​​​​Since launching its Internationalisation Strategy in September 2019, Stellenbosch University (SU) has been actively working to ensure that staff at all levels and in all spheres of the University develop a shared understanding of, and take part in, internationalisation. The recently piloted professional administrative support services (PASS) staff development programme is one way of offering support staff an opportunity for meaningful engagement with one or more of SU's bilateral partner institutions abroad. 

 “It is meant to serve as both a personal and professional development programme that enhances internationalisation in the support services environment," explains Lidia du Plessis, coordinator of Staff Mobility and Partnership Projects at SU International. “In collaboration with Human Resources, it also encourages consistent work performance. The vision is to build on the current programme to transform PASS environments and staff into well-equipped internationalisation hubs and practitioners."

 The first online edition of the programme took place on Thursday 12 November 2020. Hosted by SU International in collaboration with Lund University (LU) in Sweden, the event had to be converted into an online offering due to COVID-19 restrictions. Despite the change in presentation mode, the programme exceeded expectations, with nearly 50 staff representing SU and LU support services environments.

 The programme was about a year in the making and started with an SU staff mobility opportunity to LU in 2019. “When SU proposed sending a group of support staff for a job-shadowing staff mobility visit to LU in October 2019, we did not immediately realise its full potential," says Pär Svensson, policy advisor and Africa regional coordinator at LU. “However, since SU was a prioritised partner in the LU Africa Strategy, and our two institutions had gradually developed excellent working relations, we decided to support the idea. This turned out to be the right decision, and after the SU staff delegation's week at LU, we could clearly see the benefit. Many new ideas were taken on board, mindsets were changed and new contacts were established, benefiting both SU staff and their host environments at LU."

 Soon after the SU group's visit, the two institutions started discussing how to possibly reciprocate the exchange of support staff. And when the pandemic eliminated the possibility of a physical exchange, the focus shifted to hosting a webinar instead. 

The webinar included three parallel sessions. One was a follow-up discussion to the SU visit in 2019. Another took the form of a discussion on the role of internationalisation practitioners facilitated by Anisa Khan, manager of Global Partnerships at SU. The third session was an interactive presentation on intercultural competence, introducing staff to the concept of intercultural competence and the constituent elements of intercultural communication. This session was presented by Alecia Erasmus, coordinator of Partnership Development and Erasmus+ Programmes at SU. Richard Stenelo, director of Internationalisation at LU, also elaborated on LU's COVID-19 response.

 Both institutions are excited about the impact of this programme, and the possibilities it has opened up. “The webinar is not only the first online PASS programme for SU, but also a useful innovation for LU. The internationalisation of higher education has developed from predominantly student mobility to something much broader, which includes enabling partner collaboration in different forms. This webinar is a necessary development towards a more sustainable kind of internationalisation," reflects Svensson.

 To Robert Kotze, senior director of SU International, the significance of the programme lies in getting support services staff to start seeing themselves as internationalisation practitioners. “While staff in internationalisation offices are primary role-players in the internationalisation of their campuses, comprehensive institutional internationalisation requires all support staff to play their part as internationalisation practitioners as well," he says. “To this end, support staff need to understand what the internationalisation of higher education means, and must know the broad strokes of their institution's internationalisation strategy. This webinar aimed to motivate support staff to embrace the transformational contribution they can make in this regard.“Programmes such as this one will ultimately empower all SU staff, irrespective of the environment to which they are assigned, to actively integrate an international, intercultural and global dimension with the University community," Kotze concludes.