Abstract
This dissertation focuses on disruptions to international education activities within higher education institutions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first chapter of this project highlights the crisis that faced international education administrators as a result of the near cessation of global mobility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I examine the disruptive influence of the pandemic on international education activities both within higher education as well as the broader international education industry. The second chapter offers a literature review starting with an overview of the background, incentives, and organizational structure of international education activities within US higher education institutions. I also explore the budgetary context of international education activities within higher education as well as previous disruptions and impacts. Further I identify specific details of the general impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on institutions of higher education and ways in which international education activities responded to this disruption. The third chapter outlines the case study methodological approach which was applied to examine this phenomenon within a bounded university system. Here, I discuss the specific data gathering tools, target populations, methods for analysis, and research ethics that were considered. The fourth chapter details the results and findings derived from these data and highlights specific macro and micro themes for analysis. An analysis is offered by means of bracketed data review. Finally, the fifth chapter offers proposed solutions to the challenges delineated within the study and identifies possible implications for the findings within this dissertation.
Keywords: international higher education, case study methodology, COVID-19, public funding, change management, public health, leadership