How can one design an index system that fits his or her needs with the help of this index tool? We will illustrate using the two dimensions of strategy and funds, and distance teaching resources. For the dimension of strategy and funds, the level and capacity of internationalization can be designed with four monitoring indexes each. For the dimension of distance teaching resources, the level of internationalization can be designed with four monitoring indexes and the capacity of internationalization can be designed with three monitoring indexes (see Table 1 below). In the examples, the indexes for level of internationalization are generally described with "has" sentences, while indexes for internationalization capacity are described with "can" sentences. Practical evaluation can be performed based on the index descriptions using quantitative data monitoring or qualitative assessment.

Table 1 IOU Index Framework Examples: Strategy and Funds, and Distance Teaching Resources

III. Research and suggestions on pathways to IOU

1. The five themes of university internationalization pathways at home and abroad

In studying pathways to internationalization, we mainly used literature review and case study analysis, including cases of internationalization pathways in domestic and international universities. First, analysis and assessment was conducted on pathways to university internationalization in foreign countries, including the United States (such as Yale University, San José State University and Michigan State University), Europe (such as the Bologna Declaration and Erasmus Mundus programme) and Japan (such as “300,000 international students plan” and internationalization index system of Osaka University). Second, analysis and assessment was conducted on pathways to university internationalization in China, including at the government level (such as the China-U.S. “100,000 Strong Initiative” and the “Come to China to Study Plan”) and at some universities (such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tianjin University, Shandong University and Jilin University). Through analysis of domestic and international cases and a review of relevant scholarly literature, we were able to extract five relatively concentrated themes in pathways to university internationalization at home and abroad: emphasis by leaders, advance preparation, personnel and funds, strategic planning and project advancement.

To elaborate: First, emphasis by leaders means that the advancement of university internationalization at home and abroad is closely related to how much emphasis it receives from the leadership level. Whether at the government level or at the university level, the establishment of internationalization objectives, the drafting of policies and the choice of pathways are closely related to the leaders’ attention and active promotion. It can be said that emphasis by leaders is key in determining whether the pathway to university internationalization succeeds or fails. Second, advance preparation means that university internationalization is an important means to improve the quality of university education, and it is an important condition for enhancing the international influence of a university. If a university hopes to edge into the ranks of the world’s first class universities and compete with them, advance preparation and deployment is needed. On the contrary, if a university has no consciousness of advance preparation, it will fall behind in the process of internationalization and become internationalized by other universities. Third, personnel and funds mean that in order to promote internationalization, universities at home and abroad generally establish offices dedicated to that purpose, employ dedicated staff and allocate sufficient funds for internationalization. Such is especially the case with foreign universities. As they had an early start in internationalization, they usually have strong institutional support, a professional team and sufficient funds. It should be pointed out that the enrolment of a large number of international students can also increase the school's income, and this is one of the motives for universities to promote internationalization. Fourth, strategic planning refers to strategic planning work to strengthen internationalization. A common feature of all domestic and international universities in promoting internationalization development is that they use internationalization strategic planning as the engine for driving internationalization. Through strategic planning, universities analyze their strengths and weaknesses, and identify their opportunities and challenges, thus determining their own objectives for internationalization and priority development strategies so as to formulate practical action plans and programmes. Fifth, project advancement refers to universities at home and abroad designing specific projects to advance internationalization in combination with the schools’ development needs after formulating its internationalization strategy. By managing these projects with a “project system” and taking care to incorporate experiences and assessment for improvement during implementation, projects can be successfully implemented and positive results achieved.