Take the plunge!

One of my bullet points in my list of goals for Rektor is the following:
• Sikre sterkt fokus på de strategiske utfordringene UMB til enhver tid står overfor (eks allianser regionalt, nasjonalt og internasjonalt og bidra til at UMB hevder seg på den internasjonale arenaen

Since this bullet point is also about internationalisation, I will write in English today. In the point of today I have emphasise my goal to focus on the strategic challenges a university like UMB faces in our region, within Norway and internationally. I also want to contribute towards UMB’s increased recognition internationally. The reason for choosing internationalisation today’s topic has been inspired by the visit by the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) to the University of Minnesota (UMN) the past two days (the busy schedule has kept me from blogging).

Let me start with the international arena: UMB is not amongst the list of the 200 top universities in the world, and not even on the QS List of top Universities in Norway. When I searched the web, I found UMB ranked # 1523 on a list of 8000 universities in the world (http://www.webometrics.info/details.asp?univ=umb.no). So what would be an achievable, but high enough goal for UMB to strive for in the coming 3 years? I think we ought to be at least fifth in Norway.

Norwegian students have not been travelling abroad to the extent they used to. The Norwegian Ministry of Education is constantly reminding us to improve our performance on the number of outgoing students. The decline has given the Bologna process and the division of programs into 3 + 2 years much of the blame. There is less room for international semesters when the program is split and students have been weary of missing out on compulsory courses. I think also the student loans and lack of adequate financing could be an underlying factor here; many students have part time jobs and are reluctant to give them up to go abroad. So maybe the Minister also has to look herself in the mirror when she is pointing the finger at us.

UMB has had a focus on increasing the numbers of students going abroad for several years now. We have, amongst other things, urged the teachers to be more flexible in their assessment of equivalent courses taken abroad. Today we (the visitors from UMB and I) discussed with the University of Minnesota the necessity to expand the agreement we have with them, as we have an agreement covering five students in both directions each year. This year we have more than 10 UMB students wanting to come to Minnesota. That is indeed good news! One way to keep increasing the interest amongst students to study abroad is to keep signing agreements with top universities around the world, in countries of interest to our students.

At a Nordic seminar arranged by UMB last year, the representative from the industry was crystal clear in her assessment of the value of a study abroad: this is highly evaluated by Norwegian companies in an increasingly global world. In other words: UMB must keep emphasizing the importance of international exposure, not only being exposed to the 16% international students from more than 70 nations studying at UMB every year, but also attending a semester or two in a foreign country.

UMB students ought to be well prepared for study abroad, as one third of all courses at UMB are either always in English or given in English on demand (one student is enough). We were asked by University of Minnesota today how the Norwegian students feel about their lectures being given in English. Mostly, the reactions are positive, but there is no doubt in my mind that this poses an extra challenge to many students; it can be hard enough to learn about a subject in your mother tongue, if not the extra burden of being taught in English come on top. I think it would be fair to Norwegian students to honour this extra effort and give them credit on their Diploma for the courses taken in English. This would enable future employers to evaluate the ability of the student to perform on an international arena. Today UMB can add this in the Diploma Supplement and I will propose this to the Study Board and University Board. I will also propose that the Ministry considers to actually add it on the Diploma itself. If Norway truly wants to be international, we need to give credit in some way for the extra effort.

Now, I have touched upon discussed internationalization with regards to students. What about faculty? UMB has many internationally renowned researchers, we publish in international journals, we are invited to give presentations etc. etc. But what about spending more time at another institution? I have been the advocate for more pressure on our faculty to spend some of their sabbatical abroad to gain international experience and be submerged in a different scientific and social environment for a period of time. All I hear about are all the obstacles for spending time abroad. I hear about children not wanting to, spouses not being able to, about the work involved, about not wanting to let their house and so on and so forth. I agree that there is a fair amount of work involved, I agree that the challenges with children are can be daunting and that spouses not being able to go because of their own jobs are for real. But I still think that you ought to be challenged further and that you and your family will benefit enormously if you take the plunge. Even if you do not want to travel with your family, you should try to make some stays a little longer than just a week or two. It is very rewarding for you to be exposed to other scientific environments – but can also be a little scary. Try to overcome the fear and help us make UMB more international both by you travelling abroad and by you inviting some of your international colleagues to come to UMB. The latter is another way of international exposure which benefits the university. I believe we have to set some goals for UMB as for how many faculty should be travelling abroad too, not only the students!

I can only speak for myself, but the four times I have been on longer (> 6 months) stays abroad have been crucial to my career as a researcher, have taught me novel techniques, kept me up to date in my research and constantly pushed the frontier of my research and teaching activities. Every time I have felt like diving into the deep end of the pool, exposing myself to something I really do not master. It is scary, but deeply rewarding. Take the plunge!

Trine Hvoslef-Eide