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Thriving in Academe
Best Practices

Responding to Specific Needs

• The Hospitality College at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has experienced a tremendous growth in the number of undergraduate and graduate international students. While having sizeable groups of students from one country provides the individual international student with some support, it can also lead to other challenges. It seems, for example, that in some cultures students are encouraged to help each other with homework assignments, including allowing copying from each other. To limit this, one professor has set up group meetings in her class for students from different countries. In these meetings students shared their way of tackling assignments and the professor explained locally accepted practices and detailed the consequences of not conforming. The approach seemed to work as no “shared” assignments were turned in.
• To address the sense of isolation and anxiety of high-achieving international students who have indicated that they were considering withdrawing during their first semester at a U.S. university, another professor has increased the number of classroom activities and assignments that require pair work. In pairing up an international student with a native one he discovered a marked increase in the international students’ participation levels as well as their attitude and mood.

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