The Office for International Affairs (OIA) is an enabling office, tasked with initiating and supporting the internationalisation processes at the University of the Free State (UFS). All five performance indicators commonly used to rank universities, namely teaching (the learning environment); research (volume, income, and reputation); citations (research influence); international outlook (staff, students, and research); and industry income (knowledge transfer) are closely associated with internationalisation of higher education and the international mindset of an institution.
A Research Portfolio was established in August 2022 to enhance scholarly engagement in the internationalisation process. The portfolio is an important step towards realising the vision of being a research-led university in the internationalisation context.
A clear distinction needs to be made between a research focus area in a particular field per se, and the institutional rationale for driving research on internationalisation, which includes that a research-based university should inform the development of institutional strategies, policies, and procedures through research. Aspects of the research produced within the Research Portfolio in the OIA could contribute to an information base that can inform institutional strategy and policy development, while strengthening the scholarship on internationalisation and contributing to knowledge production in the field.
Our preparatory work for the portfolio exposed the gaps that exist in terms of theorisation and knowledge production on internationalisation of higher education. Specifically, internationalisation of higher education in the context of Africa and the larger Global South, is under-researched.
Based on this mission of the UFS, and despite the majority of personnel being support staff, the objective of the portfolio is to develop scholarship in the OIA, to research aspects of comprehensive internationalisation, and to advance scholarship among OIA staff members in order to become a research-led office.
The Research Portfolio strives to be a high-impact division with a focus on researching comprehensive internationalisation, consistently generating a variety of high-quality research outputs; expanding the footprint of the OIA in national and international higher education communities and in the public arena; and influencing the scholarship of internationalisation.