Entrepreneurial Thinking in International Education with Mary Dando, Tony Ogden, & Lauren Alexander

Last fall I had the pleasure of sitting down with a panel of seasoned international educators to discuss innovation and entrepreneurship as it relates to international education administration. This conversation was inspired by an event last summer hosted by ISA in Colorado called ThinkDen. The goal of this event was to bring together IE administrators to share best practices and innovations to deliver higher quality, more effective, and a broader range of global experiences for students and faculty. 

My guests today all played a key role at the ISA ThinkDen event. Lauren Alexander worked closely with attendees and facilitators to flesh out the content for the event. Mary Dando and her team at CU-Boulder not only hosted the gathering, but offered up their own innovations in IE. And Dr. Tony Ogden served as facilitator extraordinaire for the various presentations, panel discussions, and workshops. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Why the discussion of innovation and entrepreneurship in international education is so critical at this time

• What prevents IE professionals from being innovative or entrepreneurial in their work and the steps administrators can take to begin "thinking" like entrepreneurs and creating a culture of innovation.

• The guests outline the core areas where administrators can begin applying innovative thinking and strategies in their work

• Our thoughts on disruptive innovation in higher education such as alternatives to university like coding bootcamps, growing gap year programming, etc.

• What other industries or entrepreneurial ventures have inspired innovations at their institutions

• How we balance the for-purpose mission of global education with the for-profit model of many programs abroad (at universities and partner organizations)

• Some innovative approaches to lowering the cost of programs abroad while maintaining quality (and not just with more scholarships and grants)

Mentioned in the Show:

• Learn more about International Studies Abroad 

• Lessons from Abroad - Greater DC at Marymount University (not working)

• Connect with Mary (not working) Tony, and Lauren

• Get the full ThinkDen report here

• Come hang out with me on Instagram @thenewdorothy