International Education Consulting specializes in many areas of international education.

For over 20 years, higher education institutions both in the U.S. and overseas have sought and received advice to help them improve their internationalization efforts. Let us use our knowledge of best practices in the field to help you have a more effective response to the challenges of todays world. We can add value to your work by:

changing levels of awareness identifying problems providing a full range of solutions that can work for you guiding you through the implementation process rooting out connections and patterns that cross the whole institution or organization helping you determine what you need to do and how to do it

We invite you to explore this site to see the many ways that we can help you make a wise investment in the international future of your university or organization.
What Does IEC Do? Whether its an analysis of the functioning of the International Office, program development, risk analysis and risk management for study abroad programs, crisis management training or protocol development, study abroad documentation review and/or development, structuring new international program offices, defining staff roles and responsibilities, strategic planning, developing overseas exchanges and identifying appropriate partners, receiving international students and/or scholars, training staff, ESL program development or enhancement, grant seeking or a combination of the above, International Education Consulting can provide assistance to you.

How Does IEC Work?

We are systematic in our consulting approach. In our efforts to help you identify and fill performance gaps, we will not jump to any conclusions or form any assumptions about the root causes of your challenges. We will consider a range of possibilities and suggest interventions that will be the most likely to succeed for you. Once the consulting task has been defined, IEC will work with you to determine how you wish them to undertake your particular assignment(s). Options include:

reviewing and analyzing documents interviewing individuals or groups within the university facilitating small group discussions or retreats collecting scattered information and creating a broad-based analysis helping to set an institutional agenda solving problems creating a broader perspective exploring options with you and advising on the approach and procedures that will optimize your programs success.

Findings will be presented in a combination of oral summaries and written reports. Crisis Management Are you prepared for overseas emergencies involving your faculty, students or staff? Do you have an established protocol to follow when an emergency arises? Does your campus staff know how to handle a media assault during a crisis? It is impossible to foresee all emergencies in advance but, nonetheless, advanced planning can go far in effective crisis management if and when a serious problem does arise. Each crisis is, of course, sui generis, but having an outline of emergency procedures to follow as well as useful contact and other information (e.g. evacuation costs, local police information, ambulance services, names and contact information for local medical personnel and hospitals, etc.) can go far in helping deal with a crisis. These plans/procedures should be continuously monitored, discussed with pertinent and involved people and modified to incorporate new facts, situations and events as required. International Education Consulting can assess your campus culture and work with you to draw up a crisis management protocol. We can help you do advanced planning for potential emergencies/crises and write up your crisis management protocol, train you how to handle an emergency when it occurs and help you identify liability issues. Risk Analysis Risk analysis and, subsequently, risk management are ways of carrying out a systematic form of advanced emergency planning. In international education at the university and organizational level we can identify four types of risk: Strategic risk: this would have long-term adverse impacts that could come about as a result of either poor decision making or poor implementation of a crisis management strategy. At this stage there would be damage to the reputation of the university or organization and might also lead to legal action.

Compliance risk: this would be a failure to comply with legislation, internal procedures or even a lack of documentation to prove compliance. Here SEVIS and financial reporting procedural compliance would be of particular concern to international educators. Financial risk: this could run from currency fluctuations to waste or even fraud. A result would be a forced reduction in program activities or the risk of additional audits. Operating risk: this would be a failure to deliver an international activity as announced or could be negligence that led to hazards for participants or property damage. In this case, liability insurance premiums would surely be raised. International educators, as part of their strategic planning processes, often turn to International Education Consulting to perform a risk analysis of their programs. We use a qualitative risk analysis process which identifies potential threats and triggers of those risks that have a potential to impact on a person, a group of persons, a site or a situation. For each designated risk, policies and procedures for dealing with it need to be clearly established. In this way we can help you to identify potential risks and then we can work with you to more effectively manage those risks. Risk Management In the past, forward thinking international education organizations focused on preventing and avoiding disasters. Today it seems inevitable that nearly everyone will encounter an unexpected situation at one time or another. Risk management is a core element of any organizations strategic management. The focus now has moved from avoidance of threat to being able to effectively respond to that threat. The pressures for risk management planning have become both internal and external. The object is to add a maximum sustainable value to all the activities undertaken by the organization. The bottom line is that if it disrupts your operations, it is a crisis regardless of what causes it. IEC can help you become better prepared and be more proactive about your risk management. We can lead you through the process of assessing your needs and developing the policies and procedures necessary to land on your feet when crisis strikes. Being prepared to recover from the impact of a crisis will enable you to maintain continuity in your international education operations and give you a reputation for professionalism when faced with an untimely event. We can help you set up a continuous and developing process that will run throughout your organizations international strategy and the implementation of that strategy. It will systematically examine your organizations activities in the past, the present and, most importantly, the future.

There are several benefits to establishing a risk management plan in advance. Overall, it helps make the program staff and other involved individuals more prepared to respond rapidly and appropriately in the event that there is some type of emergency/crisis. It demonstrates the seriousness of the program to meeting student needs and can also help, in some cases, to avoid and/or lessen the severity of a potentially serious situation. Finally, risk management, in many cases, is a built-in defense against lawsuits.

Program Audits International Education Consulting proposes an in-depth review of your oncampus programs and your overseas operations. Let us help you identify the areas within your array of programs that need immediate, short-term and long-term action. We have established a program audit that enables us to review your policies and procedures. Through interviews with key individuals or groups within your institution or through the collection of scattered information, we can create a broad-based analysis. Working from this audit we can then make suggestions to help you enhance your programs and thereby help you to optimize your programs success. Our findings will be presented in a combination of oral and written reports. Program Development Are you starting a program from scratch or adding a program to your already existing offerings? International Education Consulting can help you target countries and/or universities that complement your teaching areas or help you expand your offerings into new areas. Setting up new programs implies a major investment of staff time and expertise as well as a significant commitment of financial resources. International Education Consulting can help you through the exploration and/or planning phases of developing new programs. We can assist in the definition of your program needs and help you determine if you have the necessary expertise to develop the program as defined. Once the issues of need and resources have been addresses, we can help you ascertain what resources you have available at the program site. Using our overseas contacts we can work to find any resources you might lack.
Whether you are seeking to develop summer, short faculty-led overseas courses, or full semester study abroad, International Education Consulting can work with you to establish a sound foundation for your programs.

Study Abroad

Whether you are seeking to enhance your study abroad program or to create a new one, International Education Consulting can provide valuable expertise to you. Higher education institutions both in the U.S. and overseas have received our help for:

Program Development Faculty-led short overseas courses Risk Analysis and Risk Management for study abroad programs Program audits Development of pre-departure orientation programs Development of Crisis Management protocols Crisis Management training Evaluation of study abroad marketing policies and procedures Study Abroad documentation review and evaluation Structuring of new international program offices Definition of staff roles and responsibilities Assistance in developing exchange programs and facilitating institutional linkages with overseas educational partners Strategic planning Title VI grant proposals

If you are exploring the creation of an international education program, we can help:
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to build a case for change provide basic training identify roles and responsibilities provide management briefings

If you are starting a program, we can help:

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supply advanced training design the program provide facilitation or project support give presentations and briefings

If you already have a functioning office, we can help:

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give briefings on trends in the field audit existing programs and/or documents provide program development support Training

Modules can be developed to respond to your specific needs. Sample topics include:

Crisis Management Dealing with the Media during a Crisis

Developing pre-departure orientations Developing post-arrival orientations Intercultural awareness for staff Risk Analysis International Students and Scholars

Are you thinking of admitting international students to your undergraduate or graduate programs? Are you seeking to increase the numbers of international professors or researchers present on your campus? International Education Consulting can be of help. We can:

Do J-1 Visa program audits Help you develop post-arrival orientation programs Assist you in becoming a host institution for international students and scholars Evaluate your international student marketing policies and procedures Review the documentation you provide to international students and scholars and suggest enhancements. Point you toward programs around the world that fund the international exchange of students and scholars.