How to make the most of international HE partnerships
Patrick Blessinger and Barbara Cozza
St. John’s University (NYC) and International HETL Association
University partnerships have become powerful vehicles for promoting civic and democratic engagement, cultivating international economic development and fostering teacher and school system improvement, among other aims. A university partnership is a relationship between a university and other groups where partners agree to collaborate in order to advance common interests.
In the current era of globalisation and internationalisation, partnerships are becoming more widespread and increasingly global in scale and strategic in focus. Partnerships allow partners to minimise the potential risks associated with internationalisation and better use limited resources. As such, strategic partnerships are often part of an institution’s broader internationalisation strategy.
Motivations and benefits
University partnerships provide multiple benefits for partners. In the book series, University Partnerships, Barbara Cozza and I, along with several educational scholars, explore the different factors impacting international university partnerships.
Our multiple case study analysis examines how universities today are using partnerships to enhance their tripartite mission – that is, teaching, research and service – increase their institutional visibility and profile and extend their global impact.
Universities also use partnerships to engage faculty and students in joint research initiatives, academic exchange programmes, joint degree programmes, joint classroom projects and joint events like conferences and symposia. Other motivations for partnership formation include international funding opportunities and the potential to increase international student enrolments.
Partnerships may also involve community service projects, sustainable development initiatives, professional development activities and university-school-community partnerships to improve local schools and communities.
Regardless of the type of partnership, as noted in the World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century, university partnerships should be based on common interests and mutual respect.
With regard to international research, up to 80% of a country’s research impact is influenced by their research collaboration with researchers in other countries. For instance, researchers with international experience tend to produce the most cited research articles. Thus, partnerships can provide a powerful vehicle for researchers and universities to increase their research impact and build their international network and reputation.
Participant relations
Partnerships vary in the degree of complexity and oversight required. Formal agreements such as memorandums of understanding or terms of reference are often used to help minimise potential risk and conflict. Documents like these describe the purpose and overall structure of the partnership as well as the roles, responsibilities and goals of the initiative.
Once an agreement is established, then it is used to help build a strategic plan, which includes more detailed objectives, schedules and action items. The goals are often mapped to the discrete objectives of the academic department(s) and other administrative unit(s).
The plan also identifies how the partnership will be managed and funded. The plan outlines the who, what, where, when, why and how of the partnership. A plan helps ensure that everyone clearly understands “who is supposed to do what” as the partners move towards their goals.
Effective partnerships are based on good personal relationships between individuals. No matter how sophisticated the plan, reaching common goals ultimately depends on active engagement and dialogue between partners. Since partnerships can be resource intensive (in terms of time, coordination and funding), commitment, communication and cooperation by partners is important.
Collegial community
International partnerships, by definition, include participants from different cultures and institutions. Within this multi-cultural context, some discomfort may arise as participants struggle to understand different perspectives and customs. So, given the different cultural beliefs that may exist in international partnerships, it is important that all participants come together in a spirit of solidarity that is centred on shared values and a shared vision.
Community implies social relationships that are mediated by participants’ different viewpoints and roles so, in the process of building a partnership community, it is important to maintain respectful relations between participants. It is by developing a positive and productive history with partners that future new partnerships are often formed.
Effective partnerships centre on collegial personal relationships and this starts with valuing the opinions and contributions of all participants. When partners engage in caring and thoughtful dialogue, they gain a better appreciation of the differences in people. This is an ongoing relational process that must be nurtured for it to grow.
Partnerships evolve over time and, in the final analysis, they are ultimately sustained through a commitment to listening, reciprocity and continuous feedback on how to improve the partnership. So, partnerships should be based on collaboration that cultivates a collegial community, which helps to ameliorate any power differences between partners and between the different roles of the participants.
Leadership considerations
So, what are some of the most important principles for good partnerships? First, notwithstanding the fact that certain people serve the role of project or programme leader to help facilitate the smooth operation of the partnership, leadership should nonetheless be developed and empowered in all participants. Effective leaders know how to share and distribute leadership responsibilities.
Second, effective leadership is focused on nurturing positive relationships and rapport among all participants through regular communication. Third, effective leadership clearly defines concrete goals and activities so there is no confusion concerning who does what and when. Fourth, effective leadership continually collects and organises information to better understand the progress made relative to the goals. Regular checkpoints are essential.
Educational scholar Lev Vygotsky stressed the importance of mediation in social relations. In such relations, human and social development are culturally constructed and deeply rooted in historical and personal contexts. With respect to building new partnerships, leaders must be able to bring together people from different cultural perspectives and historical experiences to work towards common goals.
It is therefore important that partnership leaders know how to effectively unite institutional, departmental and individual agendas and perspectives in the pursuit of common goals and interests. To this end, university partnerships can provide an effective mechanism for building leadership capacity at all levels.
Patrick Blessinger is an adjunct associate professor of education at St John’s University in New York City, United States, and chief research scientist for the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association. He is co-editor with Barbara Cozza of University Partnerships for Community and School System Development.
Note: this article also appears in the University World News blog at http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20160913124749102
Suggested Citation:
Blessinger, P., and Cozza, B. (2016). How to make the most of international HE partnerships. Higher Education Tomorrow, Volume 4, Article 6, https://www.patrickblessinger.com/how-to-make-the-most-of-international-he-partnerships
Or
Blessinger, P., and Cozza, B. (2016). How to make the most of international HE partnerships, University World News, http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20160913124749102
Copyright © [2016] Patrick Blessinger and Barbara Cozza
Disclaimer
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and as such do not necessarily represent the position(s) of other professionals or any institution.
