT) commenced operation in 1994 and with the exception of EIBT, AUSI

and AIBT, each college is located on a campus of an associated university, making use of the resources

and facilities of those universities on a fee-for-service basis. The combined enrolment of these

colleges in early 2005 was in excess of 9500 students.

The universities with which IBT is associated are:

• Curtin University of Technology (Western Australia and New South Wales)

• Edith Cowan University (Western Australia, Kenya and Zambia)

• Griffith University (Queensland)

• Macquarie University (New South Wales)

• Deakin University (Victoria)

• The University of South Australia (South Australia)

• Flinders University (South Australia)

• The University of Adelaide (South Australia)

• Brunel University (London)

• The University of Hertfordshire (Hatfield)

Over IBT's ten-year history, all relationships with associated universities have grown beyond initial

expectations and continue to do so. All agreements with associated universities are current and have a

100% renewal rate. Student success rates have contributed significantly to the strength and duration of

these partnerships. It is generally agreed that IBT students entering partner universities do as well or

better than those students entering directly from foreign high schools.

IBT's success seems to be based on the advantages of their exclusive specialization in preparing certain

groups of international students for degree-level study in Western universities. Recruitment,

admission, educational, and support programs are all focused on this special group of students and IBT

has developed models and experience that are superior to what is available from their associated

university partners. Of particular importance is small class size (maximum 50) and instructional

approaches geared to students for whom English is not a first language. IBT's partners are striving to

develop successful comprehensive universities with a research agenda and a varied mix of teaching

programs along with community service. IBT is able to specialize in a particularly demanding portion of

the educational mission of traditional universities and to deliver better results.

11. Pro

osed Relationshi p

between IBT and SFU

The most important features of the proposed relationship between IBT and SFU are listed below.

1) IBT Education Ltd. will operate an affiliated but independent college adjacent to Simon

Fraser's Burnaby campus. SFU will provide and furnish instructional and office space

according to a plan for the development of the college.

Students will be recruited mainly through IBT's network of recruiters and recruiting

agents. Applicants who were interested in Simon Fraser and who met our standards for

direct entry will be referred to SFU for direct admission.

The initial target enrollment for September, 2006 is 120 students. This is expected to

increase to 1,000 students by 2010/11.

FIC students wilt have access to the SFU campus and to SFU services such as the

Library. FIC will pay for certain services at the same rates as SFU students.

IBT will recruit international students for FIC using their own recruiters and recruiting

agents. The affiliation with SFU will be emphasized in promotional material; SFU will

approve this material. Qualified students who were interested in direct admission to

SFU will be referred to us. While we should expect Asian origins to dominate, IBT has

recruiting capability in about 40 countries and is aware of Simon Fraser's international

diversification objectives.

When students are admitted to FIC they will be provided with a qualified letter of

admission to the SFU program that they have selected. The qualification will require

completion of the first year curriculum for that program at FIC with whatever GPA we

have designated for admission to that program for the year in which transfer was

expected.

7) The programs that WflL be available will be selected by mutual agreement between SFU

and FIC. Over time, SFU is interested in having as wide a variety of programs available

as is practicable, given the size of FIC in various years and the program interests of

prospective international undergraduate students. The curriculum will consist of a

typical first year for each program that is selected.

8) Departments and Schools at SFU will have an important role in advice and liaison with

FIC in order to ensure the academic equivalency of FIC courses. SFU units whose

courses are taught by FIC may be asked to carry out some or all of the following tasks.

Appropriate compensation for work with FIC wilt be provided to Departments and

Schools by the University.

Appoint a Liaison Coordinator to work with FIC

Ensure that FIC instructional staff have equivalent qualifications to instructional

staff appointed at SFU

Review course outlines and grading schemes

Advise FIC instructional and administrative staff as required

Arrange for review of a sample of in-course assignments

Arrange for review of final exam and answer key

Arrange for review of a sample of final examinations

Approve course grades and supporting information as submitted by institute

9) An Academic Advisory Committee will be appointed with three members from the

University and three members from FIC. The Chair will be appointed by the University.

The purpose of this Committee will be to oversee the academic quality of FIC's courses

and provide appropriate advice to FIC and SFU.

10) FIC will charge tuition fees that are comparable to SFU's international student tuition

fees. SFU will receive a portion of the revenue collected from tuition fees. This

revenue wit[ be committed to the following purposes:

• paying capital and operating costs for facilities provided to FIC;

• compensating Departments and Schools for services provided in connection with

the affiliation agreement;

expanding the scholarship and bursary programs available to all international

students;

o expanding other student services.

11) The initial term of the contract would be five years. The contract contains various

provisions for early termination for non-performance. Renewal, which would be for

•1

additional five-year terms, would be preceded by a comprehensive review conducted

by the Vice President, Academic.

13.

Risks of the IBT Proposal

It is recognized that this proposal, while it has many advantages and attractions for Simon Fraser,

also carries risks of falling short of our expectations or of outright failure. Some of these risks are

Listed below.

• Inability of FIC to hire suitable instructional staff

• Recruiting shortfalls due to market shifts or international political developments

o Poor outcomes in terms of number and quality of transfer students

14.

Alternatives to the IBT Proposal

Those responsible for international education at Simon Fraser do not believe that any organization

with IBT's record of success and effective relationships with affiliated universities exists.

Nonetheless, if this proposal is rejected, there are three alternatives that could be chosen.

i) Accept the probable shortfall in SFU's international student targets

2)Expand, with significant expenditure, SFU's own international student recruitment resources

3) Initiate efforts to find another international student recruitment partner, perhaps building on

the "2+2" model referred to earlier in this paper on page 7.

Minor editorial revisions 24 January, 2006

JanSanderson, 3/6/06 10:43 AM

-0800, Document for Senate Mtg Tonight

k-Priority: 1 (Highest)

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 10:43:03 -0800

To: all-senators@sfu.ca

From: Jan Sanderson <Jan_Sanderson@sfu.ca >

Subject: Document for Senate Mtg Tonight

X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody. sfu.ca

running antivirus scanner

To:

All Senators

Please find attached a document containing information relevant to the international student

recruitment item being considered at Senate tonight.

Dr. John Waterhouse

Vice-President, Academic and Provost

ISR ISSUES 3.5.06.doc

Printed for Bobbie Grant <bgrant@popserver.sfu.ca >

INTERNATIONAL

STUDENT RECRUITMENT ISSUES

March 5, 2006

1. The international undergraduate

FTE target of 10%.

Internationalization. This target has been a central part of SFU's internationalization

goal for several years. It is not unattainable and it does not represent an excessive

reliance on international students.

• Financial. By setting an enrollment target for international students in addition to

enrollment funded in part by the provincial government, SFU will be enabled to

commit resources to expanding the faculty complement and constructing new

facilities. By 2010/11, the annual tuition revenue from international students will be

$27 million at current fee levels.

Recruiting international undergraduate students

• The need to recruit. Universities must be proactive in seeking to make suitable

university-bound persons interested in their university. The need to undertake active

recruitment of students is much greater in the case of international students because

they have more options and because their decision to study abroad is more expensive,

relatively and absolutely, than for domestic students.

• How international students make application decisions. International students follow

a hierarchical decision process before they select a particular foreign institution as

their university.

Whether to study abroad

Which country to study in

Which city to study in

Which program to study

Which university to choose

In order to recruit international students, universities need an information presence at

each stage of this process.

Global trends. The global number of prospective university students is increasing but

so are the university places in the countries where this increase is occurring. There is

also increased competition between universities in developed countries who wish to

increase their enrollment of international students. Nevertheless, SFU's objective to

build international undergraduate FTEs to 1800 is a very tiny part of the worldwide

flow of international students.

• Canada and international students. Canada is in fourth place among preferred

destinations for international students who wish to study in English. Canadian

immigration policy and practice are obstacles to the free flow of international

students to Canadian institutions.

3. Methods of recruiting international students

Recruit with domestic students. SFU recruits many of its international students as part

of its domestic students recruiting. International students who enter SFU from B.C.

Grade 12 or transfer from B.C. colleges are not targeted specifically in the University's

international student recruiting efforts.

• Recruit directly from abroad. SFU recruits students directly after their completion of

Grade 12 in another country. Most students in this category who apply for admission

(over 1,000 annually) either do not complete their application, are unsuccessful in

gaining admission, or, once admitted, do not register.

• Types of proactive recruiting. Passive recruiting - simply waiting for someone who

knows about Simon Fraser (probably because they know something about Vancouver)

to apply - will always yield a small stream of suitable applicants. It is unlikely to meet

the future need of 800-900 new international students every year.

There are various types of proactive international student recruitment. Students are

recruited from overseas in various ways, including international high schools that we

have targeted for long-term associations; public high-quality high schools that are

regularly, visited; highly specialized recruiting fairs in key countries organized by either

the Government of Canada or the Canadian Higher Education Committee and, on a

pilot program basis, the use of recruiting agents. The proposal to conclude an

agreement with IBT Education Ltd. would be another type of proactive recruitment of

international students but with advantages of effectiveness and quality control that

most recruitment methods cannot match.

4. The IBT proposal

• The advantages of IBT. IBT Education Ltd. is an Australian company that provides pre-

university and university pathway programs for domestic and overseas students at

separate colleges. IBT's business model is based around three core principles:

> providing superior education services, including advising support;

associating with quality selected universities;

marketing effectively to prospective students.

Over IBT's ten-year history, all relationships with associated universities have grown

beyond initial expectations and continue to do so. All agreements with associated

universities are current and have a 100% renewal rate. Student success rates have

contributed significantly to the strength and duration of these partnerships. IBT

students entering partner universities do as well or better than those students

entering directly from foreign high schools.

IBT's success seems to be based on the advantages of their exclusive specialization in

preparing certain groups of international students for degree-level study in Western

universities. Recruitment, admission, educational, and support programs are all

experience

on this special group of students and IBT has developed models and

experience that are superior to what is available from their associated university

partners. Of particular importance is small class size (maximum 50) and instructional

approaches geared to students for whom English is not a first language. IBT's partners

are striving to develop successful comprehensive universities with a research agenda

and a varied mix of teaching programs along with community service. 181 is able to

specialize in a particularly demanding portion of the educational mission of traditional

universities and to deliver better results.

The IBI proposal. IBT would operate an affiliated but independent college (Fraser

International College - FIC) adjacent to Simon Fraser's Burnaby campus. IBT would

recruit international students for FIC using their own recruiters and recruiting agents.

The affiliation with SFU would be emphasized in promotional material; SFU would

approve this material. Qualified students who were interested in direct admission to

SFU would be referred to us.

While we should expect Asian origins to dominate, IBT has recruiting capability in

about 40 countries and is aware of Simon Fraser's international diversification

objectives.

The programs that will be available will be selected by mutual agreement between

SFU and FIC. Over time, SFU is interested in having as wide a variety of programs

available as is practicable, given the size of FIC in various years and the program

interests of prospective international undergraduate students. The curriculum will

consist of a typical first year for each program that is selected.

' How the proposed agreement would work.

> IBT would recruit students using its network of international recruiters.

> Instructional and office space would be provided by SFU adjacent to the

Burnaby campus.

Various student and academic services would be provided to FIC students.

) FIC and SFU would design a curriculum that is based on SFU courses and course

mater ial.

> The curriculum would provide a complete first year program for transfer to a

reasonably wide range of SFU undergraduate programs.

An Academic Advisory Committee comprising equal numbers of SFU and FIC

appointees plus an SFU-appointed chair would set academic policy and oversee

the academic quality of FIC courses.

> SFU would establish guaranteed admission, course transfer and access to

courses for FIC students who met predetermined academic performance

standards, which would also be set periodically by SFU.

FIC would recruit and employ its own instructors but SFU would provide

assistance in identifying possible instructors and would ensure that instructors'

qualifications meet the University's own requirements for similar positions.

> IBT would pay SFU a share of tuition fees collected from students. SFU would

use these revenues to offset the costs of providing space, to compensate

departments for their work with FIC, to expand the scholarship and bursary

programs available to all, international students, and to expand other student

services.

5. Objections to the IBT proposal

• IBT is a private company. There is no evidence that IBT's ownership has made any

difference to their record of success with Australian universities.

• SFU will not have enough control. The degree of control that SFU would have under

this agreement is much greater than it has over other institutions that provide transfer

students. SFU's departments and schools whose course equivalents were offered by FIC

would carry out the following types of academic oversight.

> Ensure that FIC instructional staff had equivalent qualifications to similar SFU

instructional staff

> Review course outlines and grading schemes

> Advise FIC instructional and administrative staff as required

> Arrange for review of a sample of in-course assignments

Arrange for review of final exam and answer key

> Arrange for review of a sample of final examinations

Approve course grades and supporting information as submitted by FIC

SFU will have to do too much work. Funding would be available to compensate the

University and its units for work performed in connection with FIC. The operations of

FIC will have little, if any, direct impact on many departments and schools. It will be

a separate institution responsible for its own administration and operation.

• SFU's reputation could (will) be damaged. The charge that SFU's reputation could or

will be damaged is without foundation. IBT's 12 years of successful operation in

Australia are a convincing refutation of this charge.

Many people at SFU are opposed to the IBT proposal. Some members of the SFU

community are opposed, but the number of active opponents is small compared to the

number of persons who have been given the opportunity to participate in discussions

of the IBT proposal over the past four months. More importantly, the opposition

seems fundamentally grounded in distaste for the University entering into an

arrangement with a private company.

• There hasn't been enough consultation. There has been ample opportunity for

members of the SFU community to provide comment on this proposal. The IBT

proposal has been reviewed by four Senate committees and recommended by the two

that were in a position to make a recommendation. It has also been discussed at

Dean's advisory groups in all six faculties, at two open meetings, and in various other

meetings. There is nothing more to discuss - now is the time for Senate to make a

decision.

The IBT proposal is too risky. Any new venture has risks but SFU is well-protected if

this initiative proceeds and turns out to have been a bad idea. The contract has a

term of five years. As part of consideration for its renewal, the Vice President,

Academic is committed to undertake a comprehensive review of the effects of the

relationship. The contract contains language for early termination due to non-

performance by either party. For example, if student enrollment Levels in FIC or

transfer flows to SFU are deemed by the University to be non-viable, the contract may

be terminated. If FIC failed to appoint instructors with qualifications comparable to

those appointed to similar positions at SFU, the contract could also be terminated.

• FtC will employ low quality instructors and pay them too Little. FIC's instructors will

be appointed after SFU has approved their qualifications and they will be paid

comparable salaries to persons holding similar teaching appointments at SFU.

• IBT's Board Chair is controversial. During the course of our consideration of this

proposal the Chair of IBT's Board, Trevor Flugge, has been named in connection with

an Australian inquiry (Cole Inquiry) into bribes paid to sell Australian wheat to Iraq

during the UN's Oil for Food Program. The Cole Inquiry will not complete its work

until April. While Mr. Flugge is not involved in the management of IBT and has only

been associated with the company since November, 2004, these allegations are a

serious concern. SFU will not sign an agreement with IBT until either:

Mr. Flugge's association with IBT is changed

Mr. Flugge is cleared by the Cole Inquiry

• IBT's other affiliations are with weak universities. IBT's partner universities are in the

mid-range of size and rankings of Australian universities; they rank from

8th

301h

the single Australian ranking system of the University of Melbourne. According to the

world-wide university ranking system by Shanghai Jiaotong University, several of IBT's

partner universities are in the same ranking group as Simon Fraser.

6. Alternatives to IBT

• Improve in-house international student recruitment.

SFU's international student recruitment program will continue to use multiple

approaches including:

Strengthened direct recruitment efforts

> More attention to twinning programs

> More seamless relationships with local community colleges

Developing innovative new international programs

> Exploring the use of carefully selected agents

Increase efforts to improve international student retention. Retention is a complex

issue that SFU must work on for all students, not just first year international

undergraduates. Retention rates for international students are tower than for

domestic students, reflecting the poorer retention associated with alt students that

start with low grades and/or an ESL background. Such students must be targeted early

with a variety of interventions designed to retain them. Key elements of a retention

program include more stringent assessment of credentials and application of

standards, the provision of solid proactive academic advising, and making university

skills (literacy and numeracy) programs and courses available.

• Find another IBT. We are unaware of an organization with the reach and record of IBT

in recruiting and educating international students. Their success in Australia is

unmatched.

Partner with an existing BC institution. There is no BC institution that could deliver

the quality and quantity of international student recruitment that SFU is trying to

secure.

• Reduce the target as needed. It will not be necessary to reduce the target if the IBT

agreement proceeds. Reducing the target would cost the University $1 million in

revenue each year for

every

65 international students that we were unable to attract

because we did not have the IBT agreement. This reduction in revenues would be far

larger than the saving in direct costs and would require that cost-savings be found

elsewhere.

Also, IBT would be directing $3 million yearly to the University when the steady-state

operation of FIC is reached. The portion of this funding that is intended to improve

scholarships and bursaries for all international students would be lost.

an Sanderson, 2/28/06 8:56 AM -0800, Distributed at the request of John Waterhouse

Date: The, 28 Feb 2006 08:56:06 -0800

To: all-senators@sfu.ca

From: Jan Sanderson <Jan Sanderson@sfu.ca

Subject: Distributed at the request of John Waterhouse

X-Virus-Scanned: by antibody.sfu.ca

running antivirus scanner

Attached is the final draft of a document on international student recruitment which addresses issues

raised during recent consultations about a proposed agreement with IBT Education Limited.

Jan Sanderson, Administrative Asst

Vice-President, Academic

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6

Phone/Fax: (604) 291-4639/291-5876

ISR Paper 2.24.06.doc

Printed for Bobbie Grant <bgrant@popserver.sfu.ca >

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RECRUITMENT - II

February 24, 2006

This report addresses several issues that have been raised during consultation on the proposal that the

University sign an agreement with IBT Education Ltd. that would see the establishment of Fraser

International College (FIC) adjacent to the SFU Burnaby campus. The following issues are included in

this report.

• SFU's International Student Recruitment Needs to 2010/11

SFU's Plan for Recruiting International Students

• Financial Aspects of the Proposed IBT Agreement

IBT's Operations in Australia

• Controls and Safeguards in the Proposed Agreement with IBT

Retention of International Students

A. SFU's International Student Recruitment Needs to 2010/11

Senate adopted international student FTE targets in connection with its approval of a broader program

of internationalization. Currently, Senate is being asked to approve annual targets that will bring

international undergraduate FTEs to the Level of 10 percent of total funded undergraduate FTEs. The

international FTE targets implied by this objective are as follows:

Academic Year

International FTE Target

("Int'l B - unfunded")

Increasing total undergraduate enrollment above the funded level also increases the financial resources

available to the University in future years.

The primary mechanism for achieving these increased enrollment objectives will be increasing

international undergraduate student admissions, although improving retention would also contribute.

The projected annual requirement for new international students (heads) is shown below.

Academic Year

New International Students

In both 2004/05 and 2005/06, about one-third of new international students entered directly from

Grade 12 (Canadian and foreign) and two-thirds were transfer students, mostly from B.C. colleges. It

should be noted that Student Services believes that the recommended target number of new

international students in 2006/07 (815) is likely unattainable with our current recruitment system and a

new international student number at the 2005/06 level of 650 is more likely. This would mean that the

2006/07 international student enrollment target would not be met and that the target in subsequent

years would also be jeopardized.

If the 181 proposal were approved and FIC developed :according to IBT's enrollment projections, then

the approximate mix of entering SFU international students to from 2006/07 to 2010/11 would be as

Total New International Students

As this table shows, the effect of an agreement with IBT would be to augment our current sources of

international students, not replace them. According to this projection, 60 percent of new international

students in 2010/11, assumed to be close to steady state in the development of FIC, would still come

from our present sources.

The first (January

13th)

report on international student recruitment highlighted the more difficult

environment for international student recruitment at the global Level. Achieving even these modest

increases in new international students while maintaining and, hopefully, improving, the academic

potential of these new students will be a challenge.

B. SFU's Plan for Recruiting International Students

International students follow a hierarchical decision process before they select a particular foreign

institution as their university.

Whether to study abroad

2) Which country to study in

3) Which city to study in

4) Which program to study

Which university to choose

In order to recruit international students, universities need an information presence at each stage of

this process. SFU faces two challenges regarding international students - they are more difficult to

recruit and enroll than domestic students because they are harder to reach and have a greater number

of choices for post-secondary education. In the fall of 2005, only 13 percent of the 2,277 international

students who submitted admission applications to SFU became registered students; for domestic

students 28 percent of applicants finally registered. Secondly, international students are generally

harder to retain for a range of reasons including weak academic preparation, difficulty in processing

and assessing credentials, an ESL background and, at least in some cases, financial stress.

Although a majority of our international students come from B.C. high schools and colleges, SFU must

continue to recruit international students directly from abroad because this provides the opportunity to

focus on specific geographic markets rather than relying entirely on a flow of students from local

institutions where entrance requirements become the primary filter for defining our international

student population's diversity.

International students can be recruited through a variety of mechanisms. These include direct contact

using international student recruiters, promotion at education fairs and in relevant media,

development of institutional relationships with key high schools and colleges locally and abroad, and

using agents. Some special programs such as SFU's Dual Degree Program in Computing Science with

Zhejiang University will lead to a steady but small flow of new international students. These programs

also provide Canadian students with an opportunity for deep international experience as students at

partner universities; this serves another internationalization objective.

SFU's international student recruitment program will continue to use multiple approaches. The

immediate focus will include the following.

1. Strengthened direct recruitment efforts. Meeting SCEMP-defined targets in a timely way with well

qualified and potentially successful students will require an increased number of recruiters and a

significantly strengthened retention program. UBC recruits roughly twice as many international

students as SFU using more than 20 dedicated international student recruiters and managers, in

addition to international coordinators in their faculties of Arts, Science and Commerce who also

have recruiting responsibility. UBC's better global recognition provides them an additional

advantage. SFU may need to double our existing cadre of international recruiters in addition to

spreading responsibility for international recruitment to other full-time recruiters in Student

Services as well as in departments. We need to continue to build global recognition of our

University by being frequently present at international events and institutions. This includes

presence at key education fairs and regular visits to key high schools and international colleges.

More attention to twinning programs. Connections with local colleges in emerging markets

(Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, most of the Middle East and certain countries in Latin

America) will help to build recognition and familiarity with our name. Few people in Canada have

ever heard of RMIT University in Australia but many middle-class families in Southeast Asia

recognize it as a source of quality post-secondary education as a result of RMIT's frequent presence

in their country.

More seamless relationships with local community colleges. Transfer students from BC colleges and

university-colleges are an important source of international and domestic students. We need to

minimize disadvantages for incoming transfer students compared to SFU students as well as

improve our working relationship with the colleges. Guaranteed admissions packages should be

established to encourage at[ types of college transfer students to choose SFU.

Develop innovative new international programs. We should continue to build specialized programs

such as the Computing Science Dual Degree Program (DDP). More DDPs with strong universities wilt

generate predictable and increasingly large numbers of strong students over a period of time.

They will also contribute to SFU's recognition and the elevation of our international profile.

Explore the use of carefully selected agents. New agent pilot programs should be developed.

Anecdotal information indicates that there are some good agents and a more systematic approach

may be useful in tapping this expensive but potentially effective method of international student

recruitment.

6. Sign an agreement with IBT. The measures listed above will improve our recruitment of

international students but they are not likely to enable SFU to increase international student

enrollment to the required Levels. The establishment of Fraser International College as a feeder

institution would be the best guarantee that SFU can succeed in this aspect of its

internationalization.

C. Financial Aspects of the Proposed IBT Agreement

There are two financial issues associated with this proposed agreement.

SFU would receive a portion of the tuition fees paid by FIC students in recognition of the facilities

provided to FtC, the academic supervision that SFU departments would provide, the provision of various

SFU student services, and general services and recognition given by SFU to F1C. In the planned steady-

state operation of FIC'(l,OOO students in Foundation (Grade 12) and university transfer programs) these

payments would amount to around $3 million.

The intention is to divide these payments into three approximately equal portions.

a) One-third would be directed to the University to pay-for facilities and related services,

other costs of the agreement at the University Level, and increased staffing and services for

all international students.

b) One-third would be made available to SFU departments for the work they would perform in

supervising the academic operation of FIC at the course level. These payments would be

based on the number of course sections supervised.

c) One-third would be used to double the current allocation of financial aid available for

international students.

To the extent that the agreement with IBT ensured that SFU was able to meet its international

student enrollment targets, the gross financial benefit to the University would be in the range of $14-

1 5,000 annually for each ETE student that was enrolled as a result of this agreement. Forward

commitments for new buildings and faculty positions have been made on the expectation that these

targets would be met.

In the three years ending in 2006/07, approximately $17 million will have been added to University

budgets by the decision to increase enrollment above the funded level by charging full fees to new

international students. Almost $10 million of this has gone to the Faculties, mostly for new faculty

positions, and $5 million has funded the construction of new buildings. The remaining $2 million has

been added to SFU International's budget.

isIn the future, these amounts will be much larger. By 2010/11, international students will be

contributing about $27 million annually to the University's funding. The annual amount from students

who are projected to be transfers from FIC is estimated at $9.5 million. Without this agreement, that

funding wit[ be severely jeopardized. The proposed agreement with IBT is the least expensive and

most certain way of protecting this funding.

D. IBT's Operations in Australia

Questions have been raised about IBT's record in Australia. SFU's interest in the proposed agreement

with IBT Education Ltd. relies heavily on their record of success in operating colleges linked to a

number of universities in Australia. As has been stated earlier, all five of IBT's partner universities who

were contacted have declared themselves very satisfied with their experience with IBT colleges. Fraser

International College would be a new institution but we expect it to replicate the outcomes of IBT's 14

other colleges in Australia and other countries.

The Australian university system is not identical to the Canadian system. It is Less generously funded

by government, does not operate alongside a community college system, and has international student

enrollments that are well abOve Canadian averages. This last characteristic is related to the first and

also reflects Australian government policies that encourage the export of educational services.

Because international students have been important to Australian universities for many years, their

universities have substantial experience in recruiting and educating them. IBT has been part of that

experience since the mid-1990s and has been very successful in providing transitional education for

degree-bound international students. Its nine Australian colleges are linked to 8 different Australian

universities. Information on these universities is shown in the following table.

University of Adelaide

1874

18,000

Curtin University of

Science and Technology

Edith Cowan University

Rankings by the University of Melbourne for 37 Australian universities in 2005.

As a group, IBT's partner universities are in the mid-range of size and rankings of Australian

universities. According to the world-wide university ranking system by Shanghai Jiaotong University,

several of these universities are in the same ranking group as Simon Fraser.

E. Controls and Safeguards in the Proposed Agreement with IBT

There are two types of controls and safeguards in the proposed agreement. One relates to the

contract's exit provisions and the other to the academic supervision that SFU will exercise over FIC.

Exit Provisions

The contract has a term of five years. As part of consideration for renewal, the Vice President,

Academic is committed to undertake a comprehensive review of the effects of the relationship.

The contract contains Language for early termination due to non-performance by either party. For

example, if student enrollment levels in FIC or transfer to flows to SFU are deemed by the University to

be non-viable, the contract may be terminated. If FIC failed to appoint instructors with qualifications

comparable to those appointed to similar positions at SFU, the contract could also be terminated.

Academic Supervision

1. SFU's departments and schools whose course equivalents are offered by FIC would carry out the

following types of academic oversight.

Ensure that FIC instructional staff have equivalent qualifications to similar SFU instructional staff

Review course outlines and grading schemes

Advise FIC instructional and administrative staff as required

Arrange for review of a sample of in-course assignments

Arrange for review of final exam and answer key

Arrange for review of a sample of final examinations

Approve course grades and supporting information as submitted by institute

2. An Academic Advisory Committee with three members and its Chair appointed by SFU and three

members appointed by FIC would provide advice to SFU and FIC. The Committee would establish its

own terms of reference and procedures that would provide for regular consultations with students.