Global Connections #5: Where are you now? – Jian “Ken” Guan

Global Connections #5: Where are you now? – Jian “Ken” Guan

Bianca Chau  0:03

Thank you, Ken, for joining us today in the Where are you now? series? I really, I am so excited to catch up with you today. So, I mean to get started, how have you been during this whole time?

Ken Guan  0:18

I’m privileged to be on the podcast. Well, I, I’ve been doing well, being with my kids with my, my spouse, we moved to Spokane, Washington from from Boston, Massachusetts, during a pandemic, you know, I had the privilege of working at Berklee College of Music on international student student success, and but with the COVID-19, and my job was eliminated, when that gave us the flexibility to move across country. And I think, you know, there’s always a silver lining, and I think that’s probably one of the one of the best things happened to me, during this time is a deep reflection, and to truly see what kind of person I am, what I would like to do, and what are my strengths? And what can I contribute? Give value? How can I face properly with this transition? So I’m still I’m currently volunteering at the NASA national National Association of Student personnel. Administrators, I serve as the co chair for their international education knowledge community, I have a new paper about to be published with my co chair of the KC is to form the international education, this paper can form has the potential to form the identity of the International Education knowledge community, and, and to introduce the important role of student affairs professionals in internationalization. And I also I was featured on education USA, a department state agency, they have an interactive on Facebook Live. So I was able to be featured on it and represent the United States, with my fellow speakers to promote American higher, higher education to prospective international students and families. So I have been busy and also personal side and professional side. So yeah, I’m in in this transition, but I see the lights of the tunnel.

Bianca Chau  3:09

Thank you for sharing. Yeah, I really appreciated the fact that you were able to share your experience during this time in a very positive light. Um, you know, when you mentioned about, I’m not working at Berklee anymore, you know, I think I would have expected you to say, unfortunately, dadada, but you said that actually gave you the flexibility to do a lot of things and reflect, give you time to reflect. And I feel like that’s a very important aspect and skill that students also need in terms of student success. And I know you as a specialist and international student success, being a former international student, and being in positions in institutions to help international students. I wonder for you, what does student success look like to you? And I know that’s a big question, so we can break it down into different parts as well. Yeah, what does student’s success look like to you, especially for international students, and maybe during this time,

Ken Guan  4:19

So to me students success incorporate retention, and graduation, and these are the key indicators for students success for a lot of colleges and universities, and this to help measure the retention rate and graduation rates, and also intangibly as their integration, their sense of belonging on campus and also their employability and beyond. So students success And international students success, a very, very similar for international students success, I would add, you know, their integration, their social aspects to it. And I think especially working at Berklee, and it’s a great place to be, and I was privileged to work with them. And I feel I learned so much as a professional, international student success, and operation, Operation wise, student success will include, you know, all kinds of students support services like academic advising, disabilities, students services, and even admissions, international students services, you can name it as into a lot of student support services. So, and I believe international students serve success is a environmental approach. It involves every department on campus, regardless you work with student directly or not. And especially I see, I can see that nowadays in college and universities, many departments like Career Services, admissions and access services, all have people who have the backgrounds or understanding of working with international students.

Bianca Chau  6:41

And I think our listeners would love to hear more about you and what it was like being an international student, when you first came to the US. I wonder if you could share with us what helped you to be successful? And if you think there is a difference with students that are now coming in with more, you know, with increase of services provided to international student success, is there still like a disconnect that you’ve seen before? And now? Or are things getting better? What’s some of your insight on that?

Ken Guan  7:19

Hmm. So I was an international student in 1998. I went to England for a year and then Scotland and then made my way to New York, Hawaii. And so in Hawaii, I was enrolled as an undergraduate student. And I think I had probably have one of the best International Student Services experience as a student. And I just because the professional staffs knowledge base, and the care they provided, and also the diverse environment and how supportive the campus on diversity and student experience, and I was able to, you know, have student employment, I was able to meet with my, my mentor, Dr. Keith Miser, and he has a significant impact on me. Eventually, that led me to pursue my doctorate at Indiana University Bloomington. And that’s where he graduated with all his three degrees. So I think in terms of gaps and disconnections. I think either from my, my research or my personal experience, I realize that college and university professionals tend to think that when especially when they think well, why international students leave the university and transfer somewhere else, mostly because their academic skills, their integration, and you know, the different culture and adjustment and, but then there’s the research shows that for international students from their, their, their side of the rationale is employability internship. financial reasons. So, this is a gap, you know, from university side thinking about cultural transition and academic skills to financial and employability. So then you can see the, you know, the, you know, if we want to serve the student, we need to serve with their goal and purpose and motivation in mind. So I think in this areas, the research point out, there’s a gap. But nowadays, I realize the internet, I think universities has a lot of services for international students. And perhaps we will talk about that in a little bit. And, the issue is that international students or even just all student, including domestic students are homeless, they utilize the services, and that could be a concern. And you many, many service are eagerly await our students visit. But students, it’s really up to the student to take advantage of the services. So I think there’s, there’s there’s a room to, to study and to investigate why we’re How can we attract students to utilize campus services, because I think University has done enough, they have done a lot. And they constantly improve their services and best practices for student success. But also, I think students should meet in the middle, also, to take initiative to seek help and to utilize the services.

Bianca Chau  11:26

That’s a great point, I think that a lot of institutions do focus on things like academic success of international students and the majors that are offered and which ones are popular and what not. But like you said, a lot of students come here seeking for a life beyond college, and that that involves employability, and that the whole process requires money anyway, for not just international students, but other students. And I recall, only being given 20 hours to work with the minimum wage, and only on campus that very, very restricted my ability to survive, and I barely covered my rent. And after that, where do I get my money to pay for food, things like that we don’t qualify for federal support, like food. Foods, what do you call those foods? Yes. Right. And so what do you do when students are struggling? That’s one, one very disappointing thing that I see sometimes when I meet students who are really struggling is the finance piece, like you mentioned. And so in terms of the utilization of services, you mentioned, lots of institutions already provide ample if not an abundance of services, yes. But utilization of it is a different story. I wonder how we can better reach out whether that’s an outreach issue, or whether it’s a more of an understanding of how to use the services on an international students end. And also, I think there’s a cultural piece of asking for help. It’s not very encouraged in many cultures that our students come from all over the world. And so in a society where, you know, there’s a lot of help provided, but not enough of the coaching of how to ask for help. I wonder what are some examples you can give that institutions have done well, and of course, what can we do better to serve international students?

Ken Guan  13:51

Yes. And first of all, I think there’s a stigma, associate with some of the universities services, for example, counseling, or student with disabilities services, and and many others. So I really believe that and all students can benefit can benefit all these services, but I think the international students specifically have a lack of understanding what exactly these offices are offer. And, and I think, if only through their involvement on campus, their exposure to the professional staff, I’m not seeing that as professional I’m not doing enough. So I think students, if they have more exposure to the office, to the staff working there, to their peers, and they will, will have more access more knowledge. And motivation to visit these services. So, you know, like for, for example, disability services or now is called access student access office, they will, they also provide many personal development and help you to, you know, form habits and how to, you know, form, discipline, and many, many of them are life skills. And I think all students can can benefit and counseling services, you know, it’s not just for people who has, you know, mental health issues, and even just, you know, you have anxiety ever, everyone have anxieties, especially during a COVID, during the pandemic, that I mean, the rate of having anxiety issues are rising up. So it’s just, you know, students from all backgrounds Can, can really utilize their services. So I think, if it’s possible, you know, the, you know, counseling, I’m just using this to offices, because the this to office have some stigmas, and, you know, and also have so much to offer, you know, wouldn’t it be helpful, the staff members can, you know, be with the students at a very casual setting. And also, you know, just, you know, introduce some skills, introduce some of the tips, or even just reminding students about when the important holidays, and when the exams are coming up some important dates on the academic calendar. So all these, you know, small tips, and then to make student realize that, oh, it’s not like, I have to have big problems, big issues, I should visit them. I mean, they all also offer all kinds of services, all students can benefit. And also, I think, maybe marketing area I just recently learned from this digital marketing course, I’m taking, you know, my spare time that I learned that, you know, it’s so powerful digital marketing is very powerful. And, but from my, my experience that many students Services Office, kind of tend to promote their services from their own social media page, from their websites, from flyers from emails, and mass emails, communications. with, uh, you know, be helpful Sunday, you know, if we use a little bit of budgets, you know, purchase on the Facebook ads, you know, for, you know, some stationery ad, you know, on Google, you know, when a student go on website, they might not need to visit Facebook, one may not necessarily be visiting our counseling services, Disability Services, Facebook page, but their ad just showed up. And that, you know, and they will see, oh, that’s my university. And my there’s one of the counseling services having an ad, I got to check it out. Oh, it’s, I think it’s for everybody, not just for I, you know, a group of students. So I think that way, we’ll really casually introduce the services to students, and that might help with the utilization rate.

Bianca Chau  18:43

Hmm. Yes. And you also mentioned that students have to meet us in the middle, in terms of the utilization. But I think that also requires some coaching on our part to, like you said maybe destigmatize some of the things, demystify the process. So on top of institutions providing services and elevating that process, what can we do in terms of towards students to help them make this process easier to use the services other than the marketing, you mentioned? digital marketing, is there something maybe during orientation for new students or peer advising, things like that, that you think might be helpful in terms of coaching international students to utilize services?

Ken Guan  19:39

I think this kind of coaching should start before orientation. So as we call it, a pre orientation or orientation at students’ home countries. So we, you know, a lot of times we have the orientation department do that or most of times The pre pre orientation are done by admission staff, and or student ambassadors. Or, you know, so if we could really involve the student affairs professionals, you know, those people who meet with students work with students after the handoff, so that admissions, and student services are on the same page. And they, they will, you know, provide more information, more detailed information to the students and families instead of, you know, on the brochure saying that, once you be on being the orientation on campus, you will learn more about all these services, which just bring all the service services upfront, and to really, dis stigmatize to demystify, you know, some of the misunderstanding based on the title, the name of the office.

Bianca Chau  21:02

And other we’ve been in this whole year over a year of pandemic, not quite sure what going back to school for students would look like in the future. And also international student enrollment. Do you foresee any trends of the International Student mobility and success?

Ken Guan  21:25

I think the international student enrollment has been decreased a little bit in 2020. And that’s down by the most recent Institute of International Education, open doors research. But then, right after the research the in the academic year of 2020 to 2021, the enrollment has dropped significantly. And I will refer everyone to visit the opendoor research to find to find more data and also to read more relevant articles about international student enrollments. I believe that internet international students is about one. You know what one out of five among world international students that chose to study in the United States, one out of 5.6 million, and the number has decreased, but the number will go up eventually. And when talking with colleagues in study abroad, or agencies, and therefore, you know, many, many organizations start, you know, warming up having a few hundreds of students coming to the United States to do short term study, and then in the fall, maybe a little bit more. And then the expectation is in the spring of 2022, there would be significant increase of international student enrollment, as well study abroad.

Bianca Chau  23:16

I certainly hope that more and more students are able to return but also start their studies in the US. And I have a follow up question with your many years of experience in international education and being in the US. What do you think makes the US in particular captivating to international students?

Ken Guan  23:40

I think the number one is the quality of education. And the US has, you know, the most number of Nobel Prize winners, and also has a very robust support for research and and people who, you know, there’s many very people have done great contribution that come from a US higher education background. And, and also, I think, the employability and the university will support students to find a great career even just have a US degree. Many, many families are very proud of their children, their student, to having come to United States to study and also I think the robust students services and in terms Student Affairs, United States, higher education is a leader and also helping many other countries to improve or to start up to build Student Affairs programs. And there are many graduates from The Student Affairs program in the United States, now they have been Heaven, that they are taking important responsibilities to help establish Student Affairs programs in their Hong Kong, in their home country. And also diverse culture, abundance of personal and professional growth opportunities. And all these, you know, student come to United States will be built on experience, many things that are very different from their experience at home, but also to be exposed to get to know their peers, and also their role models. I think all these motivations help help students make decision but all one another one is the flexibility, the choices of universities, there’s the there’s the university fit all kinds of budgets, student have at home, and all kinds of majors, they kind of have, you know, all there are many, many options to study. So I think with all these, you know, employability, students, services, diverse background, flexibility, affordability, all these are good motivations for people to choose in the United States to study.

Bianca Chau  26:21

Thank you for that. I do agree that in America, there’s this emphasis on holistic development for the students. And like you said, there’s just a variety of higher education institutions from community colleges, which is not a thing where I’m from. And then going into a four year institution as a transfer student, or starting in a four year institution as a, as a first year student, and the whole residential life and community living. And all the services that provide are provided on institutions make universities itself a small society itself. And it’s a great practice ground when going into quote, unquote, the real world. And so I do, like you agree that the US higher education system is very robust. As we approach the end of our episode, I wonder if you have any advice to institutions or even students as to how we can approach international students success in the future?

Ken Guan  27:33

Hmm. You know, as you mentioned earlier, there’s many, you know, student leadership, development, you know, like living in the Lima learning communities and being exposed to all kinds of professional and personal development. And, you know, I think now, we’re back to focusing on students mind mindset, and personal development. And just a little bit of, you know, background about, you know, my, my understanding of literature, in the 50s, that’s when the serious research on international students started. And but that time was focusing on students psychological factors, and eventually move on to social social factors, adjustments and coping, and then to accountability, that, how university can fulfill their promise, you know, to recruit students, to start retaining students student retention, and now to student success. So it’s kind of started from a psychological factor. But now, because of the pandemic we’re facing, ever increasing anxieties ever increasing challenges to travel. So, I will say, we’re focusing back on students mind how their personal development and you know, we have a lot of professional development, leadership development, now we’re focusing back on you know, helping students to form a purpose, you know, to find someone they look up to, and really to, to, to learn about the quality of the people they look up to. So they can decode and we can replicate the qualities they admire, they want to have and then they can recreate, reinvent, to be more individualistic, to become the person they visualize themselves to be. And, you know, in, in student affairs, we have theories, you know, talking about self efficacy, towards self determination, self authorship And so now we’re we should revisit, you know, regardless, you’ve been using that or not we revisit those, you know, very important theories and, and shifting the focus the locus of control from, you know, more external to internal. So that student will have that they can make the change, you know, if they believe, you know, they will see it. And so focusing on their personal side, and really help them to go through all the struggles and bring the best in them, so that they can thrive in any kinds of environment. So, I believe having a purpose will really help students, students success.

Bianca Chau  30:54

I like that approach of almost going back to the basics, don’t forget how this all started, and what is the most essential and important thing we need to do in order to support international students success. So I appreciate that reminder of not just trying to always elevate and make things better. But really going back to the basics and reminding ourselves why we are doing this. So I really appreciate that reminder,

Ken Guan  31:24

you know, just one last thing, you know, I like to encourage my fellow colleagues in student affairs or international education, I think college campuses, leaders have have done, we have done a lot, and perhaps enough, we have all kinds of students services, and we always try to improve and honing our craft, and to help students to succeed. So I, you know, we really should give us a pat on the back, you know, say we, we really have done a lot significant, and there’s so many people that care about the students, especially during a pandemic is stressful on both University side and the student side. So, you know, we don’t enough, and universities are humanistic, even though it’s expected but not required. I, and of course, there’s self interest for universities, you know, during a panic, they had to survive, there’s vitality issues, but also Eventually, the Our goal is to serve the students, especially for Student Affairs services. So we have done enough. And we, you know, need to focus on students mindset, and help them to really know who they are, what they want to be. And then they can come to choose the services they want. They want to have with a purpose.

Bianca Chau  32:55

I really like that it’s not that we’re not doing enough is that we have done so much. Yes. And we really need to take a moment to acknowledge that. And also go back to the basics and revisit why we’re all in this together. So thank you also Ken for so much of your contribution and being a part of this, and I know our listeners are probably hopefully crying in happiness to be acknowledged by you. So thank you once again for your time. And I hope that whatever journey comes in your way that all will be good. And I know you’re a very positive person. So thank you for ending this podcast also on a positive note. Yeah,

Ken Guan  33:41

thank you, Bianca. And thank you ACPA and global commission for this wonderful opportunity. I’m always a big fan.

Bianca Chau  33:49

Thank you!