CHALLENGES OF RUNNING A NORTH AMERICAN GRADUATE PROGRAM OFFSHORE

Running a graduate university program offshore is challenging under the best conditions. Obstacles include cost, cross cultural barriers and misunderstandings, travel, country and organizational politics, a changing external environment, currency fluctuations and time-zone differences. There is also the challenge of creating a physical presence for the program and university in the foreign location and developing and protecting the university brand. Universities that run such programs invest heavily in building and maintaining relationships with partner organizations and relevant stakeholders in order to resolve differences and handle uncertainty. In most cases the success of the program is dependent upon the relationship between partners. This research looks at what happens when changes in the partner organization and geopolitical events lead to a disconnect between partners. It also considers the impact of the resultant disconnect on an in-session student cohort, student representatives and the partner organizations.