The International Education Standards Council (IESC)
is seeking two fellows for the 2019-2020 term. IESC is an AACRAO committee that researches, discusses, and then develops recommendations for how best to understand foreign credentials in the context of the U.S. educational system.
Accelerated learning
Fellowships are an opportunity for up-and-coming professionals to serve as non-voting participant-observers of the IESC. Fellows are assigned research projects, as necessitated by changes in global education systems, who then present findings to the group
for further debate with an ultimate goal of forming placement recommendations. Fellows are also encouraged to present their findings in a white paper and session at the AACRAO Annual Meeting.
Fellowship allows fellows to observe how colleagues with expertise debate and arrive at placement recommendations.
“IESC is a great group oozing with information and wanting to share with colleagues who are breaking into the field,” said Jasmin Saidi-Kuehnert, Chair of IESC-EDGE. (EDGE is the AACRAO international credentials database.) “We’re excited to bring in ‘rising stars’ who will demonstrate eagerness to learn,
hone their critical thinking and writing skills, and develop expertise in international credential evaluation.”
Last year’s fellows, Erin Hari and Amanda Holder,
completed a white paper titled "Tools to Determine How to Award Advanced Credit."
(Under "Download IESC White Papers.")
“I’m really impressed with the work Amanda and Erin have done for us,” said Saidi-Kuehnert. “They came in very new to this and left with a lot of good information.”
The art and science of evaluation
Credential evaluation is both art and science, and often, institutions don’t have a lot of training resources or documents to backup policies. Building relationships with mentors is key to navigating credential evaluation.
“The fellowship is an amazing opportunity,” said Emily Tse, Director of Evaluations at the International Education Research Foundation (IERF). “I’m envious that this wasn’t
available when I was growing up as junior evaluator. Even though training workshops offer a great foundation, you don’t come out fully proficient. These skills are acquired over time and experience and are quite unique to our field.”
Learn more about the commitment and how to apply.
“I’m excited and invigorated when I see new people interested in field,” Tse said. “I learned by asking a lot of questions and I’m happy to pay it forward in this way.”