Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

EdD

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Curriculum & Instruction/Literacy Studies

Committee Chair

Richard Hartnett.

Abstract

Internationalization of higher education institutions has become comprehensive and complex phenomenon in the United States since the 1990s. This trend has significantly motivated American colleges and universities involving all members within their communities to internationalize their institutions and increase their global competitiveness.;The purpose of this study was to assess institutional efforts on internationalization of higher education institutions through the lens of study abroad programs coordinated by the centralized Offices of International Programs (OIPs) at U.S. research universities. It assessed whether relationships existed between institutional input to study abroad programs through human resources and financial resources, the process of administration and coordination of study abroad programs in terms of the number of the study abroad programs, the number of exchange programs, and the number of international partnerships, and the output of these programs regarding the number of study abroad students, the number of international exchange students, and the number of faculty abroad.;A total of 230 executives who directed OIPs at research universities were surveyed through the Internet. 93 valid responses were received, representing 40.4 percent of the population. Three multiple regression models were established and significantly related to each of the outcome variables. In addition, several predict variables were significantly related to the outcome variables: (1) three predictor variables (e.g., human resources, financial resources, and the number of study abroad programs) were significantly associated with the number of study abroad students; (2) two predict variables (e.g., the number of international exchange programs and the number of international partnerships) were significantly related to the number of international exchange students; and (3) two predict variables (e.g., human resources and the number of study abroad programs) were significantly related to the number of faculty abroad.

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