Over the past several months, we at The Parliament Group have had the opportunity to talk with Senior International Officers at institutions across the country.
Those conversations have been both sobering and inspiring.
Sobering because international education is navigating an extraordinary amount of uncertainty. Policy can change quickly. Enrollment patterns are shifting. Markets are changing. And institutions are having to make consequential decisions without always having a clear view of what the environment will look like six months—or even three months—from now.
But the conversations have also been inspiring.
Again and again, we’ve been struck by how thoughtfully international leaders are navigating this moment. They’re asking hard questions about markets, programs, pricing, recruitment, institutional priorities, and where international education fits in a rapidly changing landscape—all while balancing an enormous range of responsibilities within their institutions.
We’ve learned a great deal from these conversations, and they’ve caused us to think more deeply about the role of international leadership in this moment.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to share some of what we’ve been hearing—and some thoughts about what this period of uncertainty may mean for the evolving role of the SIO.
