OCTOBER 2015 - Issue 4 - Edition 34

Inaugural Taylor's University "International Week" Launched

It was with great fanfare that Taylorian international students paraded flags into

the amphitheater area at the Lakeside campus to launch the first ever

International Week. The launch event was officiated by the Vice-Chancellor &

President, Prof. Hassan Said as well as Prof. Perry Hobson, the Pro-Vice Chancellor

for Global Engagement and Ms. Angela Pok, the Vice-President for Student

Experience along with the President of the International Student Council,

Hamzah Aslam and also the Vice President, Nicholas Sidharta.

As the launch balloons headed skyward, it was

noted that there are already some 2,000

international students studying a wide-variety of

courses at Taylor's University and they are drawn

from over 80+ countries (such as China,

Indonesia, Mauritius, India, The Maldives,

Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea etc.). This semester

we also have some 46-exchange students from

a range of European countries such as the UK,

Germany, Finland, France, The Netherlands,

Italy, and Austria too. The purpose of International Week was to highlight the diversity

of cultures on the campus, and to give an

opportunity for our eleven International Student

Societies to showcase their food and culture.

Furthermore, it allows for Malaysian students to

learn more about these countries, and the

opportunities they have to access our Global

Mobility Office and to go on a semester

exchange themselves.

The week also showcased the Centre for Languages and the various languages

– such as Spanish (with thanks to the support of the Embassy of Mexico),

Japanese, Korean and French - that are available to learn at Taylor’s Uni.

The various student groups also performed traditional dances and games and a

group of language students also recited a poem with every line in a different

language. So whether students were thinking about studying for a semester in

Finland, learning Korean or wondering about the food in the Maldives there was

plenty on display.

The week concluded with UN Day, to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the

founding of the United Nations. This event launched the LP4-Global Engagement

component of our SHINE 2nd transcript. For more information on the event, you

may contact Mohamed Hussaini (extn 5012) or Catherine Gwee (extn 5470).

Next Stop London - Future Leaders’ League Winners Heading To Finals in the UK

A group of three students from the Taylor's Business School (TBS) has beaten out

more than 500 other groups of contestants from across Malaysia, and will now be

heading to the UK after winning the national round of the Unilever Future Leaders'

League (UFLL) competition. UFLL is a global business case competition that was

initially launched in 2013, and there are now teams from some thirty countries

participating. It's a dynamic marketing competition that aims to bring together

students from all over the world who want to experience what tomorrow's

leadership is all about. The creative brand challenge involves students working

with real brands and in real cases, and is designed to be a hands-on experience

that allows students to understand a leading business from the inside. It also offers

the opportunity to students to be developed by the top leaders that build and

manage Unilever's globally well-known brands, and to boost the skills of

participants to become a future leaders. The UFLL team competition was

launched for the first time in Malaysia earlier this year (see the trailer here) and

three students from Taylor's Business School emerged as the National Champion

of the Inaugural Unilever Future Leader’s League 2015. “The Undefeatable Trios”

team members are Lavania Vijyakumar, Ang Jun Yik and Laura Wong Jar Mun -

and their academic support coaches are Ms. Natasya Saat & Ms. Norbaizura.

They will now be representing Malaysia in the Global Finals of the Futures Leader’s

League in London in early 2016. Ms. Vinitha Padmanabhan Guptan, Dean of TBS,

offered her "Congratulations to the team and their mentor for a job well

done!!" Click here to find out more about the Taylor's Business School and their

success in other case study competitions.

Masters Student From Nepal Interns with UN Tourism Organisation

Taylor's University places a great deal of emphasis on the importance of gaining

relevant industry experience through internships. Recently one of our tourism

Masters students completed a paid internship with one of the agencies of the

United Nations in China. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has been

promoting the use of sustainable tourism indicators since the early 1990s. In order

to encourage sustainable tourism development worldwide, the

UNWTO launched the concept of the Global Observatory of Sustainable Tourism

(GOST). In 2010, they signed an agreement with the Guilin Municipal Government

of China about collaboration on promoting sustainable tourism in Guilin

and Yangshuo County (China). Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU) was then entrusted

by UNWTO to take charge of monitoring the sustainable development of

Yangshuo’s tourism, and in 2010 established the “Monitoring Centre for UNWTO

Sustainable Tourism Observatories” (MCSTO). To date, six observatories have now

been set up in China: Yangshuo, Zhangjiajie, Huangshan (Yellow Mountain),

Chengdu, Kanas and Henan Province.

Karun Rawat completed his UNWTO internship in China

In 2014, MCSTO stated an

International "Internship For Summer

Monitoring" programme, and Karun

Rawat, one of the Masters by

research students from the Taylor's

University School of Hospitality,

Tourism & Culinary Arts (HTCA) was

one of the international students

selected as an intern for 3-

weeks.Karun is from Nepal, and he

commented that "This was a

fantastic opportunity for me, and I

was able to see China through the

lenses of researcher rather than that

of a tourist. It also gave me a much

wider understanding of the local

context, and to better respect the

views of host communities towards

tourism". For more about the School

of Hospitality, Tourism & Culinary

Arts click here.

Blue Skies Ahead as Taylor's Widens Its Existing Links

with St Cloud State University

It was two-years ago that we signed an initial MoU with St Cloud State University

(SCSU) to facilitate the transfer of our Taylor's American Degree Program (ADP)

to complete the their studies in the USA. Following the launch of the Taylor's

Global Strategic Plan in 2015, our aim has been to both broaden and deepen

the many existing international relationships we have. SCSU is also committed to

widen its range of international opportunities, with President Potter noting that

they have students from more that 80-countries on their campus and that their

existing "education-abroad programs offer exhilarating, life-altering experiences"

which they plan to expand. As a valued-partner, President Potter from SCSU was

pleased to return from Minnesota to the Taylor's Lakeside campus to sign another

agreement – one that would now facilitate semester exchange opportunities for

Taylor's University students to go to the USA, and also for SCSU students to come

to Malaysia. Since we signed that first agreement various links have already

started to form. Last year six students from ADP transferred to SCSU to complete

the final 2-years of their studies, and Dr. Andy, Dean of ADP, also visited the SCSU

campus. Furthermore, we have been hosting an American intern from SCSU at

the Taylor's Lakeside campus. Prof. Perry Hobson, the PVC for Global

Engagement at Taylor's University said "We not only see signing this additional

agreement as an opportunities to expand our student exchange network in the

USA, but also to develop other linkages built around scholarship and research".

To learn more about the Global Mobility Opportunities at Taylor's University click

here.

Prof. Hassan Said, President of Taylor's University (4th from right) and President Potter of SCSU (2nd from right)

signed the MoU with senior colleagues from both universities present

University of Bath Visit Taylor's University

Following up on the visit to the University of Bath (UK) by a delegation of senior

staff from Taylor's University last year, Taylor's University were pleased to welcome

a reciprocal delegation to the Lakeside Campus. Led by Ms. Kayja Nieminen,

their International Partnership Manager, the delegation included Emeritus

Professor Jeff Thompson from the Department of Education, Dr. Andrea Taylor,

Director of Studies, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Dr. Peter

Nuttal the International Relations Director of the School of Management and Dr.

Michael Proulx Senior Lecturer from their Department of Psychology. A series of

meetings with relevant counterparts from Taylor's were organised by Ms. Vanessa

Lim from our Office of International Partnerships and Collaborations. During a

hectic day of meetings, Dr. Proulx also gave a Guest Lecture on ‘Motivation &

Emotion’ to students. The VC & President of Taylor's University, Professor Dato’ Dr.

Hassan Said, was pleased to welcome the delegation from the University of Bath,

noting the many opportunities for collaboration between the two

universities. The University of Bath, which is located in the south-west of the UK,

was recently ranked first out of 113 British institutions in the latest Times Higher

Education (THE) Student Experience Survey, published in April 2015. The University

of Bath has had many and varied connections with Malaysia over the years. In

2009, Malaysia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the

University of Bath to enable Malaysian athletes preparing for the 2012 London

Olympics to train there, and well-known Malaysian alumni include Prof. Datuk

Dr. Salleh Mohammad Yasin, a former VC of National University of

Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM) and the Founding Director of

the International Institute for Global Health at the United Nations University in KL.

Delegation from the University of Bath with colleagues from Taylor's University

Study Abroad Needs to be Better Connected to Careers

In order to make study abroad a more attractive and viable option among

American college-goers, university and business leaders must make the

experience more relevant to the careers that students hope to pursue once they

graduate. That was one of the major themes that emerged at Generation Study

Abroad IIE Summit 2015 which took place last week, building on

the initiative from IIE to dramatically increase US participation in study abroad to

600,000 students. “More than ever before, students want their experience to

prepare them for their future,” William Gertz, president and CEO of the American

Institute for Foreign Study, or AIFS, told hundreds of international education

professionals who attended the summit. “Students are not only looking at the

next day and month, but the future,” Gertz said. “They want study abroad to be an integral part of their lifelong journey.” For the full story see The PIE News.

App To Find Reputable Recruitment Agents Launched by ICEF and PIER

ICEF and Australia’s PIER, two companies which collaborate on the delivery of

ICEF’s various agent training courses, have announced a new app which allows

users to find any qualified education counsellor based on a GPS location

tool. The Qualified Education Agent (QEA) app is aimed at sales and marketing

professionals in the industry who will be able to use the app to find

qualified education agency professionals on any business trip and navigate to

an agency’s office. The app is also intended to help potential students to search

for qualified agents close to their current location, and designate which country’s

qualification is preferred out of the main student destination countries: Australia, the US, Canada, and the UK. For the full story see The PIE News.

Australia To Continue its Focus on International Education Says New Minister

Australia’s new government will push ahead with plans laid out by the previous

administration to grow the country’s international education

sector. “International education makes a massive contribution to Australian

society, to our culture, to our international standing and to our economic

prosperity,” said the new Minister for Education, Simon Birmingham. “It provides

huge benefits to all students and their communities. It must be sustainable in a

two-way mutually beneficial arrangement for it to succeed into the future. He

also pointed out the success of the New Colombo outbound mobility plan which

will have supported 10,000 students to work and study across 28 locations in the

Indo-Pacfic region by the end of next year. “I can tell you from my discussions in

China and Korea the value that those governments place on knowing that the

Australian government is doing more to support Australian students to act in a

reciprocal way by learning and studying in their nations,” he said. He also

endorsed Austrade’s Australian International Education 2025 development

strategy that aims to double the number of international students studying in

Australia to one million and increase offshore enrolments to 10 million over the

next decade. For the full story see The PIE News.

Internationalisation of the Curriculum Now a Priority of Over Two-Thirds of Universities

The past decade has seen a rapid expansion of transnational education (TNE),

including twinning arrangements, joint programmes, and, in some of the more

visible and prominent TNE projects, international branch campuses. The

European Association for International Education (EAIE) conducted a survey

among staff at higher education institutions in the European Higher Education

Area, which resulted in a report called The EAIE Barometer: Internationalisation in

Europe. Branch campuses were among 15 categories of internationalisation that

the EAIE study explored with respondents. The top priorities mentioned by

respondents were Strategic partnerships (79%), International research and

innovation (79%), Staff mobility (73% outgoing and 71%

incoming), Internationalisation of the curriculum (68%). For the full story read The ICEF Monitor.