CBIE’s February 2019 board meeting/planning retreat featured a thoughtful and lively discussion of the current international education landscape. There was broad consensus that although there are significant unfulfilled needs where CBIE can offer much needed leadership, a framework for deciding when, where and how to intervene was imperative. While acknowledging the urgency for action, participants agreed CBIE members should have an opportunity to contribute to and validate the framework.
Over the coming months, CBIE’s new board chair, newly appointed president and CEO, and board members will be reaching out to CBIE members and stakeholders to help build this new framework. Time is of the essence; we hope to unveil a new plan as early as this fall. Fortunately, we have the advantage of not having to start from scratch: CBIE’s priority focus in recent years provides a solid foundation on which to build, in particular as it relates to advocating for a strategic national investment to help prepare Canadian students for a globalized world; mobilizing key stakeholders; and promoting awareness, quality and innovation.
These goals are as worthy and relevant today as they were at the time, but the means for achieving them and for measuring and reporting on progress have evolved. More to the point, there are other areas of endeavour where CBIE can make a difference for Canadian students, for the over 570,000 international students our member organizations now host annually and for the wider international education community.
To be successful we will need to leverage our current networks, engage new partners and interlocutors and where necessary, recalibrate our focus and resources. We cannot be all things to all people, but we have a duty to be as effective as we can where we choose to intervene. Your input and counsel will be appreciated as we complete this ambitious undertaking. Stay tuned! We will keep you apprised of our progress.
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