Towson University Annual Reports for Study Abroad and International Students

At Towson University, it seems the study abroad office and international student offices are two separate entities. Therefore, I will review two reports in this post.

Study Abroad Report for 2006-2007:

Under the header "New Programs and Partnerships," three colleges are highlighted in a grid. I like this grid because it clearly notes the "Language of Instruction." In this case, in all three countries have instruction in English. This is an important aspect to highlight as many study abroad students are intimidated by studying in other countries thinking they need to be fluent in other languages, not realizing many countries noting languages other than English as the first language often administer many academic programs in English. (In this report this is shown through having English instruction both Japan and Germany.)

I particularly like this sentence in the annual report, "The Study Abroad Office currently administers more than 50 study abroad programs across more than 25 countries that range in length from one week to one year." (page 4) In one short sentence, this sums up the variety of programs based on time in country and number of countries available to choose from.

From page six on staff that are program directors for various programs and faculty committee on study abroad are listed. Names of the staff, the programs and their departments are listed. I particularly like how departments are clearly noted as the variety of programs noted demonstrates that across academic departments the college believes educational exchange abroad adds value to the academic experience.

International Students Report 2004-2005:

On page two, it clearly defines who is included in the report for statistical purposes. "International students and scholars are people from other nations who are in the United States temporarily in order to complete a university degree, take part in an educational exchange program, serve as visiting faculty, engage in collaborative research projects, or conduct individual research or scholarly activity. They are in non-immigrant visa classifications."

On page 4, the 'Impact of International Students on Campus" is highlighted. I like the comparison of International Student GPAs to the overall undergraduate-degree seeking population. The percentage of international students with GPAs of 3.5 or higher was almost 7 percentage points more at 28.4% as compared to the general student population of 21.6%. There are many consequences of publicly releasing this information. One aspect of this type of information that this supports is investing in international students is fruitful. Though this report does not highlight this, I am curious if the percentage of international students with high GPAs outnumber the general student population, would this translate into a situation where throughout a four year degree, international students maintain higher GPAs overall, and their graduation rates are higher than the general student body?

Page 9 highlights the international student's impact on the economy. This is important information to help justify the need for international student office and the services it provides.

These two reports have provided me further invaluable information on information to include in an annual report.