Stellenbosch University - Advancing SU’s Internationalisation Journey

Article by Robert Kotzé, Senior Director: SU International

At Stellenbosch University, internationalisation is seen as an institutional commitment to integrate an international, intercultural and global dimension into university life. We do it with intention. We have a plan and a committed International@SU collective - the primary internationalisation practitioners at the institution.

The intention is also to accomplish internationalisation comprehensively by augmenting the purpose, functions and programmes for all SU students and staff, in order to advance the quality and impact of learning and teaching, research and innovation, in meaningful service of society. The latter requires a commitment to infuse internationalisation into the knowledge exchange responsibility of the University beyond the classroom and the research laboratory: through technology transfer, science communication and diplomacy, and engagement with public (policy) and civil society (community service). With your destination in mind, the journey requires a high degree of nimbleness and being responsive to the people (students and staff), place (opportunities within the institution) and possibilities (e.g. joining EUTOPIA).

The context for this journey at Stellenbosch is informed by reflections and best practices within International Higher Education (IHE) regarding responsible internationalisation within our shared current geo-political challenges, the possibilities of the digital world and the sector’s commitment to the global and continental sustainable development agenda.

Accepting the invitation to join EUTOPIA as global partner, opened possibilities for SU to advance our internationalisation journey:

• The EUTOPIA working groups for Responsible Internationalisation (RI) and Internationalisation-at-Home (IaH) prompted SU International to start institutional conversations, exploring concepts relevant for our context and projects, and to building virtual student mobility opportunities, an intervention important for a student community where in-person mobility is somehow utopian.
• Being a global partner, provides a safe space for engaging multilaterally with the EUTOPIA members, but also for deepening existing bilateral partnerships as well as exploring new bilateral partnerships. Not only do the multilateral activities complement bilateral commitments, but they also provide a shared space for building partnership capital for existing (Warwick, Gothenburg, TU Dresden, VUB, Babes-Bolayi, Ljubljana) and new (Ca’Foscari, CY Cergy) partnerships. Similar engagements are emerging amongst the global partners.
• The EUTOPIA commitment to multilingualism resonates with SU’s stance on multilingualism as part of our institutional identity and as a means to promote inclusivity and an appreciation of the value of diversity. It allows, amongst others, the integration of an international dimension to institutional events at the SU Language Centre beyond teaching Afrikaans or Xhosa to international students.
• Apart from providing an inspiring international capacity development experience to high potential, early to mid-career researchers, participating in the Young Leaders Academy (YLA) not only integrates an international dimension to the Research Division’s commitment to emerging scholar development but also to the collaborative engagement between SU International and the Division for Research Development.

Within the South African context, the internationalisation journey is supported by national policies with a clear expectation regarding each institution’s national responsibilities, e.g. a clear mandate to provide access to tertiary education for nationals and obligations regarding employment equity. This requires responsible navigation of our internationalisation journey and being adept to generate own income to afford the journey through own initiatives and partnering with international peers forging fair and equitable partnerships. Though EUTOPIA is a European universities alliance with EU funding with expected constraints regarding non-European participation, the dedication of individual members to find a way to support our participation opens possibilities to augment our journey with eutopian respite.

There are many more unexplored possibilities for the global partners. EUTOPIA is not utopia, the perfect place, because it will make our internationalisation journey unrealistic with an unreachable destination – a fictional island community (Thomas More). For our internationalisation journey EUTOPIA is eutopia – a good place – a more practical space, a positive vision focused on well-being and improvement - ideal for our internationalisation journey.

I am looking forward to what the formal engagement with the Presidents from the global partners at the upcoming Warwick EUTOPIA week will generate – more inspiring eutopian possibilities!