The COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan in collaboration with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO); Higher Education Commission, Pakistan (HEC); Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan (MoST); and the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW) is organizing a 2 - Day Vice Chancellors’ Forum on ‘Universities in the Islamic World: Challenges of Internationalization’. The Forum is scheduled to be held on September 23 - 24, 2013. Venue of the Forum is Serena Hotel, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Globalization as a social phenomenon has long been debated, but prospects of its extensive impact on the contemporary world affairs and other facets of human development and endeavors have come to the fore more in the past few decades. A key strategy for responding to the dictates of globalization adopted by Universities across the world is ‘Internationalization’. It is regarded as the integration of an international and intercultural dimension into the tripartite mission of higher education viz. teaching, research and service to the society.

Internationalization over the years has transformed from a reactive to a pro - active strategy. The Universities have social, cultural, ideological, political, and economic responsibilities towards society; the predominant role though is creation of knowledge and knowledge workers. Internationalization of Universities is seen as an enticing cocktail of possibilities, as it provides an enormous opportunity for the academics to become creators of difference and effectors of the change thus facilitating emancipation and social progress. The increasing competition, commercialization and the cross - border delivery of higher education has challenged the value traditionally attached to voluntary and missionary academic cooperation, exchanges & partnerships. At the same time, internationalization of curriculum, teaching and learning processes, i.e. ‘internationalization at home’ has become relevant and compliments the traditional focus on mobility.

Internationalization of higher education is seen as a panacea for many of the ills of isolation and alienation that many Islamic countries have had historically faced until the recent past. The winds of change coming in from mobility of students, signing of international memoranda of understanding, forging research linkages, offering dual and joint degree programmes with foreign partners, establishing branch campuses abroad, organizing international alumni chapters, creating international quality assurance frameworks and accreditation bodies, instituting international rankings, intensifying competition for the international student recruitment, appointing recruiting agents overseas, virtual and e-learning, and so forth are expected to allow Universities in the Islamic World to be a part of the global knowledge creation system.

The Forum is expected to be attended by over 200 Vice Chancellors / Rectors / Presidents of the Universities / Higher Education Institutions of the OIC member states, and would provide a platform to University leaders for fostering collaboration, strengthening cooperation and encouraging dialogue among them and the institutions they represent. Critical reflections on the major internationalization strategies advocated by Islamic countries in general, and Universities, in particular would be presented to assess the extent and scope of the ongoing internationalization activities. This would possibly help and inspire the participants to draw plans, programmes and targets for their respective institutions.