I think my university should go bilingual.
I think they should pick a language which a) has a sizable number of "home language" speakers in the region and b) is spoken by a large number of prospective intentional students (and, maybe: c) is spoken by a sizable group of the international community). They should then offer subjects and, yes, maybe even courses in that language as well as English.
I love the idea of people being able to come here to take a degree entirely in Italian or German. I love the idea of local students having the opportunity to study subjects in a language other than English. How cool would it be to be able to study German literature in German? Or Italian cinema in Italian? And all without having to move to the other side of the country or another continent?
Imagine how much our student base would swell if, in addition to the students we already get because we're the "local" university, and the students we get because we advertise well overseas, we also attracted students who wanted to study in an English speaking country but didn't think their English was up to the challenge? Or potential mature-aged students from all over the country who speak English as a shaky second language but would still love to get a degree?
It could be the best and most vibrant thing we ever did - and could probably net us all sorts of interesting funding options from the government.
Of course, they would have to stock the library with enough books in that language to make it viable. And, of course, the existing staff would be offered free language courses to cope with the new bilingual environment, while the ability to speak XXX would be a valuable skill in potential employees...
A challenge? Yes. Expensive? Well, duh. But honestly, sometimes you get good returns from putting in a bit of effort.
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