Monday, May 25, 2009
Attracting international talent BY RAI UMRAOPATI RAY
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is one of Canada’s largest and most prestigious public research and teaching institutions. UBC is consistently ranked amongst the world’s 40 best universities and offers more than 50,000 students a range of innovative undergraduate, graduate and professional programmes, says Professor Craig Evan Klafter, Associate Vice-President International. Excerpts from an interview to Deccan Chronicle.
Why are you so keen to attract overseas students to your university?
Most of the great advances in human knowledge have come by applying different perspectives to inquiry. International students bring a diversity of perspective to a classroom, laboratory and more generally to research. International students introduce our students to a wide-range of cultures, which enhances their understanding of the world and helps them to become effective global citizens.
International students end up paying differential fees — far higher than fees paid by Canadian students. What are your views on this?
The province of British Columbia heavily subsidises the cost of education provided by The University of British Columbia to Canadian students. This subsidy is contributed by Canadian residents through tax payments. It would not be fair to Canadian taxpayers to have them subsidise the cost of education of foreign students. The higher cost charged to international students is thus the unsubsidised cost of obtaining a UBC education.
Please throw some light on the scholarships available to international students
The University of British Columbia awarded more than CAN$3 million in scholarships to international students this year. These scholarships ranged from entrance awards to full scholarships. Some scholarships are granted solely on the basis of academic merit and no application is required. Other awards, most notably our International Leaders of Tomorrow scholarships and our International Student Humanitarian Awards require a separate application.
Any new initiatives in education as far as India is concerned?
UBC has research and exchange agreements with IIT-Delhi, IIM-Ahmedabad, and the University of Delhi. We prefer to focus on enhancing relationships with current university partners rather than develop too many new
partnerships.
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