Rethinking internationalisation: The IAU creates an international ad-hoc expert group
Research on the 
internationalisation of higher education by the International Association of Universities (IAU), disseminated in three reports based on global surveys undertaken since 2003, monitors and tracks the evolution of this process over the past decade. As in higher education generally, tremendous changes have occurred both in terms of the intensity with which internationalisation is pursued by nations and institutions and in the breadth of activities taking place.
In April 2011 the 4th Global Meeting of Associations of universities (GMA IV) was organised by the IAU in cooperation with the Association of Indian Universities and held in New Delhi. There, a number of organisations tackled the following questions:
• Is the current understanding of internationalisation of higher education shared by all?
• In the most often-used definitions (de Wit and Knight 2006), are there aspects missing?
• Would it be worthwhile to pursue a new, more prescriptive definition?
• What elements should be stressed?
• What challenges do you encounter when discussing internationalisation in your country or elsewhere?
In a truly dynamic exchange with many contrasting points of view, a consensus was reached that it was time to re-examine, or rethink the concept of internationalisation. Researchers and practitioners including Jane Knight, Hans de Wit, Uwe Brandenburg and others have questioned and debated the ways in which internationalisation has been misinterpreted and/or compared or contrasted to other processes, most frequently globalisation.
An international ad-hoc expert group was created shortly after the GMA as a follow-up mechanism to continue to gather other perspectives and answer these and related questions. Now with over 30 members, with individuals and groups from every region, this group aims to bring together views from all parts of the world in order to: assess the extent to which internationalisation activities fit the current conceptual umbrella; critically examine the causes that lead to questioning and even criticism of the concept; and investigate the ways to address these concerns.
So far the group has met virtually and discussions were framed 
by the same general questions as above, though the experts were pushed to think specifically about where different points of view on internationalisation originate – in terms of regions and stakeholders, and why or how they differ. They were asked to address differences in perception of the purposes, value or risks of internationalisation. The group was also asked to consider the fit between theory and practice in internationalisation and the feasibility of more value-based or prescriptive definitions that would nevertheless not impose a single one-size-fits-all approach. Perhaps most importantly, the group is also examining what actions could be taken to go beyond a level of tacit agreement about the need to rethink the process – especially since statements of principles and declarations in this area already exist, including two developed by the IAU in collaboration with other associations.
In some respects, this initiative is a natural sequel to past efforts of the Association (see Sharing Quality Higher Education Across Borders, the declaration and the Checklist for Good Practice, as well as an earlier policy statement, Towards a Century of Cooperation, all of which are available on the IAU website at www.iau-aiu.net/content/policy-statements.
The IAU and members of the group are committed to continue this discussion and move forward in concrete ways in an effort to reposition and perhaps even reinvent internationalisation as a valuable and transformative process of change in higher education in the current context. As numerous conferences are taking place around the world, addressing this or closely related themes, the group will strive to pose similar questions in each relevant international forum and share participants’ input by reporting to the group. The recent EAIE, in its first Dialogue, invited the IAU Secretary General who used the opportunity to voice some of these views and inform the participants of the discussion underway. There are many upcoming opportunities for the IAU and members of the expert group to widen the discussion circle.
It is essential that we keep the momentum in this initiative going towards a concrete result; in that regard, the IAU will draft a concept paper to help frame the issue and facilitate the debate to some concrete outcomes that can be shared by the global higher education community.
The IAU website contains details of the group’s members, notes from the first meeting and a list of upcoming events on internationalisation. The IAU will also build a virtual space on its website for sharing related papers and documents. Should you have a paper or a presentation that you wish to make known to the group, or wish to comment on this initiative, please contact IAU Secretary General, Eva Egron-Polak (e.egronpolak@iau-aiu.net) and/or IAU Programme Officer, Ross Hudson (r.hudson@iau-aiu.net).