Comprehensive Internationalization: Examining The What, Why, And How At Community Colleges

Abstract

Community colleges enroll nearly half of the total U.S. undergraduates, have the most diverse student population, and serve as the only contact with postsecondary education for many students. Community colleges have engaged in internationalization efforts for decades. Most rely on study abroad and international students as the only methods to internationalize their campuses. A focus on study abroad is not an effective method to internationalize the campus and provide all students with the global awareness and skills necessary to be successful in today’s society. The American Council on Education Model for Comprehensive Internationalization (2012a), Knight’s (1997) rationales framework, and Knight’s (2004) approaches framework to form the conceptual model to analyze the what (meanings), why (rationales/motivations), and how (strategies and models) of community colleges’ internationalization efforts. College sites for the study included Montgomery College, Tidewater Community College, and Orange Coast College. All site colleges participated in one of the American Council on Education’s (ACE) comprehensive internationalization projects. This qualitative collective case study sought to describe the experience and process of comprehensive internationalization in the community college sector, to identify the perceived rationales and motivations to internationalize, to determine the successes and challenges of the comprehensive internationalization