International Strategy for Higher Education Institutions
International Strategy for Higher Education Institutions
Leadership roles for HEI internationalisation Posted on by Vicky Lewis
In October 2026, University World News published an interesting article by Harvey Charles and Anthony C Ogden, with the title Is 'Senior International Officer' role designed to fail?.
The authors argue that many US universities have created a fundamental mismatch between the strategic outcomes expected of Senior International Officers (SIOs – i.e. the most senior role with dedicated responsibility for international engagement) and the organisational positioning of the role.
They reflect on what they describe as the ‘persistent under-leveraging of SIOs and their expertise’ and ask whether US institutions have ‘designed the SIO role in ways that limit the very strategic influence they increasingly need from it’.
The climate for HE in the US over recent years has sharpened the relevance of this question. International students and scholars are facing barriers to participation (and worse). National security concerns are jeopardising international academic collaborations, including those with long-standing partners. The threats to universities’ global engagement have been part and parcel of a wider assault on higher education and on the values and missions of individual institutions.
While the specific challenges in the US – and the impact they have on the role of the SIO – are acute, this got me thinking about how equivalent roles in other countries may have evolved in the face of external pressures in the last few years.
The fundamental challenge identified by Charles and Ogden is that SIOs often have responsibility for strategic leadership on internationalisation without sufficient authority or autonomy to fulfil this responsibility effectively.
Specifically, they highlight:
Some of these points echo findings from a report produced in the UK five years ago, in 2021, by The IC Global Partnership and Berwick Partners, entitled The Route to Pro Vice-Chancellor International.
This report identified challenges such as:
The authors of the UWN article suggest that US institutions may ‘expect strategic outcomes from roles that have been structurally denied strategic influence’.
I’d love to explore this further and have come up with a few questions.
If you work in international education in the US:
If you work in international education in the UK:
If you work in any other country:
Anyone:
As always, it would be great to hear what you think, either in the comments below or, preferably (because it creates more of a dialogue), under my LinkedIn post on this topic.
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