Fine Tuning the Faculty-Led Consortium Program Model: An Administrative Proposal for Creating Stability and Sustainability for the New York State Independent College Consortium for Study in India (NYSICCSI) Program

International mobility program consortia are an increasingly attractive international program option for US colleges and universities. A consortium program allows a college or university to diversify and expand their international program offerings without having to commit major financial resources to the startup of their own independent program. The consortium arrangement also relieves some of the student recruitment pressures of individual schools struggling to fill their international program enrollments in non-traditional locations. These programs also grant the consortium partner institutions shared control over the academic content and delivery of the program. With these potential benefits in mind inter-institutional cooperation on international programs, in an increasingly globalized knowledge economy, is truly a viable option for curriculum enrichment and campus internationalization. These cooperative agreements are, however, a serious commitment and should not be entered into by any higher education institution without thorough consideration of what the program requires in terms of financial investment, human resource management, institutional risk and liability and international operations communications. It is very important for any international mobility program consortium to be treated as an independent program, and program design should always seek to incorporate the best practices from the field of international education. This capstone will examine the program model and design of a New York State consortium program and will, utilizing the feedback of program faculty and administrators, provide a new organizational proposal for institutional consideration