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June 30, 2022

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Kimberly Johnson (M.A.'21, educational leadership: higher education and student affairs) and Alexa Girouard (M.A.'22, educational leadership: higher education and student affairs) recently presented at the summer in Cork, Ireland. The summit was held by the International Association of Student Affairs and Services and brought together leaders in student affairs and services from around the global to engage in dialogue on key issues affecting work in higher education. During their time as students in the educational leadership master’s program, they each engaged in coursework and scholarly projects related to intercultural development and global engagement in higher education.

Johnson’s presentation was titled, “Voices of International Students,” and came out of a higher education environments and administration course she took during her master’s program. During the course, she completed a Voice Project, which is a tool to explore the voices of underrepresented populations, to better understand the experiences of the international student population at �������� Michigan University. She found that international students experience a variety of struggles when coming to the United States, and more can be done by student affairs professionals to ease their transition into higher education institutions. Johnson currently serves as a student affairs professional at �������� working directly with 250 dining students, a majority of whom are international students.

Girouard’s poster presentation was titled, “Evolving International Student Recruitment and Support at a U.S. Community College,” and discussed the research done to promote recruitment and retention efforts for international students at the community college level in the U.S. The project centered around the process of including student voices, presenting feedback and goals to administration and what actions need to be implemented at the institution, and reflects a strategic plan of how to create opportunities to further globalize campuses by partnering with key stakeholders to evolve international student support and recruitment.

Learn about the educational leadership master's program in the College of Education and Human Development.