The opportunity for international education to grow at the University of Northern BC might be as good as ever.
President Dr. Daniel Weeks has been appointed to the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) board. The CBIE encompasses everything from K-12, post-secondary schools, and other private companies.
“Having an opportunity to see what international education means for all of these different stakeholders in this is really a unique opportunity for us to see how we can be a better receptor of international students,” said Weeks.
“But also, ensure that we help create good pathways for our own Canadian students to go abroad and to have international experiences as well.”
The organization deals with the internationalization of education, as well as the expansion of educational partnerships between Canada and other countries. Weeks explained why being involved with this will give him, and UNBC students, a better idea of what sort of plans, initiatives, and opportunities are coming up in the future.
“That’s always the challenge for all universities. There are so many things going on in Canada that sometimes we find out about initiative or opportunities to interact with different countries and the opportunity is next week. Trying to mobilize ourselves to react to that is sometimes challenging.”
According to Weeks, Canada set a target a number of years ago to reach 450,000 international students in the country. Today, there are over 500,000 international students in Canada with the “sweet spot” being at about 20% of a post-secondary’s population being from outside the country.
Weeks said for UNBC’s total student population, just under ten percent is international. He did admit there is room to grow that number.
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