| Due to the increasing global nature of academic activities, there is general acknowledgment within American higher education that an international dimension is a key component of post-secondary students' preparation for world citizenship and economic competitiveness. This has resulted in heightened institutional awareness of the importance of international education, an increase in student international activities, and a proliferation of internationalized academic programs.; Correspondingly a need exists to explore and describe internationalization of U.S. higher education institutions and to develop theory on how it develops within institutions. The nature of the internationalization phenomenon is complex. This study examined the level of international activity at three institutions. The core issue is what leads to varying results in international effort. The research examines how assessing the dimensions of policy, implementation and support can inform those seeking to understand the development of internationalization in higher education institutions.; The conceptual frameworks utilized are based upon the work of Davies (1992) and the internationalization cube (Van Dijk and Meijer, 1999). Each institution is positioned in a cell of the cube based upon an analysis of three dimensions: policy, implementation, and support for internationalization activities. The results of internationalization at the study institution are analyzed in relation to the institutions' positioning in the internationalization cube.; The results of international activity are defined in this study by describing the most significant indicators of internationalization at the institutions studied.{09}Those indicators are related to foreign languages, study abroad, international studies and foreign students. These elements were selected based upon previous studies of Afonso (1990) and Krane (1994) that determined the most highly correlated variables related to internationalization.; The current study findings support that there are consistencies between the results of internationalization within the dimensions studied and the institutions' positioning in the internationalization cube. Institutions with higher and more pervasive international results were positioned higher in the internationalization cube. Policy was the most influential dimension in determining an institution's overall advancement of internationalization. |
