Students

Engaging globally in a flat world

Information Systems Professor Ajay Vinze has traveled the world as a Fulbright senior specialist since 2008, and now he is continuing his journey on behalf of ASU and the W. P. Carey School. Vinzé was appointed associate dean for international programs in 2012 and recently added associate vice provost of graduate education to his title. “Both my roles entail expanding our international footprint,” Vinzé explained. The initiative will help us, in collaboration with institutions in other countries, build a global education infrastructure, and promote a rich experience for both domestic and international students at ASU.

2013-09-26

Ajay Vinze at the Panfilov War Memorial in Almaty, the capital of Khazhkstan.  “The notion of the world as U.S.-centric has come and gone — It’s a flat, global world,” says information systems Professor Ajay Vinzé. “It is our responsibility now to pay as much attention to the world as world has paid to us.” Vinzé was appointed associate dean for international programs in 2012 and recently added associate vice provost of graduate education to his title. “Both my roles entail expanding our international footprint,” Vinzé explained. “As an institution, we understand that we need to expand internationally, however it is important that we do so in a strategic, disciplined way.” The task suits Vinzé perfectly. He has served as a Fulbright senior specialist since 2008, and has engaged with business and academic communities around the world over the past two decades. Expanding the school’s international footprint ASU has big plans for dramatic international growth in the next five years, Vinzé says. At the W. P. Carey School, the goal is to build on its significant presence in China, where the school operates the W. P. Carey Executive MBA in Shanghai, and to develop a balanced and diversified international portfolio. “We need to be leveraging the wealth of our faculty talent with innovative programs and research initiatives to engage the world,” he said. In defining his new role, Vinzé uses reputation and relevance as his two anchor points, and suggests choosing the right partners as the critical first step. The next step involves increasing the number of international enrollments and repositioning or repurposing programs to ensure they are relevant for international students and faculty. “It is important to do this while simultaneously adding an international dimension for our domestic students,” Vinze said. “We have to do this while maintaining the highest academic standards. Reputation driven by quality, not quantity, is going to determine how successful and relevant we are globally.” The kind of international expansion Vinzé envisions is two-sided: on one hand, making the W. P. Carey School and ASU as a whole relevant to the international community; and on the other, making the international community relevant to the W. P. Carey School and ASU. Tailored approach Vinze’s approach to specific countries or regions is strategic: “We have to figure out where our strengths fit the country or region’s needs, and where we have cultural, linguistic, and/or historical affinities.” Powerful partnerships can form in unexpected places. Sometimes the pieces fit together in countries that had not been considered initially, but “those surprises are starting to happen with a great deal more regularity as the world gets flatter and nations change,” he said. Vinze has been delighted by the enthusiasm many international institutional leaders have demonstrated for educational infrastructure: they are ready to invest and are looking for active innovative partners. “So you can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach and try to drive international programs,” Vinzé explained. “You must look through a multi-dimensional lens. Language, culture, historical associations, and country policy are all important. Additionally, there are many other situational factors that come into play in determining what countries/regions are a good fit for the W. P. Carey School and ASU.” Back in Arizona, Vinzé is focused on weaving an international thread throughout the institution to enhance the education of U.S. born students. “We already have a very vibrant international community with more than 6,000 students,” he says. “Right now we’re working on how to engage proactively with the rest of the students to help them see how they can have an international experience right here at home by developing relationships with students from other countries.” “When international students have a great academic and life experience at the W. P. Carey School and ASU, they will be our best ambassadors - setting in motion a self-sustaining cycle,” he said. Leveraging technology As the founder of the Center for Advancing Business through Information Technology (CABIT) at the W. P. Carey School of Business, Vinzé is keen to leverage technology for greater international engagement. “The writing is on the wall that technology is leveling the playing field, tearing down the artificial borders that we erected long ago. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world; that fact alone shows how the role of technology is real, and important.” The question is how to take advantage of rapid technological change while not getting swept away by it. “We will certainly leverage technology the best we can,” Vinzé said. “But it’s not a magic bullet. Internationalization should be technology enabled, not technology defined. It’s all about relationships — human-to-human relationships.” In fact, that is what makes Vinzé’s task a challenging one. “We can build the strategy and make the plans but internationalization will be successful only with patient, sustained effort. We have to build relationships of trust at both the individual and the institutional level so our prospective partners can see the mutual benefits of engaging with us.” And that, he said, “is not something that happens overnight. Institutionally, we have to have patience to succeed.” Vinzé is very excited about the challenge and the opportunity. “As one of the largest universities in the U.S. and one of the very-highly ranked business schools, it is our responsibility to take the lead, make our presence felt and engage globally!”

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