[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="SUNY Albany, as seen on its website."][/caption]The University at Albany will double its undergraduate international student enrollment, expand research funding and improve marketing to recruit the brightest high school recruits. An Albany Business Journal story is reporting how SUNY-Albany President George Philip outlined a five- to seven-year strategic plan this week that he believes will take the 18,000-student university to the next level. The school, which has been squeezed by more than $33.5 million in state aid cuts over the past three years, is committed to increasing federal research funding by 50 percent over the next five years. The school has responded to those aid reductions by eliminating 200 jobs through attrition over the past two years and developing a plan to scale back some foreign languages with declining enrollment. But the challenge of overcoming a tough fiscal environment also provides an opportunity, Philip said, who has also helped push through a new school for nanotechnology education in recent years.

The university, which attracts nearly 1,300 international students, including 480 undergraduates, wants that number to grow. The goal in the next five years is to double the percentage of international undergraduate students, which currently stands at 3.3 percent.

Philip wants to provide more opportunities for UAlbany students to interact with international students and gain experience to prepare them to compete in a global economy. Nancy Zimpher, chancellor of the State University of New York, outlined a strategic plan for the 64-campus public system last year that calls stronger research, an emphasis on international education and more joint efforts with the business community.