In recent years, an increasing number of major universities have set up international branch campuses (IBCs). There are now over 200 IBCs, with more under development. Little is known about the unique challenges that face IBC managers, who are normally seconded from the home university to set up and operate the satellite campus in a new and alien environment. At the same time, there are significant financial and reputational risks for the home university should an IBC fail. This presentation reports the results of a qualitative study into the ‘lived experiences’ of IBC managers working in the three largest host markets for IBCs – China, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. It finds that the fundamental challenge for managers is balancing the competing demands of a range of internal and external stakeholders and concludes that universities need to do more to prepare and support IBC managers.

1. The challenges of leading an international
branch campus: the ‘lived experience’ of
in-country senior managers
Professor Nigel Healey
Pro-Vice-Chancellor
(International)
Nottingham Trent University
26 November 2015

2. Structure
• What is transnational education (and why should we care)?
• How big is transnational education?
• What is an international branch campus (IBC)?
• How many IBCs? How many students?
• Research study into managing IBCs: approach
• The results:
– The three dimensions of an IBC
– The stakeholders of an IBC
• Lessons for home universities
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3. What is transnational education?
• TNE is ‘any teaching or learning activity in which the students are in
a different country to that in which the institutional providing the
education is based’ (Global Alliance for Transnational Education
1997, p.1).
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The principle of transnationality

4. …and why should we care?
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1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Global tertiary enrolments (m) 51.2 60.3 68.7 81.7 99.9 139.0 178.0
Internationally-mobile (m) 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.7 2.1 3.0 4.1
Internationally mobile as %
total
2.1% 1.8% 1.9% 2.1% 2.1% 2.2% 2.3%
Global and internationally-mobile tertiary enrolments
Source: UNESCO 1998, n.d., OECD 2013

5. Types of transnational education
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6. How big is transnational education (UK data)?
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2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13
Registered at HEI:
- overseas campus 7,120 9,885 11,410 12,305 15,140 17,525
- distance learning 100,345 112,345 114,985 113,065 116,520 123,635
- other arrangement incl.
collaborative provision
59,895 68,595 74,360 86,630 96,060 103,795
Not registered at HEI but
studying for HEI’s award:
- overseas partner
organisation*
29,240 197,185 207,790 291,575 342,910 353,375
- other 70 35 50 125 345 600
Total 196,670 388,045 408,595 503,700 570,925 598,930
Transnational student numbers (headcount) by type
Source: HESA
* Note ‘Oxford Brookes effect’

7. What is an international branch campus?
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8. What is an international branch campus?
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9. What is an international branch campus?
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10. What is an international branch campus?
• Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) 2012
definition: an IBC is:
• ‘a higher education institution that is located in another
country from the institution which either originated it or
operates it, with some physical presence in the host country;
• and which awards at least one degree in the host country
that is accredited in the country of the originating institution’
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11. How many IBCs? How many students?
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Higher education institution HE aggregate offshore students at
overseas campus of reporting HEI
University of Nottingham 9,220
Heriot-Watt University 3,735
Middlesex University 3,050
University College Birmingham 320
University of Kent 280
London Business School 275
University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 250
University College London 220
University of Exeter 70
University of Wales Trinity Saint David 45
University of Wolverhampton 30
University of Southampton 20
University of Chichester 10
Total 17,525
Enrolments at UK international branch campuses by institution, 2012/13
Source: HEIDI

12. How many IBCs again?
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HESA C-BERT OBHE
Aberystwyth University √
City University √ √
De Montfort University √
Glasgow Caledonian University √ √
Heriot-Watt University √ √ √
Leeds Metropolitan University √
London Business School √ √ √
Middlesex University √ √ √
Queen Margaret University √
University London College √ √
University of Bolton √ √
University of Bradford √
University of Central Lancashire √
University of Chichester √
University College Birmingham √
University College London √ √ √
University of Exeter √ √
University of Kent √
University of Lancaster √
University of Liverpool √
University of London √
University of Manchester √ √
University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne √ √ √
University of Nottingham √ √ √
University of Southampton √
University of Strathclyde √
University of Surrey √ √
University of Wales Trinity Saint David √
University of Westminster √
University of Wolverhampton √ √
Total No. of UK universities with IBCs 13 20 17

13. The challenge of managing an overseas
subsidiary: to localise or not to localise?
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14. Research study
• Research questions:
1. What are the key dimensions of the IBC that managers feel
under pressure to localise?
2. What are the main factors that influence their chosen
degree of localisation for each dimension?
3. How do these factors, and so the optimal degree of
localisation, change over time?
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15. Sample set
• Nine IBCs in United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, China
• 14 senior managers
• 5 experts (for background information)
• Interviews carried out in country, April-September 2014
• 90-120 minutes in length, transcribed and coded
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16. The results: preliminary observations
• IBCs are amazingly diverse in scale, organisational form
• IBCs are not ‘branch campuses’ as commonly understood –
they are private companies/universities in which the UK
university often has a minority stake
• Some IBCs (not the ones in the study) are just offices
• IBCs are subject to QAA and regulation by host government
• UK universities often lack administrative expertise to manage
an IBC
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17. Staff: how much to localize?
• Academic staff
– Local staff
– International staff
– Seconded staff
• The trade-off of localizing
staff:
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Academic culture Cost of provision

18. Curriculum: how much to localize?
• Curriculum
– Content
– Pedagogy
– Assessment
– Internal quality assurance
• The trade-off of localizing
curriculum:
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Global equivalence Local relevance

19. Research: how much to localize?
• Research
– Topics studied
• The trade-off of localizing
research:
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International excellence Local impact

20. The University of
Imperialism
The University of
Localisation
The University of
Globalisation
Possible models of localisation

21. What to localise?
Imperialism Localisation Globalisation
Staff X √ √
Curriculum X √ X
Research X √ √
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22. The results: what stakeholders influence the
degree of localisation?
• Internal stakeholders:
– Home university – senior
management and staff
– Joint venture partner
• External stakeholders:
– Host country – government,
regulator, employers
– Competitors
– Students
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23. Perceived attitudes of stakeholders to localization
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24. A framework for IBCs
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25. Lessons for universities from the study
• Prepare and train managers of IBCs
• Rotate academic and professional seconded staff
• Upskill professional services staff at home
• Design systems that can be globalised
• Be prepared for ontological shock!
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26. Conclusions
• Transnational education is a growth area
• IBCs are the highest profile form of transnational education
• IBCs vary hugely, but all expose home university to potential
financial and reputational risk
• Research suggests that to succeed, IBCs must localise their
staff base; research somewhat; curriculum less
• The degree of localisation depends on the objectives and
relative power of the main stakeholders
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27. Nothing new under the sun: what do these
universities have in common?
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University of Peradeniya University of the West Indies
University of Zimbabwe
University of Nottingham

28. For more information:
• E-mail: nigel.healey@ntu.ac.uk
• Website: http://nottinghamtrent.academia.edu/NigelHealey
• Website includes conferences presentations, papers and
resources on TNE developed for the Higher Education
Academy
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