Educational Standards of Practice for International Student Experience

Dr. Liza Choi is an educator, researcher, and higher education leader whose work focuses on international student success, belonging, and quality support systems. A former international student herself, she has spent more than 15 years building community-based and evidence-informed models that help EAL and international students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. In 2025, she received the CBIE Emerging Knowledge Award in recognition of her contributions to international education in Canada.

In 2025, she completed her Doctor of Education (EdD) at Western University with a dissertation titled From Burnout to Breakthrough: Leading Change and Well-Being in Higher Education – Addressing Organizational Burnout in Academia Through Relational Leadership.

Her research reframes burnout as a systemic leadership challenge rooted in institutional culture and psychological safety. Drawing on relational leadership and the ADKAR change model, she advances sustainable approaches to organizational transformation.

Dr. Grace Karram is an Assistant Professor and Higher Education Program Coordinator at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. A leader in comparative and international higher education, she examines how institutions can responsibly respond to globalization while supporting diverse student populations, including international learners.

She teaches graduate courses in post-secondary education, comparative higher education, and teaching and learning, and mentors professional doctoral students through research workshops. From 2016 to 2021, she managed the Changing Academic Profession research team, contributing to global scholarship on academic work and institutional transformation.

Her research focuses on the internationalization of higher education, study abroad design and strategy, university governance, and student development. Across her work, she explores how leadership shapes institutional purpose and equity in a global era.