EAIE Podcast EAIE

Sustainability continues to be a topic that is top of mind within the international higher education field. Earlier this year, the winners of the International Green Gown Awards were announced, an initiative that recognizes exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by higher education institutions across the world. In the category ‘Sustainability Institution of the Year’, there were two European winners: University College Cork (Ireland) won the award, while UniLaSalle (France) received the ‘highly commended’ honour. Two institutions with inspiring and practical examples of how international education can tackle climate action.
EAIE podcast host Laura Rumbley talked to Maria Kirrane, Head of Sustainability and Climate Action at University College Cork, and Thomas Hull, the Head of International Relations for the Rennes (France) campus of Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle. What exactly are the profiles of these universities, and what are their environmental action highlights? How does each institution look at environmental sustainability in the context of international student and staff mobility, and are there particular synergies between their climate action aspirations and internationalisation agendas? And what are some of the key challenges and opportunities ahead for their HEIs and others to advance the work of environmental sustainability?

About Thomas Hull
Thomas Hull is the Head of International Relations for the Rennes (France) Campus of an Engineering school called Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle. Thomas holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Concordia College, Minnesota, where he did a double major in Business Administration and French, and a Master’s Degree in Business from the Institut de Gestion de Rennes, France. Before arriving at UniLaSalle in 2009, Thomas was the director of an American cultural centre in Rennes.
About Maria Kirrane
Dr. Maria Kirrane is the Head of Sustainability and Climate Action for University College Cork. In this role, she oversees the delivery of the University’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, working with students and staff across campus to embed sustainability into teaching, research operations and engagement activities. Maria holds a BSc. in Environmental Science and a PhD in Zoology, both from UCC. She undertook her postdoctoral research at the University of Limerick on the role of higher education in the transition to a sustainable society.
Additional Resources
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ UniLaSalle Uni4Change website
→ University College Cork website
→ Sulitest website
→ Glasgow to Rotterdam by bike: a green conference travelogue
→ Tatjana Söding: Erasmus by Train: gaining steam?

The use of agents by higher education institutions to support their international student recruitment efforts is a very accepted practice in some national and institutional contexts around the world, but it’s also considered quite controversial elsewhere. This debate has been ongoing for years, but what is currently at the heart of this discussion?
In this EAIE podcast episode, we talk to the three authors of a 2023 Routledge publication titled ‘Student Recruitment Agents in International Higher Education: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective on Challenges and Best Practices': Pii-Tuulia Nikula, Vincenzo Raimo, and Eddie West. With these speakers, who all have extensive experience with and knowledge of the topic of education agents, host Laura Rumbley touches upon various aspects linked to this subject: how do we define the term 'education agents', and what exactly do they do? What can different perspectives and insights offer us in terms of understanding agents’ roles? What’s involved in getting off to a good start when working with agents? And what emerging trends and future directions for education agents and their stakeholders should we be on the lookout for?
About Pii-Tuulia Nikula, Vincenzo Raimo and Eddie West
Dr Pii-Tuulia Nikula is an Associate Professor at Eastern Institute of Technology (Te Pūkenga) in New Zealand. Most of Pii-Tuulia’s research focuses on international student recruitment and sustainability questions within the international education sector. One of her areas of expertise is education agent management and governance. Pii-Tuulia’s agent research has been published in journals including Studies in Higher Education, Journal of Studies in International Education, and Higher Education Policy. She also has relevant industry experience: before her academic career, Pii-Tuulia worked as an agent and held management and leadership roles within education agencies. Pii-Tuulia is a co-founder of CANIE: Climate Action Network for International Educators.
Vincenzo (Enzo) Raimo is a former Pro Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement at the University of Reading where he is now a Visiting Fellow. He is a global higher education specialist with expertise in transnational education and the use of agents in international student recruitment. He combines work as an international higher education consultant with research on international education related topics.
Eddie West is Assistant Dean of International Strategy and Programs at San Diego State University (SDSU), where he provides leadership on international partnership development, collaborations, and transnational education programs, including SDSU in Georgia (Tbilisi). Previously, Eddie served as assistant dean of international programs at Berkeley Extension, the continuing education division of the University of California, Berkeley. Earlier, he led international initiatives at the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and served as Senior International Officer at the Ohlone Community College District.

Additional Resources
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ Student Recruitment Agents in International Higher Education: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective on Challenges and Best Practices (Routledge, 2023)
→ Monitoring of Education Agents Engaged in International Student Recruitment: Perspectives from Agency Theory (ASIE)
→ International education agents: the good, the bad and the ugly

It’s a turbulent time for students across Europe as they deal with pressing issues, such as the lack of student accommodation and the fight against climate change, alongside their studies. Two highly active and visible student organisations have their backs, though: the European Students’ Union (ESU) and the Erasmus Student Network (ESN). Both organisations work hard to ensure the student voice is heard and that students are given the chance to participate in important conversations about the current state and future of (international) higher education in Europe.
In this episode of the EAIE podcast, we talk to the new presidents of ESU (Horia Onita) and ESN (Rita Dias), who both started in their roles in the Summer of 2023. What motivated them to seek out these leadership opportunities? What do they see as the top challenges facing the students they represent today, and how will their organisations address these challenges? How do their organisations work together, and how do they engage with others beyond Europe? And how do they characterise the current state of student engagement and activism? Students are talking, and the EAIE is listening! We hope you’ll tune in for a listen, too.

About Horia Onita
Horia Onita serves as President of ESU, after 9 years of school and higher education student movement at the local and national levels in Romania. In ESU, he is working on overarching political priorities (Bologna Process, European elections, etc), quality assurance of education, learning and teaching policies, digitalisation and the social dimension of higher education. He represents ESU in positions such as co-chair of the Drafting Committee of the 2024 Tirana Communique or co-chair of the Bologna Follow-Up group on Social Dimension. He also follows EU developments on education funding and monitoring and has been representing ESU in the Steering Committee on the Education of Council of Europe. Horia holds a Bachelor of Law and a Master of Public Procurement degree from the University of Bucharest.
About Rita Dias
Rita Dias is 27 and comes from the coast of Portugal. She has a bachelor's in Political Science and International Relations and a Master's in Public Policy. Rita did her Erasmus in Leuven, Belgium, and worked at the United States Embassy in Lisbon in 2018 and in the Political Observatory in the Association for Political Studies and Scientific Research in 2020. She joined ESN in 2018 when she moved to Lisbon to start her master's. She held several positions in the network, such as President of Portugal and Liaison Officer for Inclusive Mobility. As current President of ESN, she is responsible for the general coordination of the organisation, external relations, policy, and advocacy. Her main priorities include increasing participation in learning mobility and fostering civic engagement and participation of young people through Erasmus.
Additional Resources
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ ESN – preliminary results of ESN survey 2023
→ ESU - Survey on Academic Freedom, Institutional Autonomy and Academic Integrity from a Student Perspective
→ ESU & ESN joint publication - How are exchange students navigating the housing crisis?
→ Kelly-anne Watson: Student accommodation: key trends and considerations

In this episode of the EAIE podcast, host Laura Rumbley talks to two guests who have found themselves at this ‘back to school’ moment numerous times already in their careers and whose senior leadership roles require them to guide international office teams through many such key moments.  
So how do seasoned team leaders like Sabine Pendl, Director of the Office of International Relations at the University of Graz (Austria), and Wessel Meijer, Senior Policy Advisor for Internationalisation at Leiden University (the Netherlands) prepare themselves every year for this ‘reboot’? What do they currently see as some of the main issues that international office staff will likely be facing this year? What are some of the key skills or competencies that they see as vital for managing an international office today? Get a sneak peek at Sabine and Wessel’s upcoming EAIE training on 13 and 14 November in Amsterdam, ‘How to manage an international office.’

About Sabine Pendl
Sabine Pendl is the Director of the Office of International Relations at the University of Graz, Austria and has served as President of the EAIE from 2018 to 2020. For almost 32 years she has been active in the field of internationalization. She has managed international projects and summer schools; has worked as a trainer on the development of joint degrees and the management of an international office; has authored numerous articles on internationalization topics such as benchmarking and teaching in English; and has participated actively in conferences around the world. In addition, she is Vice-President of the Utrecht Network, member of the steering committee of her University Alliance “Arqus” and currently acts as auditor for the German Rectors’ Conference for their internationalization project.
About Wessel Meijer
Wessel Meijer is an all-around international relations manager with 30 years of experience in the internationalisation of higher education, both as a manager and as a specialist. He is currently Senior Policy Advisor for Internationalisation at Leiden University, The Netherlands, responsible for strategic internationalisation issues. Recently, Wessel was Director of Strategy and Academic Affairs at Radboud University Nijmegen, responsible for the university’s strategic issues, institutional research and education policies. Before that, he led the International Office of the same university of 30 staff responsible for European projects, scholarship programmes, international admissions and corporate partnerships. As Head of the international office of Fontys University of Applied Sciences, he managed a team of 15 staff at three locations. At Utrecht University, his responsibilities were the Erasmus programme and the development and implementation of the international marketing strategy. He started his career at the Utrecht School of Arts in the early days of student mobility. Wessel is involved in several other international project activities as a trainer, speaker and expert in assessing projects at the EACEA in Brussels and auditing international courses.

Additional Resources
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ EAIE Academy: How to manage an international office
→ Ten tools for managing an international office
→ 5 questions to ask during strategic internationalisation planning

The 2023 EAIE Award winners were announced in August 2023, and at the conference in Rotterdam, they will all be given some of the attention they rightfully deserve. In this podcast episode, the EAIE is honoured to have had the opportunity to talk to Ligia Deca, the current minister of Education for Romania and this year’s winner of the EAIE Award for Vision and Leadership. 
Several topics are touched upon in the conversation between host Laura Rumbley and minister Deca. How she made her way into the field of international higher education; the lessons she learned from her past student leadership experience as President of the European Students' Union. But also what she feels are some of the top challenges facing international higher education in Europe at the moment, and what kinds of opportunities and challenges she sees for younger women today, to step into a leadership role like the one she currently holds. We also get to hear more about what winning this award means to her at this particular moment in time in her career.

About Ligia Deca
Ligia Deca is the Minister of Education of Romania. Before ascending to this role in 2022, she served as Presidential Adviser for Education and Research. She is also a member of Romania's Fulbright Commission Board of Directors.
Ligia co-led ‘Action Track 3: Teachers, Teaching and the Teaching Profession’ within the framework of the 2022 United Nations Transforming Education Summit and, since June 2023, was co-opted by the UN Secretary-General as a member of the High-level Panel on the Teaching Profession. Between 2010 and 2012, she was head of the Bologna Secretariat, supporting the Bologna Follow-Up Group within the European Higher Education Area frame.

Ligia has worked as an expert for the Council of Europe, the European Commission, EQAR, DAAD and others and in 2014, she was invited to be a member of the ‘Science in Education’ Expert Group set up by the European Commission. From 2008 to 2010, she was the President of the European Students’ Union. Ligia holds a PhD in Political Science, awarded by the University of Luxembourg in 2016 for her research focusing on the internationalisation of higher education.
 
Ligia Deca is the recipient of the 2023 EAIE Award for Vision and Leadership for her remarkable achievements and contributions to international education throughout her career.

Additional Resources
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ 20 years of extraordinary: 2023 EAIE Award winners
→ Recognising the extraordinary in our sector

Never graduated, eternally honoured. This is the guiding notion behind the ‘Unissued Diplomas’ project, set up by the Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union (SUSK) and a group of volunteers with different backgrounds. The purpose of the initiative is to put the spotlight on a group of 36 Ukrainian higher education students who will never receive their diplomas because their lives were ended too soon by the ongoing war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
This powerful exhibition has travelled to more than 45 higher education institutions worldwide, with over 70 showings in 22 different countries. The EAIE is honoured to welcome the Unissued Diplomas project to Rotterdam in September 2023, as part of this year’s EAIE Conference and Exhibition.
In this podcast episode, host Laura Rumbley talks to Daryna Zavhorodnia, project manager for the Unissued Diplomas project. We hear how the idea for this exhibition came about, the importance of partnerships and donations to the project, and how others can provide their support to Ukraine. Be sure to tune in to this EAIE podcast episode to learn more about this remarkable project.

About Daryna Zavhorodnia
Daryna Zavhorodnia is a fourth-year sociology student at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Kyiv, Ukraine), and the project manager of "Unissued Diplomas". She was an exchange student at the University of Toronto between September 2022 and April 2023.

Additional Resources
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ Unissued Diplomas website & social media channels:
WebsiteInstagramFacebook→ United24 – official fundraising platform for Ukraine
→ EAIE Ukraine support and resources page
→ Karina Bilokon - One Ukrainian student’s story
→ ​​​​​International education in Ukraine - continuing in the face of adversity