Recruiting Intelligence

What factors need to be considered in developing a strategic plan for international student recruitment? Which stakeholders need to be involved in that process? Though there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution for all institutions to these questions, we'd like to use this post to give you some factors to consider as you develop or augment your strategic plan.

LinkedIn dominates online professional relationship building. LinkedIn creates and retains connections, provides transparency into professional backgrounds and accomplishments.  Professional recruiting is heavily influenced by LinkedIn.  An now LinkedIn is starting to build a direct connection to universities, alumni and even university rankings.  What does that mean for your activities as university administrators, admission officers and alumni offices?

For effective international student marketing, you know that you're supposed to post regularly on social media platforms. You also know that you're supposed to brush your teeth multiple times a day, pick salads over french fries, and exercise daily. What we're supposed to do doesn't always happen, even with the best of intentions. We're here to support you and give you some tips for improving your social media posts.

Does this sound familar? Your institutional leadership has announced that you will be embarking on a campaign to increase your international student population. By 2017 you need to increase the number of international students by 100, 500, 1000 students. Are you really prepared for an influx of international students?

The transformation of higher education is a hot topic for authors.  Two new books will be released this spring by Kevin Carey from the New America Institute and Ryan Craig from University Ventures. While the authors have very different professional backgrounds - a policy analyst versus a professional venture capital manager -- they derive at similar conclusions and insights about the future of higher education.  Higher education as we know it will not be sustainable according to the authors and a great deal of disruption and change will be upon future student generations.  

Both books have a remarkable optimism that sees the future of education with greater access, more innovation, better outcomes and lower costs.   Yet change will not happen without pain for many existing institutions. 

I recently had the pleasure of connecting with Lavinia Yang, Executive Director of First Study, a Taiwanese education consultancy. Ms. Yang shared in depth responses about the recruiting landscape in Taiwan. Higher education professionals with an interest in developing or expanding recruitment in Taiwan should read Ms. Yang's insightful responses to my questions.

In our ongoing effort to expose our readers to innovative educational models, we'd like to share this podcast with Nikhil Abraham from Codecademy, the leader in online coding education. Codecademy's model shakes the foundation of traditional education. What is the future of new educational models? How will Codecademy affect traditional modes of education?

At the 2014 NAFSA Region VI Conference, I attended a terrific session given by Mindy Yiu and Ann Rahmat of Miami University (Ohio). These knowledgeable higher education professionals presented a session titled Tired of Traveling Alone: How to Form a Consortium Travel Group. Since many of our readers are in the position of planning travel we would like to share the highlights of this session.

Ryan Craig, Managing Director of University Ventures, joins Michael Waxman-Lenz, CEO and co-founder of Intead, in a discussion about the key insights of his forthcoming book College Disrupted: The Great Unbundling of Higher Education. Listeners will enjoy his perspective on the future of higher education in America.

President Barack Obama’s announcement at the end of 2014 that the US would be restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba opened the floodgates for articles and newscasts about what this will mean for US businesses. There are a range of businesses elbowing to enter the Cuban market, but what does this mean for the higher education sector? What will this mean for study abroad programs in Cuba, language schools that see possibility in opening in Cuba, and, in particular, what will renewed diplomatic ties with Cuba mean for Cuban students who seek to attend institutions abroad?