Student Affairs and Offshore Branch Campuses: A Case Study of Practitioner Experiences

Internationalizing higher education is increasingly recognized as an important element of higher education today. Institutions want to produce graduates who are global citizens, and therefore attempt to strengthen their position in the global marketplace by internationalizing the campus community through the research, teaching, and service functions of the institution (Wildavsky, 2010). As a way to increase internationalization efforts, the establishment of offshore branch campuses— educational facilities that provide students the opportunity to receive face-to-face instruction in a country different than that of the host institution—has become more popular since the turn of the century. It is anticipated that by 2025, offshore branch campuses will account for 44% of the total demand for international education (Wilkins & Balakrishnan, 2013).

This multipartner approach has caused an increased interest in how offshore branch campuses are operated, with a particular interest in how student affairs is being practiced in international jurisdictions (Seifert, Perozzi, Bodine Al-Sharif, Li, & Wildman, 2014). The consortium model of offshore branch campuses is relatively new and underresearched, with few studies that examine the viewpoints of student affairs practitioners in offshore branch campus settings. This study focuses on the Incheon Global Campus (IGC) in South Korea, which provides a unique consortium model of an international education hub that can offer a microcosm for examining student affairs practice in an offshore branch campus. Specifically, the research questions were: (a) How is student affairs practiced on an offshore branch campus? and (b) Who serves in student affairs roles on an offshore branch campus? This study will fill a gap in the literature surrounding the practice of student affairs worldwide, and will also provide insight into who serves in student affairs roles on a start-up offshore branch campus based on a consortium model.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The rise in popularity of offshore branch campuses is largely due to the growing demand for Western-style higher education worldwide (Wildavsky, 2010). Nearly half of all international branch campuses today are affiliated with an institution located in the United States. American colleges and universities adapt policies, practices, and structures to take advantage of local and cultural conditions; however, practices that prove successful for the home campus do not always prove successful for the offshore branch campus in a different country (Lane, 2011). For this study, the challenges of implementing and practicing student affairs in an offshore branch campus in Korea illustrate how cultural traditions and expectations can impact the development of elements of Western-style higher education on the offshore branch campus.

Student Affairs in the United States and Korea

Higher education and international education communities seek to understand the history, function, and practice of student affairs in various international jurisdictions (Osfield, 2008; Seifert et al., 2014); however, literature is limited and is not inclusive of all countries with prominent systems of higher education. North America is cited as the birthplace of student affairs, and the literature suggests that over time, student affairs in Western higher education has transitioned from a student service approach to a student development focus and to an emphasis on student learning or engagement (Roberts, 2012). While the literature on the evolution of student affairs in North America is expansive, literature on the practice of student affairs globally is not as robust, and the amount of research varies by country (Ludeman, Osfield, Hidalgo, Oste, & Wang, 2009). Within Asian countries such as Mainland China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore, there are studies that acknowledge lack of government and/or institutional funding for student affairs, which poses challenges to the advancement of the field (Ludeman et al., 2009; Osfield, 2008). While countries such as China and Hong Kong share similarities with Korea in terms of heavy government involvement in higher education, the lack of literature outlining the role of student affairs in Korea provides challenges in comparing the function of student affairs across countries.

METHOD

Case studies are best suited for particularization, and our examination of this single-site case focused on the uniqueness of one offshore branch campus in a consortium model. The setting for this case...