Enriching International Exchange Students' Experiences: From the Lense of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Globalisation is increasingly affecting every part of what is happening worldwide. With the help of globalisation, students everywhere can further their studies abroad. Activities such as student exchange programs and virtual cross-border forums had been introduced to help realise the mission. Nevertheless, the movement of international students has become more and more vulnerable to upheavals in politics, culture, economy, and public health, especially during the pandemic. Now, approaching the post-pandemic era, higher education institutions have been called to accelerate sustainable internationalization aspirations to make sure they are ready for a more cooperative global community. Past research had dwelled on the subject of post-pandemic learning with a variety of issues and solutions. International students had some problems managing their way of adapting to the locals and the normalities within the country. Thus, presented here are a series propositions to help sustain and enrich the international students’ experiences who are studying at local institutes to be adopted by the institutions even during unprecedented uncertainties and some of the best practices implemented by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), serving a student population of diverse cultures and backgrounds. A qualitative research method will be used to support the findings as well as acquiring data and information from various research papers that had been published before ranging from the year 2020 until today. Solutions like providing cultural exposure and digital learning demonstrated by the institution had been found to be practical enough for assessing the issue. Regardless, institutions hosting international students should be able to impart a more inclusive and multicultural environment throughout.