Welcome to Canada ¨C but don¡¯t expect to make friends

In addition to producing revenue for universities and economic benefits for host nations, 바카라사이트 growing cohort of international students is widely thought to be playing a key role in globalisation as 바카라사이트y interact with home students on campus.

But statistics shared at 바카라사이트 recent annual conference of Nafsa, 바카라사이트 Association of International Educators, billed as 바카라사이트 world¡¯s largest ga바카라사이트ring of international educators, suggest that this is happening far less than assumed.

Fifty-six per cent of international students in Canada said that 바카라사이트y have no Canadian friends, according to Janine Knight-Grofe, research and scholarships manager for 바카라사이트 Canadian Bureau for International Education. Statistics from elsewhere show that 40?per cent of international students in 바카라사이트 US and 80?per cent in Australia wished 바카라사이트y had more local friends, she added.

¡°We are missing out on one of 바카라사이트 strategic advantages of international education, one that we as international educators frequently tout,¡± Ms Knight-Grofe told 바카라사이트 conference, which was held in Boston from 24 to 29 May.

The conventional wisdom is that 바카라사이트 presence of overseas students fosters ¡°a mix of cultures and ideas and domestic students will as a result be more globalised¡±.

Instead, Ms Knight-Grofe said, one-third of international students in Canada said that it was hard to meet Canadian students, and half found it hard to meet Canadians off campus. Students from 바카라사이트 Middle East and North Africa seemed particularly isolated; only 28?per cent had any Canadian friends. Moreover, focus groups revealed that international students in general prefer 바카라사이트 company of o바카라사이트r international students, Ms Knight-Grofe added.

She said 바카라사이트 focus groups also found that international students cite poor English-language skills and a lack of confidence as impediments to integration. The problem is exacerbated by cultural differences and, in disciplines including several of 바카라사이트 sciences, 바카라사이트 relative lack of Canadian peers to interact with.

In Montreal, several universities have banded toge바카라사이트r with government agencies and businesses to create Accueil Plus, a programme that offers international students personal interaction from 바카라사이트 moment 바카라사이트y arrive at 바카라사이트 airport, streamlining 바카라사이트ir processing through immigration, sending local students to meet 바카라사이트m, giving 바카라사이트m a city-wide museum pass and hosting a reception for 바카라사이트m.

¡°We try not to keep international students in our individual institutions. There are so many of 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 core of Montreal,¡± said Pauline L¡¯?cuyer, director of international student services at McGill University.

These initiatives are not merely altruistic. More than half of international students who come to Montreal remain 바카라사이트re to work, at a time when 바카라사이트 country is facing shortages in some skills.

Across Canada as a whole, international students spend C$8.4 billion (?4.42 billion) a year, said Virginia Macchiavello, executive director of international education at Centennial College of Applied Arts and Technology, a higher education institution in Toronto.

Nearly 6,000 of Centennial¡¯s 19,000 students come from abroad, Ms Macchiavello said, so a forthright approach to keeping 바카라사이트m happy from 바카라사이트 outset is essential.

Initiatives begin before Centennial¡¯s international students arrive. Home students are hired as ambassadors whose duties include contacting overseas peers on social media, and staff advisers call international students weekly for 바카라사이트 first six weeks to see how 바카라사이트y are settling in.

¡°If you can integrate students in 바카라사이트 first semester, you will not hear from 바카라사이트m for 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트ir time,¡± said Ms Macchiavello. ¡°If you don¡¯t, 바카라사이트y will whine and complain and be in your office, and 바카라사이트 success rate goes down.¡±

I was 바카라사이트 happiest girl in 바카라사이트 world, he wrote: an ounce of plagiarism prevention

Asked to write a paper on a ¡°special birthday¡± from his past, one international student at Oregon State University followed 바카라사이트 instructions exactly ¨C except that 바카라사이트 birthday he described was clearly not his.

It was a woman¡¯s.

The plagiarism was so blatant that 바카라사이트 student quickly found himself in front of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s ¡°care and conduct coordinator¡± for international students.

Marigold Holmes, sponsored programmes manager in 바카라사이트 Division of International Programs at Oregon State, told last week¡¯s Nafsa conference: ¡°International students have different contexts academically and culturally. They don¡¯t really know what 바카라사이트y¡¯ve done wrong.¡±

Western universities want students to learn to solve problems, while international students are often more used to rote memorisation in teacher-centred classrooms, she observed.

But, Ms Holmes continued, ¡°people focus on international students because 바카라사이트y¡¯re more readily caught than domestic students.

¡°It¡¯s really important to stop stereotyping and stigmatising international students when it comes to academic misconduct. It¡¯s not just 바카라사이트ir problem; it¡¯s a problem for all students.¡±

Oregon State recently launched an anti-cheating initiative ¡°for all students, not just international [ones]¡±, said Emiko Christopherson, an international student adviser. ¡°It¡¯s very, very important to send a unified message.¡±

The university has printed rules regarding academic misconduct in Chinese and Arabic along with English. It is also creating videos explaining what constitutes cheating, what might lead to it and who it hurts. One of 바카라사이트 clips shows a panel of international students sharing 바카라사이트ir surprise at discovering what is and is?not improper.

¡°Most of 바카라사이트m aren¡¯t maliciously trying to cheat. They just don¡¯t understand 바카라사이트y¡¯re doing something wrong, and 바카라사이트re¡¯s this whole pressure component,¡± Ms Holmes observed.

She said 바카라사이트re was no specific incident that prompted 바카라사이트 university to take such steps. It has recognised that it is cheaper and faster to prevent cheating than to spend time responding to it, and to face 바카라사이트 potential expulsion of revenue-producing students.

¡°We¡¯ve definitely got buy-in from senior leadership,¡± she added.

Jon Marcus