This week's top #socialmedia and #intled news include WhatsApp for Business for international recruiting, global engagement strategies for success, backtracking by the elites again on SAT/ACT, visa denials for African applicants, IAU internationalization survey results, messaging opportunities for institutions on visas and employment, and implementation challenges in Australia and Canada.
- How can international educators leverage generative AI to produce content that is relevant and on-point for international audience? Take your time with the prompts you provide to help the AI laser in on just what you need: prompt engineering.
- What does a successful global engagement strategy look like these days for universities? This QS webinar will explore best practices and case studies from leading institutions.
- WhatsApp is an essential tool to communicate with international prospects, but using personal accounts is a bit too much of a burden. WhatsApp for Business is the way forward. Intead explains why it is time to suck it up and take the plunge.
- Is your college actively engaged with the Fulbright program (sending and receiving students and scholars)? If not, it may be time to join this upcoming IIE webinar on this flagship State Department program.
- Why do translations of paid media campaigns sometimes do more harm than good? Nuance and localization are two significant factors to consider. This Webcertain webinar will give you a few things to watch out for moving forward.
- Well the promises made by elite colleges to extend their test-optional and test-blind policies have been broken, again. With Harvard and Cal Tech retreating to the “safety” of SAT/ACT requirements for Fall 2025 applicants, has the dam broken?
- Is your institution asking employees whether student support services are meeting the needs of the various demographic groups catered to on campus? I’m happy to say, at UNLV we will be doing that this summer.
- Now this is a breath of fresh air coming from a member of Congress. An Illinois congressman and physicist, introduced a bill calling for scientific diplomacy internationally to spur innovation and cooperation to counter global threats.
- On the high rate of visa denials for African students applying to the US, Fanta Aw, Executive Director of NAFSA, speaks sense: “We need more visa appointment slots, because with the demand, if people are not even able to get a visa appointment, and when they get the rejection is this high, you can imagine the compounding effect of that.”
- What is TNE (transnational education)? What it is not is a quick fix to budget shortfall. To be successful according to this writer, TNE must move from being purely transactional to a truly transformative way to deliver university courses.
- Allan Goodman at IIE is a legend in our field. His soft-spoken, articulate way of explaining the good that international education brings to our world is always on point. This Forbes article reflects what lies ahead for the US and our profession.
- The 6th IAU Internationalization of Higher Education survey has so many excellent talking points. Perhaps among all the positives, one area where North American institutions are falling behind is in tying international education to UN SDG goals.
- While this article focuses on positive steps UK unis should take in light of recent government actions limiting international enrollments, the ideas of focusing on undergraduates, diversifying markets, and differentiating delivery methods are useful for all.
- Be honest US international educators, read this AECC survey result about what we should be communicating to future students and tell me you’re doing this well: “There is a tremendous amount of value in education institutions being able to clearly communicate with prospective students about visas, work permits, and immigration opportunities.”
- Australia - The new government risk rating system Down Under has downgraded 11 universities and up to 100 vocational colleges. Some fear this will damage Australia’s long term health of the education sector. Or is this actually accountability at play?
- Brazil - As someone who was in Brazil the day before this visa waiver was about to expire last week, I am glad that my September trip to the largest Latin American market for US higher education (and IEPs) will be visa-free as well.
- Canada - What does “duty of care” mean to you when it comes to international students? In Canada, when press articles blame overseas visitors for the housing crunch, shouldn’t our focus be on the health, safety, and well-being of these students?
- Canada - Why will the US not benefit much from Canada’s cap on international students in the next two years? The main group of students affected north of the border would be those applying to vocational colleges, not university-level students.
- Canada - Interestingly, at least one province, Alberta, is expected to receive 2000 more approved study permits than it did in 2023, despite the looming introduction of the international student cap in the next two years.
- Canada - Meanwhile in Ontario, this province is set to lose big with the cap being introduced in 2024. Up to 41% fewer study permits will be issued to Ontario higher education institutions. Why? The preponderance of public and private colleges.
- China - While the country is reopening, China is struggling to increase the number of overseas visitors. Why? The unfriendly internet policies and the all-encompassing app/QR code payment systems are extremely complex to navigate for visitors (me included).
- China - Why has South Korea become a destination for Chinese students? Post-pandemic, many “quasi-middle class” students behind the Great Wall prefer closer-to-home destinations.
- France - Don’t sleep on France. This European powerhouse is now the sixth leading destination for international students globally with over 412,000 enrolled in 2023, a 3% year-on-year increase and 17% up over five years.
- UK - Are British institutions bereft of new ideas (beyond increasing fees on students or receiving more government funding) to increase revenue? It seems so. This piece from Louise Nicol shares some global examples of how to make do.
- UK - How can UK unis become more successful in these challenging student recruitment headwinds? This piece, authored by a former pro-vice-chancellor of global engagement, shares eight solutions, when taken together, form a potent approach.
- UK - I see what you did there, UKCISA. Asking the government to make more evidence-informed decisions impacting international education in the UK is quite an appropriate jab at the conservative government’s knee-jerk processes of late.
- UK - Are British unis set to be the beneficiaries in a couple of years’ time of a new wave of Indian undergraduate applicants who will seek to avail themselves of British boarding schools to boost their enrollment chances? Maybe so.
If you’d like a more in-depth analysis of the main news stories each week, check out our?#MidweekRoundup?#intled?#livechat?on Wednesday at 1 pm ET on the SMIE Consulting?Facebook?page,?YouTube?channel,?Twitter feed, and?LinkedIn. A podcast version is also available on all major podcast provider platforms.
