Open AccessThrough the Looking Glass: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed International Branch Campuses’ Academic Experience and Home Campus Relationship
Author(s) -
Rachael Merola,
Robert Coelen,
W.H.A. Hofman,
Ellen Jansen
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of studies in international education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.211
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1552-7808
pISSN - 1028-3153
DOI - 10.1177/10283153211070112
Subject(s) - pandemic , covid-19 , higher education , university campus , political science , study abroad , academic mobility , public relations , sociology , pedagogy , library science , medicine , virology , disease , pathology , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , outbreak , law
This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the academic experience at international branch campuses (IBCs) and has changed the relationship between the IBC and the home campus. Semi-structured interviews with 26 leaders, academic staff, and students at seven IBCs in Malaysia revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the experience at IBCs in unique ways, including collaboration and communication with the home campus; increasing campus-specific resources for student wellbeing; and playing a larger role in student enrollment, recruitment, and mobility initiatives. Findings provide useful insights for higher education institutions (HEIs) engaged in transnational education (TNE).