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Home / Communications / 2017 / September / 04 / Times Higher Education World Academic Summit 2017

Times Higher Education World Academic Summit 2017

September 4, 2017

Modern graduates: citizens of the world or citizens of nowhere?

  • Topic of this panel is one that is very pertinent to the University of British Columbia.
  • What is the role of a major research university in an increasing connected world?
  • What is our obligation – to our community, to our region, to the world?
  • No simple answer. A modern research university has many roles – to teach students and prepare them for their role in an increasingly complex world. To advance knowledge and research that will help make that world a better one. And to support the societies and economies of the countries in which we are located.
  • In the particular case of UBC, our very name – the University of British Columbia – indicates that we have local as well as global obligations
  • We were founded to serve as the institution of higher learning for the province of BC – with an obligation to provide higher education for the young people of the province – to educate the doctors, teachers, engineers, business people and others the province needs in order to prosper
  • The provincial government contributes a significant portion of our budget – for teaching and for research
  • The federal government is also a significant contributor
  • At the same time, UBC is part of an increasingly globally connected world – no university, no province, no country, exists in isolation
  • UBC is North America’s most international university, with students, faculty and staff from across the globe.
  • Our alumni live in 150 countries around the globe, including more than 1,000 here in England
  • our students, faculty and staff come from around the world
  • in fact, almost one quarter of our students are international students
  • Institutionally, we partner with 10 of the 15 top-ranked universities in the world and have partnership agreements with more than 300 universities and research institutions in more than 50 countries.
  • Especially close ties – because of our geography – with institutions in so-called Cascadia – Oregon and Washington States and British Columbia, and with universities in the Pacific Rim – e.g., Japan, China, Australia, etc.
  • We are affected by – and must respond to – events that take place in other countries. For example, increased interest by potential students after the 2016 US election, the Brexit referendum, and the visa restrictions imposed by the Trump regime
  • And yet, we still have our obligations to the local, regional and provincial communities – to provide an education for the young people of British Columbia and to produce research that benefits the region, the province and the country
  • There are tensions – some people argue that international students take away places in university from local students, even though this is demonstrably not the case
  • I would argue that in some ways, the argument is a false one: our international outlook benefits the local, provincial and national economies
  • Presence of international students benefits local students – helps subsidize them, gives them a broader outlook, provides social and cultural enrichment
  • And our international research collaborations provide direct, tangible benefits locally as well as globally – for example, our Cascadia Urban Analytics Cooperative in cooperation with the University of Washington in Seattle, will help us address challenges from traffic to homelessness
  • We are an international institution, and we are proud of it. And, I would argue, that is good, for Vancouver, for British Columbia, for Canada, and for the world. The same, I submit, is true for all our institutions and I look forward to hearing from my colleagues and from those of you in the audience for your views.
  • Thank you.

 

Possible questions from Phil Baty (Times Higher Education moderator):

  • How might political changes in America effect student talent flows?
  • Does the rise of “alternative facts” and a “post truth” world change how institutions should teach, in terms of critical thinking skills etc?
  • Is Canada ready to capitalise on policy changes which may make the US a less attractive destination for international students – and faculty for that matter?

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