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<p> The number of U.S. undergraduates who study abroad is growing, as are expectations that the experience will result in increased intercultural competence. Conclusions in the literature regarding actual outcomes of study abroad, however, remain limited, and often are contradictory. This research examines whether a semester of study abroad is associated with significant change in students&rsquo; ways of understanding and approaching cultural difference (&ldquo;intercultural development&rdquo;), as compared to remaining on one&rsquo;s home campus for the same period. It also assesses whether certain demographic characteristics and background experiences of students, as well as characteristics of study abroad programs, may have significant impacts on outcomes for international education participants. </p><p> Changes over a semester in Developmental Orientation and Cultural Disengagement scores on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) are the primary dependent variables. An experimental (i.e. study abroad) group of 108 undergraduates from Large Urban Private University (LUPU), which has a high rate of study abroad participation, completed the IDI before and after studying abroad in either the Fall 2014 or Spring 2015 semester. A control group of 65 LUPU undergraduates who remained on the home campus completed the IDI at the beginning and end of the Fall 2014 semester. The impact of study abroad as such, and of students&rsquo; personal characteristics, was analyzed via group comparisons using analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques. Correlational analysis and ANOVA were used to explore the effects of study abroad program characteristics on experimental group members. </p><p> Experimental group members experienced a statistically significantly greater positive change on both IDI scores, pre- to post-test, as compared to control group members, with small-to-medium effect size. In other words, students became on average slightly more interculturally-minded, and also less conflicted about their cultures of origin, after a semester of study abroad. But shifts from one way to another of understanding and addressing cultural difference (as defined in the IDI) were uncommon. Study abroad participants who were female, identified as members of more than one national culture, or had a grandparent born and raised outside the United States were significantly more likely than others to increase their intercultural-mindedness. Surprisingly, in light of the relevant literature, none of the study abroad program characteristics tested was significantly associated with pre- to post-test IDI score change for the experimental group members.</p>

<p> The position of the Emergency Manager within an organization&rsquo;s emergency management program is often written about in the context of professionalization, duties, responsibilities, and core competencies. However, the organizational placement of the Emergency Manager as it relates to his or her location, or simply his or her spot within an organization, is seldom the subject of research. There is an ongoing range of opinions about placement. A typical university organizational structure places the position several levels of authority away from the university leadership/decision makers. The typical placement can be problematic for university Emergency Managers because, the further they are away from the leadership/decision makers, the less influence they have on items that affect the university emergency management functions. Improper placement can limit their ability to have influence and places them in a reduced position to conduct issue selling. University Emergency Managers need to be in position to influence policy and promote readiness. A survey was conducted involving university administrators at private institutions of higher education which consisted of a series of questions about their institution&rsquo;s emergency management program. A key finding was that organizational placement of the Emergency Manager had no impact on the success of an emergency management program. The success of an emergency management program rests in the ability of the Emergency Manager to develop a network and to conduct issue selling. </p>

<p> Deciding whether or not to open an international branch campus requires that senior leaders at higher education institutions have an understanding of the benefits and risks associated with one of the riskiest forms of internationalization. Three historical waves characterize the modern incarnation of the international branch campus, which began in the 1980s. The benefits and risks for opening an international branch campus have evolved during each wave. The current wave has seen the rise of government-sponsored education hubs where a tight partnership exists between the host country and the foreign higher education provider. Few studies have explored decision-making processes used by higher education institutions when determining whether or not to open an international branch campus. This study provides a deeper understanding of the decision-making process used by Ghent University when choosing to open the Ghent University Global Campus in Songdo, South Korea. Ghent University&rsquo;s decision demonstrates that the benefits and risks are evolving for international branch campuses. Locating a branch campus in a government-sponsored education hub lowers one of the foremost risks that higher education leaders must address, the financial ones. This case also reveals that benefits are developing to include research opportunities abroad, new employment prospects for postdoctoral students, and support for internationalization activities.</p>