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In our day-to-day professional work in international education, we all struggle to manage information flow, identify opportunities, synthesize possible solutions, and act appropriately to better ourselves, our audiences, and our world.

To help in this often overwhelming task, Social Media & International Education (SMIE) Consulting offers this free weekly e-news brief to share our perspectives and to provide some wisdom along the way. Happy reading!

July 26, 2021 edition

Social Media News

  • Loving this webinar coming up between IIE and IDP Connect looking at both institutional and student perspectives on reopening this coming fall. Are we on the same page or will there be significant disconnects?

  • Another excellent topic - what digital recruitment strategies will survive post-pandemic? Will definitely be tuning in for this PIE webinar.

  • I realize Argentina might not be at the top of most intl recruiters lists, but if you’re trying to get a foot in on this large South American market, check out this Webcertain guide to digital and social trends there..

  • Sixty-one percent of the world’s population now has access to the internet, and 57% of the world is on social media (up 13% year-on-year). Great mid-year report from the team at We Are Social.

  • TikTok is making it easier for marketers to reach audiences in key markets. See how to do geo-target your posts on this ever-growing social video platform.

  • Why should your international recruitment campaigns direct students to custom landing pages - cut through the noise and focus their attention on your call to action. Solid advice from ICEF Monitor.

  • What does the re-fragmentation of social media with new sub-categories like TikTok and Clubhouse mean for brand? “A deep understanding of their customers, including their interests and the platforms that they prefer.”

  • How should your Instagram strategy evolve? Understand the uses of posts to your feed versus stories versus highlights.

International Education News

Big Picture Issues

  • ISSS offices rejoiced this past week with the removal of the financial punitive “bridge application” requirement for international students who were applying for a change of status.

  • Check out the Bureau of Economic Analysis (part of the US Dept of Commerce) data charts for the various export industries of the country. See the big drop from $47.8 to $38.9 billion in the last year.

  • What does award-winning internationalization look like on pubic land grant universities? Check out the two recent winners at Western Michigan and Penn State.

  • Kudos to EducationUSA Nigeria and their Opportunity Funds scholars who secured over $4.35 million in scholarships from US institutions. Such a valuable program!

  • If you’re ever having to defend intl students and OPT from those who see them as threats to US citizens access to jobs, be sure to know the facts. Oftentimes those who oppose are driven purely by xenophobic nonsense.

  • Long a hidden gem when it comes to international student interest in the US, Ecuador is an excellent market for colleges to consider when recruiting in Latin America according to the team at Intead.

  • If you think the current “pandemials” enjoy all the extra impersonal emails they’ve been getting, think again. Even more evidence that colleges need to meet students where they are spending their time.

Solutions Central

  • Will business as usual in the delivery of education to intl students return to pre-pandemic modes and expectations? It shouldn’t, according to this India-based company. Institutions need to consider more overseas campuses.

  • Great to see this Times of India piece from an Indian-American, now president of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, saying how the US should continue to be a beacon to attract the best and brightest.

  • What’s needed to attract and retain the best talent from abroad? “With more countries competing for talent, Congress must create a system that attracts highly skilled immigrants.” Let’s make it happen.

  • As derided as some pathways providers are in intl ed, many of them have read the tea leaves and are rightly focusing considerable bandwidth on promoting employability in messaging and programming. Are you? Outcomes matter.

On-Campus Happenings

  • US college are coming up with all sorts of schemes to encourage students to get vaccinated. This Central Michigan U. program offers 4 full-tuition awards and hundreds of gift cards to students who get the jabs.

  • Some Illinois colleges will be emboldened to mandate vaccinations now that two state agencies are recommending this approach, as well as the recent federal court ruling upholding Indiana U’s requirement.

  • Speaking of Indiana University’s federal court victory, the ruling indicated that the institution was “reasonably pursuing legitimate public health aims” when mandating vaccines and other Covid-19 health and safety measures.

  • Despite IU’s pandemic-related policies being implemented for this fall being upheld in court, this success is still an anomaly with other similar cases still pending.

Test-Optional Debates

  • Duolingo continues to add US colleges to their list of believers with the University of Illinois joining the ranks of over 1600 institutions to accept this online English proficiency test, albeit temporarily.

  • While I won’t go so far as to call California a bell-weather for the country, in terms of the impact of not requiring SAT/ACT for applicants on diversity, the proof of the most diverse admitted class - 43% being from underrepresented groups.

  • Other colleges also report much more diverse classes as a result of going test-optional but have had challenges with yield predictions. Perhaps that’s due more to the pandemic that just being test-optional.

Global Roundup

  • What’s the financial impact of closed borders during the pandemic on an Australian institution? La Trobe University reports over $165 (Aus.) million in losses in 2021 compared to 2019.

  • North of the border, Canada has extended a flight ban from India until April 21. This will prove to be a wrench in the plans for Canada’s #1 source market for intl students intending to fly direct from India early for fall studies.

  • Much like the US and other western nations that have found intellectual property theft on the rise, particularly from China, Canada is enacting new policies to protect national and economic security.

  • Agents and education reps in India are making moves to ensure IELTS is not considered the only or even preferred option available to students applying for study abroad. An agreement with TOEFL is being signed. More to come.

  • Institutions considering setting up branch campuses in India would consider it, but right now it seems the costs are too high.

  • New Zealand continues to flounder into obscurity as borders remain closed. Even with a pilot project begun in January has only allowed 133 of a possible 1000 returning intl students back into the country.

  • In the UK, there are concerns with the results of a new intl student survey that reflect 20% of 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates report having “no real friends.”

SMIE Consulting Midweek Roundup

If you’d like a more in depth analysis of the main news stories each week, check out our Midweek Roundup international education live chat on Wednesday at 1pm ET on the SMIE Consulting Facebook page. A podcast version is available as well on all major podcast provider platforms.

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