International Educators of Illinois

Research on International Education

Data Collection and Assessment to Improve Campus Programs and Affect Policy
Workshop
April 18, 2008

Louis Rizzo
Illinois Institute of Technology

Kim Taylor
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

April 25, 2008

David Comp
The University of Chicago

Louis Rizzo
Illinois Institute of Technology

This workshop will explore research on a wide range of international education issues to help practitioners, administrators
and students interested in learning how to collect data that will help improve international programs on campus and to
impact institutional, state or federal policy. Additionally, this workshop will explore outcomes of overseas learning and
the variety tools available for this type of assessment. Finally, this workshop will discuss publishing and disseminating
research results.

Part I: Data Collection for Practice and Policy

Part II: Outcomes Assessment of International Educational Experiences and Assessment Tools

Part III: Publishing and Disseminating Research and Analyses: Finding a Forum or Venue for Assessment Sharing

Presenter Bios

David Comp currently works as the Senior Adviser for International Initiatives in The College at The University of
Chicago. Previously he was an Assistant Director in the Office of International Affairs at The University of Chicago. He
has also consulted on several international education related projects for a variety of institutions and organizations in
higher education. He was a founding Co-Chair of the NAFSA SECUSSA Research Committee, the SECUSSA
representative to the NAFSA Task Force on Research and served on the NAFSA Teaching, Learning and Scholarship
Task Force. He currently serves on the Committee on Outcomes Assessment of the Forum on Education Abroad and as
the Research and Scholarship Network Leader within NAFSA’s Teaching, Learning and Scholarship knowledge
community. He serves on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Studies in International Education (JSIE). He is
currently authoring the “Assessment of and Standards for Study Abroad” and co-authoring the “Diversification of the
Student Profile” chapters in the forthcoming History of US Study Abroad: 1965 to Present and he was the lead author of
the “Education Abroad Outcomes Assessment Literature and Resources” chapter in the Guide to Outcomes Assessment in
Education Abroad of The Forum on Education Abroad. He has also edited and compiled numerous bibliographies for the
field including the annotated bibliographies Research on U.S. Students Abroad, Volume III, with Updates to the 1989 and
Volume II Editions and Underrepresentation in Education Abroad. He received his B.A. in Spanish and Latin American
Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, his M.S. in Family Science from the University of Nebraska-
Lincoln and is currently at the dissertation proposal stage in Comparative and International Education at Loyola
University Chicago.
Louis Rizzo currently works in the International Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Louis previously held an
Assistantship with the Center for Comparative Education at Loyola University Chicago (LUC), where he taught and
conducted research on comparative and international education. He is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program at LUC in
Cultural and Educational Policy Studies with a focus on Comparative and International Education. In addition, Louis
currently serves as President of the Comparative and International Education Graduate Student Association (CIEGSA); a
scholarly group of active students and alumni engaged in research pertaining to international issues of education. His
active involvement with NAFSA is encapsulated by his current role as Team Leader of the Research and Scholarship
Network Leader within NAFSA’s Teaching, Learning and Scholarship knowledge community. Louis has presented
various papers at professional and scholarly conferences including NAFSA: Association of International Educators and
the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). He currently has a publication “under review” with the
Comparative Education Review entitled, “What’s in a Name? How Our Association Came to be Called the Comparative
and International Education Society.” Louis’s current research interests include comparative higher education,
globalization, and emerging global markets of higher education. His international experience includes working in
England, Greece, and Scotland and taking coursework at Brunel University and the University of Oxford.

Kim Taylor currently works as the Graduate Assistant for the Office of Study Abroad at Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville. She is currently enrolled in the Learning, Culture and Society Master’s program in the Education
department at SIUE and is in the process of finishing her thesis before she graduates this summer. Kim earned her
Bachelor’s degree from SIUE as well, majoring in Speech Communication. As an undergraduate student, she was
accepted into the Undergraduate Research Academy at SIUE and presented her research on faculty uses of Facebook at
the URA symposium last spring. She also co authored a journal article entitled, “Social Networking on Facebook”
published in the Journal of Communication, Speech and Theater with Dr. Lesa Stern of Westmont College. New to the
field of International Education, she is extremely excited to be part of NAFSA and of the Illinois team. Next month, Kim
will be heading to China and Thailand for six weeks to increase her international experience further and to take part in an
internship. Her other international experiences include studying in Australia for a semester as an undergraduate student
and visiting Fiji and Mexico.