Strategy & Roadmap
Translate international ambitions into clear priorities, coordinated actions and a practical roadmap tailored to your institution.
From direction to coordinated action
Strategy
Sets the university’s long-term direction, objectives and international priorities.
Roadmap
Turns priorities into phased actions with responsibilities, milestones, resources and review arrangements.
Seven components of a strategy
Institutional Vision and Strategic Direction
Clarify the university’s internationalization vision and ambitions; Align international objectives with the institutional mission and development strategy.
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Clarify the university’s internationalization vision and ambitions.
Align international objectives with the institutional mission and development strategy.
Identify the university’s distinctive academic and research strengths.
Define the intended outcomes of international engagement.
Strategic Priorities and Focus Areas
Identify the internationalization areas with the greatest relevance to the institution; Prioritize potential partnerships, countries, regions, and academic fields.
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Identify the internationalization areas with the greatest relevance to the institution.
Prioritize potential partnerships, countries, regions, and academic fields.
Consider research collaboration, educational cooperation, mobility, and international engagement.
Balance new initiatives with the development of existing relationships.
Priorities should reflect institutional capacity, academic relevance, feasibility, and the university’s own strategic choices rather than following a uniform model.
International Partnership Development
Define the objectives of international university partnerships; Identify suitable institutional partners and areas of shared interest.
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Define the objectives of international university partnerships.
Identify suitable institutional partners and areas of shared interest.
Establish priorities for developing and maintaining cooperation.
Connect partnership agreements with practical activities and intended outcomes.
Academic and Research Cooperation
Identify areas with potential for joint research and knowledge exchange; Explore opportunities for collaborative projects, publications, and academic events.
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Identify areas with potential for joint research and knowledge exchange.
Explore opportunities for collaborative projects, publications, and academic events.
Consider faculty engagement and research capacity.
Develop pathways for sustainable cooperation between academic units.
International Education and Mobility
Identify appropriate opportunities for student and faculty mobility; Explore joint educational initiatives where academically feasible.
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Identify appropriate opportunities for student and faculty mobility.
Explore joint educational initiatives where academically feasible.
Consider international student engagement and support, where applicable.
Ensure that proposed activities are consistent with institutional approvals and relevant regulations.
Governance and Implementation Capacity
Clarify leadership responsibilities and coordination mechanisms; Identify the roles of international offices, faculties, and academic departments.
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Clarify leadership responsibilities and coordination mechanisms.
Identify the roles of international offices, faculties, and academic departments.
Establish decision-making and reporting arrangements.
Assess the human, financial, and operational resources needed to implement priorities.
Performance Indicators and Monitoring
Define measurable objectives where appropriate; Establish baseline information and realistic targets.
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Define measurable objectives where appropriate.
Establish baseline information and realistic targets.
Identify suitable indicators for monitoring progress.
Set review intervals and arrangements for reporting and improvement.
Indicators should reflect the university’s actual objectives and context. They should not be treated as universal benchmarks or guarantees of international recognition.
A roadmap built around institutional priorities
A practical roadmap links objectives to priority actions, responsible units, timelines and milestones. It also identifies resources, dependencies, performance indicators and arrangements for review.
Priorities reflect academic relevance, institutional capacity and feasibility. Adoption, formal approval and resource allocation remain with the university’s authorized governing bodies.
A structured, collaborative process
Review the Institutional Context
Consider the university’s mission, existing international activities, academic strengths, development plans, and available evidence.
Establish Strategic Priorities
Identify the principal objectives and areas of internationalization that are most relevant to the institution.
Formulate Strategic Objectives
Translate broad ambitions into clear, appropriately scoped objectives that can guide institutional action.
Develop the Roadmap
Organize priorities into proposed actions, implementation phases, responsibilities, milestones, and resource considerations.
Define Monitoring Arrangements
Identify suitable indicators, reporting mechanisms, and review intervals to help the university follow implementation.
Support Institutional Alignment
Help connect the roadmap with relevant institutional units and existing planning processes, subject to the university’s governance arrangements.
Potential outputs
Depending on the agreed scope, Strategy & Roadmap development may produce:
- An internationalization strategy or strategic framework
- A prioritized set of institutional internationalization objectives
- A phased internationalization roadmap
- An action plan with proposed responsibilities and milestones
- Suggested performance indicators and monitoring arrangements
- Recommendations for partnership and academic cooperation development
- A framework for periodic review and continuous improvement
These outputs are tailored to institutional needs and are intended to support planning and decision-making. Their adoption and implementation remain the responsibility of the university and its authorized governing bodies.
What an action plan can look like
| Strategic objective | Action | Responsible unit | Timeline | Indicator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop an active research partnership | Identify complementary teams and hold a scoping meeting | International office + relevant faculty | First planning quarter | Documented joint research concept |
Connected through UIDP
The University Internationalization Development Program (UIDP) connects institutional readiness, structured review, strategic planning and implementation within a flexible development framework.
International Readiness
Understand existing capacities and preparedness.
International Audit
Examine practices, evidence and development gaps.
Strategy & Roadmap
Define priorities, actions and milestones.
Implementation & Monitoring
Coordinate action, review progress and improve.
Stages may be revisited to reflect institutional needs. This is a development pathway, not a universal certification sequence or a guarantee of outcomes.