The American Council on Education (ACE) announced in early October that it has convened a high-level panel of prominent higher education and international affairs experts to address the implications of globalisation on American higher education and how the sector should best respond to this “complex and evolving phenomenon”. The 19-member group will be chaired by John Sexton, President of New York University, and includes the presidents or chancellors of 11 US colleges, universities and community colleges. Also present on the panel is the president of the US Council on Foreign Relations and several representatives from institutions outside of the US, including the University of Warwick, the University of Hamburg, the University of Melbourne, and Peking University.

The group is due to meet over the course of the 2010/11 academic year and is expected to seek input from a variety of key stakeholders throughout the process. A final report is expected at the end of 2011. Although the group has no ‘official’ standing in terms of setting a national agenda, it will be interesting to see what key issues emerge in the panel’s final report, and to compare these to the European Union strategy for internationalisation, also due out in 2011.

American Council on Education