The number of international students hosted by a university is increasingly being considered as a factor which determines the reputability of that university. Even many of the ranking systems, including the traditional ones, have added a separate category for universities having most number of international universities.

Going global seems to be the new mantra of universities.

But, some of them go to extremes in their attempt to recruit international students.

An official with University of San Francisco has stepped down from his position for going overboard by admitting a large number of Chinese students-many of whom possess poor English skills-to increase the population of international students on campus.

Dayle Smith, associate dean of undergraduate studies at the School of Management, has resigned for aggressively recruiting Chinese students.

This year, 781 of the 10,017 students enrolled at USF are Chinese nationals, the vast majority of them in the business school, reports San Francisco Chronicle.

But their extremely poor language skills show that they were recruited mainly to enhance the global image of the private university. Apparently, they were given headsets for English-to-Mandarin translation during orientation.

As cited by Chronicle, Business school Dean Mike Webber said in his Sept. 8 letter to staffers announcing Smith's exit that the 'considerable increase' in foreign students this year is not in and of itself a cause for concern.

"But given that so many of these students have weak English skills and are disproportionately from one country, we are going to be faced with some unique pedagogical and cultural challenges," he wrote.

USF Provost Jennifer Turpin said the episode was the result of a disagreement over how far the campus should go to find ways to include Chinese students.

She said that the university acknowledges that these students have poor English skill and hence, are being brought in on only a 'conditional' basis and are being given extra help.