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“It’s a perfect combination of my professional interests,” she says. Jayme is not just international in her background. She is international in her pursuits. A biology major as an undergraduate at Ateneo de Manila University, Jayme now studies environmental policy and international development. She hopes to work for an international organization, bringing to developing countries new economic policies that are both progressive and environmentally sustainable. Last year she worked at Maxwell’s Center for Environmental Policy and Administration; this year she works in the Program for the Analysis and Resolution of Conflict. “Both of these jobs have given me a lot of practical experience,” Jayme says. She spent the summer working at the Federation of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland, as a participant in I.R.’s Geneva Program. She also took part in the London Peacekeeping Seminar last spring. “I’m having a very rich experience here through all these opportunities,” she says. “I feel very fortunate to be able to study in the United States. It’s not something everyone can do, particularly from my country. I want to get everything out of this experience I can.” Jayme is one of 262 international students enrolled in Maxwell’s graduate programs this year, a figure that has more than doubled in the last 10 years—the result of strategic marketing, targeted financial aid, and academic programs of specific interest to such students. Increasing international enrollment was a crucial component of the pro-global trajectory the School pursued a decade ago. “Having a broader cross-section of students at Maxwell significantly enriches and challenges our faculty and domestic students,” says Dean John L. Palmer.
International enrollment also contributes to the research climate. Trindade (a native of Portugal) is interested in following up a previously published study on the ethnic Chinese diaspora. “It would require reading a lot of material in Chinese. Finding a Chinese student to work with me is a key to doing that research.” Having students with different life and work experiences also keeps faculty members on their toes. “In a sense, they make it more difficult to teach,” says public administration professor Larry Schroeder. “You can stand up at the board and spout off about policy, but these students may challenge you and tell you that it doesn’t work that way where they come from. They ask the harder questions.” He can expect those from Karma Thinley, an under secretary in Bhutan’s Royal Civil Service Commission. Thinley is pursuing an M.A. in public administration, enrolled through Maxwell’s Executive Education Program for mid-career professionals. Her studies are sponsored by her government—another trend in Maxwell’s international enrollment. Like International Relations, “Exec Ed” is a beacon to international students. More than half of its students come from outside the United States. Internationally, Executive Education has set the standard for mid-career education, while also developing consulting relationships and training programs with academic institutions and governments around the world. In Bhutan, Thinley is responsible for recruiting appointees in the civil service, and for training and development. The hiring and training is conducted according to five-year plans, based on the projected needs of the various organizations. “Although my government works in plans, we don’t have a policy to guide those plans,” says Thinley, who hopes to gain a better grounding in policy analysis and further theoretical knowledge. Because of the international diversity of her classmates, Thinley has had the opportunity to hear how governments are run in many locales. “The first thing you learn here is that there’s more than one perspective. That’s the big lesson,” she says. “We all come here from different cultures and experiences. It broadens your outlook and makes you less judgmental.”
While Maxwell has been successful attracting international students to its professional
programs, it also benefits from a broad phenomenon: an increasing number of
international students who come to the United States for their undergraduate
study and then stay to pursue graduate degrees.
Bartosz Stanislawski is a native of Poland who earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Stanislawski decided to stay in the United States to earn a master’s and came to Maxwell to study political science, attracted by the interdisciplinary character of the program. He later chose to pursue a doctorate, as well. Currently writing his dissertation on transnational organized crime, Stanislawski hopes for an academic position where he can continue a combination of teaching and research. He’ll consider going practically anywhere in the world. “As long as the job is interesting, that’s where I’ll go,” he says. A teaching assistant, Stanislawski recently completed a term as president of the Political Science Graduate Student Organization. “Most of the graduate students in my program are international,” he says. “We have students from India, Turkey, Germany, Belgium, Iran, Kenya, Latvia—pretty much every continent.” Stanislawski says the ability to study and socialize with such a variety of people has only enhanced his experience at Maxwell. “We live in a shrinking world, so dealing with people from other countries and cultures and widening our horizons is only a good thing,” he says. “The more we truly learn about each other, the more stereotypes we dispel.” It should be noted that, while much of Maxwell’s international enrollment is spurred by recent phenomena, one trend has remained fairly constant since World War II: highly qualified international students pursuing traditional doctoral studies, attracted to programs unavailable in their own countries or perceived to be of far higher quality in America. Typically, these students possess the fullest of life experiences and a reputation for strong academic motivation. Ngakaemang “Ben” Mosiane, for example, was a lecturer in geography at the University of Northwest in Bophuthatswana, South Africa, when he met Maxwell’s James Glassman, an assistant professor of geography, at a conference in Singapore. “I was very impressed with his paper. When I talked with him, he mentioned the name Syracuse. I never wrote it down, but I never forgot it either,” says Mosiane. A Fulbright scholarship then allowed Mosiane to come to Maxwell for doctoral studies in geography. He is interested in examining the social, political, and economic transformation
in Bophuthatswana, a former black “homeland” in South Africa. He will
return to teach as a full professor, thanks to his doctorate. “Students are very poor and not well prepared. There is no critical debate. The lecturers simply present the material that is in the books,” says Mosiane, who hopes his doctorate will allow him to teach at a more prestigious university or help raise the current standard at University of Northwest. “I want to take what I’m learning—including the way I’m learning—back to my
country with me.” Related articles: Renee Gearhart Levy is a free-lance writer, based in Fayetteville, N.Y., who specialized in higher education. This article appeared in the Fall 2002 print edition of Maxwell Perspective; © 2002 Maxwell School of Syracuse University. To request a copy, e-mail dlcooke@maxwell.syr.edu. |
hen Denni Jayme decided to pursue a master’s in public administration in
the United States, the Philippines native did what her counterparts in America
often do: she consulted
The cultures, religions, values, and political concerns that international students
bring resonate in the classroom. “I might use an example about the United
States importing cars from Japan,” says
The trend benefits all of higher
education, but has especially strong impact for a school with programs like Maxwell’s.
