Page 124 - Movers, Shapers, and Everything in Between: Influencers of the International Student Experience

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Chapter 6
types of instructors participated in teaching” (Miliszewska & Sztendur, 2012, p. 14). A study by Wilkins and Balakrishnan (2015) states, “While it is generally accepted that students at branch and home campuses cannot possibly have the same educational experience, students, parents, employers, and quality assurance agencies expect the non- educational aspects of the student experience at each location to be at least comparable or equivalent” (p. 3). The researchers suggest that in lieu of academic equivalency and in response to rising expectations of prospective students, some universities have sought to differentiate themselves through support services, facilities, and resources available to students.
Students at IBCs may also be more sensitive to perceived differences between the IBC and the home campus. This is related to what Miliszewska and Sztendur (2012) refer to as the “brand promise” of the home university which includes the quality of the campus, teaching, libraries, and information technology. Lower satisfaction may result if students perceive a discrepancy between the home campus and the IBC, which may have more limited resources. Comments from students written into the ISB corroborated this idea: some students enrolled at IBCs compared their experiences to those they envisioned at the home campus; however, students enrolled at the home campus never made this comparison.
Study 4: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed International Branch Campuses’ Academic Experience and Home Campus Relationship
This study sought to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the academic experience at IBCs, and, secondly, how the relationship between the IBC and the home campus has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We took a qualitative approach to explore this question by conducting semi-structured interviews with 26 leaders, academic staff, and students at seven IBCs in Malaysia. Findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the experience at IBCs in unique ways, including collaboration and communication with home campuses, increased campus-specific resources for student