VCU Hosts Colonial Academic Alliance Global Education Conference

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Office of International Education recently hosted the Colonial Academic Alliance global education conference.

The conference aimed to improve learning outcomes in international education by increasing student engagement, encouraging cooperation among international educators and promoting awareness of the important contributions of international education both within and beyond the participating institutions.

“Today is just the beginning of what we hope will become an ongoing discussion to meet each other, stimulate conversation and continue to communicate about how to improve what we do for our students through effective collaboration,” said R. McKenna Brown, Ph.D., executive director of the Office of International Education.  

The Feb. 18 and 19 conference included sessions on education abroad, international student services, faculty development, international admissions and English as a second language instruction.

VCU presenters discussed the university’s “Academic Success for International Students Initiative,” international student cultural immersion programs, communication programs to help English language learners better understand the spoken and written word and non-verbal cues, international service work opportunities and international athlete recruitment.

The Colonial Academic Alliance was formed in 2002 by the provosts of the 12 institutions of the Colonial Athletic Association to promote collaborative programs and resource sharing to enhance academic quality and institutional effectiveness. International education is one of the major academic collaborations promoted by the alliance.

The conference attracted 91 participants from nine of the 12 alliance institutions and from several other universities and colleges from outside of the alliance. A report detailing some of the best practices being employed will be shared with leaders of the alliance institutions.