Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Study Abroad

  • By Shannon O'Connor
  • 03/01/19

Included in this issue of College Planning & Management are two articles that feature information on universities outside of the U.S.: Tecnológico de Monterrey (Tec) in Monterrey, Mexico, and the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Tec serves as an example of how design and state-of-the-art technology innovations are taking institutions into the digital age with a thoughtful rebuild of an earthquake-damaged campus. At the University of Windsor, the administration has invested in a campus master plan that offers a vision of its open space and landscape aiming to enrich the student and community experience, update the feel of the campus, and make the university more competitive.

Should we be interested in initiatives on foreign campuses? I think we should.

More than 330,000 American college students studied abroad in the 2016-2017 academic year, according to the 2018 Open Doors Report published by the Institute of International Education. That’s a slight increase from the 2015-2016 academic year, when the number was just over 325,000. (These are students physically attending institutions abroad, not those utilizing virtual or online delivery of instruction.) International collaboration and competition between colleges and universities continues to grow, despite political rumblings that lean in favor of isolationism and building walls. U.S. institutions run more than 70 foreign branch campuses across the globe, according to the Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT), hosted at the State University of New York at Albany and Pennsylvania State University. More than two dozen of them are in China, a growing market for western education.

Whether colleges or universities outside of the U.S. are branch campuses of American institutions—such as the Savannah College of Art and Design Hong Kong, or the University of New Orleans College of Business Administration in Jamaica, to name just two—or foreign-administered, they are still concerned with regulations, accountability, quality assurance, facilities design and maintenance, sustainability, safety, institutional legitimacy, technology, recruiting and retaining students and staff… All familiar topics for CP&M readers.

The locations may be world-wide, but the focus is the same. Creating functional, attractive, safe, and productive environments for all students.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management March 2019 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • St. Lucie County, Fla., Breaks Ground on New K–8 School

    St. Lucie Public Schools in St. Lucie County, Fla., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new K–8 school, according to a news release. The district partnered with Spiezle Architectural Group, Inc., for the design of the upcoming Ft. Pierce K–8 School, which comprises six buildings covering 215,000 square feet.

  • University of Rochester to Break Ground on New Student Life Center

    The University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., recently began construction on a new Student Life building, according to a news release. The first floor will contain campus-wide gathering, program, and rehearsal space; the second floor will play home to the Greenbaum Center for Jewish Life.

  • Montclair State University Debuts New VR Facility

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently announced the completion of a new virtual reality learning facility developed in partnership with Dreamscape Learn, according to a news release. The 2,450-square-foot lab space is inside the College of Communication and Media building and will serve students pursuing careers in digital media, virtual reality, and content creation.

  • CSU Starts Construction on New Engineering Building

    Colorado State University in Denver, Colo., recently began clearing space for the construction of the new Don and Susie Law Engineering Future Technologies Building, according to a news release.