There is no longer any doubt that the ongoing coronavirus crisis could affect international students’ ability to enroll in U.S. business schools in time for the upcoming fall semester.
Of course, that raises critical new questions. How might the repercussions be felt throughout the U.S. higher education landscape? How are business school leaders reacting to these developments as they continue to pursue their most important class-building goals? Can the graduate management education (GME) community develop new strategies for confronting an uncertain enrollment future by uniting in a quest to implement shared best practices?
Leading by example
Liaison’s new on-demand webinar, “Coronavirus and Beyond: Managing Global Crises on Your Campus,” explores each of those questions in depth and provides examples of how two prominent business schools in different parts of the country are planning their responses.
Hosted by Robert F. Ruiz, (Managing Director, BusinessCAS™) the webinar’s panel also includes Erin O’Brien (Chief Enrollment Officer, University at Buffalo School of Management and member of the BusinessCAS™ advisory board) and Monica Powell (Senior Associate Dean and Graduate Dean, The University of Texas at Dallas and member of the BusinessCAS™ advisory board).
During this webinar, they share their insights and answer questions about potential fallout from the coronavirus, including:
- Its impact on the global economy.
- The fields of study that could be most significantly affected.
- The cancellation of required standardized tests.
- Using online/virtual instruction to keep international students enrolled.
- The effect on students and helping navigate the situation.
- The potential for visa denials and overstays.
“At the University at Buffalo, we have working groups that are looking at how we can continue operations and how we can continue to triage any additional disruption to university operations,” says O’Brien. “We’ve already suspended all study-abroad programs in affected countries. We’ve suspended all international experiential learning programs that were planned for the spring. And we’ve suspended faculty and staff travel at the campus level.”
“In the worst-case scenario, U.S. consulates will stop issuing visas for students to come to the United States until this virus is officially quashed,” says Powell. “I think the biggest hurdle is not going to be English proficiency testing or waving GMAT and GRE requirements. The biggest hurdle is going to be whether or not students are allowed to get on a plane to come to the United States.”
Is your business school planning ahead to deal with the coronavirus threat or are you simply reacting to yesterday’s headlines?
To learn more about what you should be doing, watch “Coronavirus and Beyond: Managing Global Crises on Your Campus” now.