Global Education Office

 

AIEA Thematic Forum: Strategic Budgeting for Internationalization

November 3-4, 2022

West Grace North (830 W. Grace Street), Room 1030-J

AGENDA

 

8:15 - 9 a.m.  ̶  Check-in; Breakfast

9 - 9:45 a.m.  ̶  Introductions and Welcome
Fotis Sotiropoulos, Ph.D., VCU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
William Nelson, VCU Senior Vice Provost for Academic Administration and Operations

Hosts will welcome participants and review the Forum’s agenda, goals, and anticipated outcomes: The Thematic Forum examines ways that financial sustainability, budgeting, and intentional planning intersect to strengthen and increase campus internationalization, as well as the role of the SIO in strategic fiscal management. During the next two days, participants will be encouraged to interrogate their approaches to budgeting and discover innovative ways in which SIOs can foster financial sustainability and growth in the global enterprise of their institution.

9:45 - 10:45 a.m.
Session I: Resource allocation models and their impact on HEIs (Paulo Zagalo-Melo)

This session will give an overview of higher education funding, address the current dominant budget models and give examples of issues created by each model while highlighting potential challenges and opportunities generated by each of them. The session will also cover how different budget models might impact internationalization from three perspectives: organizational culture, strategy, and financial management.
The session will address questions such as: What are good practices in building adequate budget models for international offices? How are institutions responding to revenue declines? What are the shortcomings of institutional budget models from an SIO’s perspective? Participants will be asked to comment on examples presented by the discussion moderators and share their own cases.

10:45 - 11 a.m.  ̶  Break

11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Session II: Resource Allocation and Fundraising in Internationalization (Paulo Zagalo-Melo, Martha Merritt)

International offices have many potential sources of funding – state allocations, tuition, student fees, ‘general fund’ allocations, fundraising, as well as revenues generated by internal units such as ESL, Study Abroad and other service areas. As institutional funding sources are tightening and markets become more volatile, colleges and universities are seeking different budgeting models.

12:15 - 1:15 p.m.  ̶  Lunch

1:15 - 2:30 p.m.
Session III: Revenue Generating Strategies (Paulo Zagalo-Melo, Jill Blondin, Martha Merritt, Paul Ginder)

This session will focus on how to strategically look for revenue generating initiatives, sharing real examples of successful and 'not-so-successful' approaches. Some of the questions addressed during the session will include: How do you bring your ideas and initiatives to fruition, and how do you sustain your initiatives? What resources are needed? How do you measure the success of your initiatives? What are your priorities for internationalization?

2:30 - 2:45 p.m.  ̶  Break

2:45 - 4 p.m.
Session IV: Facilitated workshop focusing on application of information at participants' institutions (Paulo Zagalo-Melo, Jill Blondin, Martha Merritt, Paul Ginder)

 

 

8:30 - 9 a.m.  ̶  Breakfast

9 - 10:30 a.m.
Session V: Strategic Alignment and Budgeting for Internationalization (Jill Blondin, Paul Ginder)

This session will discuss how to budget to foster internationalization, including goal alignment, prioritizing resources, and low-cost approaches. Are your goals aligned with institutional goals? Are these goals aligned with the budget? Is there space for friction/budgeting in your quest for goal accomplishment?

10:30 - 10:45 a.m.  ̶  Break

10:45 a.m. - noon
Session VI: Facilitated workshop focusing on application of information at participants' institutions (Paulo Zagalo-Melo, Jill Blondin, Paul Ginder)

This final session will provide participants with time to collaboratively explore and reflect upon budgeting and fiscal resources for campus internationalization. Participants will be encouraged to articulate goals and desired outcomes, current resources, and clear first steps to take upon returning to their institutions.

Noon - 1:30 p.m.  ̶  Lunch / Wrap-up / Forum Assessment

Closing Remarks
Jill Blondin and Paulo Zagalo-Melo