Post Conference Events

Post-Conference Workshop

Friday, June 16, 2017

9am to 4pm 

$100 (USD) registration fee

Intended audience:  Professionals working in international offices at higher education institutions

Creating a University-Wide International Strategy that Works!
Ms. Livia Castellanos
Associate Vice President, UR International

In this session the attendees will be able to learn the key aspects of developing an international strategy geared to open up a country-specific market. The model will enable participants to create a strategy that will meet their university needs, while engaging faculty, students, and staff. This model is based on sustainable and innovative ways of working with an array of stakeholders.                                                                                                                                                                    

Effectively and Efficiently Increasing Enrollment through Targeted Recruitment and Strategic Partnerships
Ms. Yaya Siggins
Associate Director, UR International – Enrolment Services

The landscape of international student enrollment is increasingly competitive, complex and turbulent. To circumvent these challenges requires clear understanding of your own institution, your target market a great deal of innovative thinking and programming. Using a blended model of traditional recruitment methods, educational consultant programming and solid international admissions practices the University of Regina has successfully increased international student enrollment by over 90% since 2010. CONAHEC 2017 will give us the platform to share our successes and our challenges.

We have learned that the key to this success lies in:

(1) Building strong and productive partnerships through a personalized educational consultant program;

(2) Discover your own institution and effectively marketing institutional strengths to a target audience;

(3) Optimization; Making the most of limited resources in international student recruitment; and

(4) Evaluating current programming and implementing new initiatives

Strategies for Optimal Student Retention
Mr. Haroon Chaudhry
Associate Director, UR International – Student Services

In post-secondary education systems, strategies for student services and programming determine retention and student success. Ensuring that international students are actively engaged in their academic programs and within the campus community until they successfully graduate requires continuous effort and evaluation. Students who are coming from different countries and academic backgrounds frequently have a different set of expectations which need to be addressed. Our institutional and departmental capacity to identify these expectations can assist international office professionals in developing the necessary support services and programming for international learners. Presenting at the 2017 CONAHEC Conference is an opportunity to share our strategies for programs, approaches, and best practices in the student services sector, in addition to promoting student retention. It is common that strategies for these programs and services are organized into two categories: Non-academic and Academic. These categories work cohesively to provide a vast range of support for our international students. The most effective and successful strategies for student retention programs address both of the above mentioned categories.

Session Objectives and Motivation:

  • Session activities will focus on pre-arrival and post-arrival services, transitional, advising, immigration services, connecting students with communities and associations, academic services, and understanding student issues and the nature of the challenges associated with them.
  • Promoting the opportunities for networking, and shared understanding among the international student services providers who are currently working on issues related to student retention and success.
  • Sharing successful academic and non-academic programs and strategies.
  • Providing the opportunity to identify the issues and challenges that can affect international students’ success, consequently negatively impacting student retention.
  • By sharing our current programs and services, we will be able to ensure that our students receive the highest level of support, thus increasing student retention and satisfaction at our institutions.
  • Providing opportunities for open questions, round table discussion, and evaluation of programming.

Strategies to Effectively Engage Faculty and Students to See the World!
Ms. Martha Mathurin
Associate Director, UR International – Study Abroad and Mobility

The purpose of this session will be to provide practical tools to education abroad (EA) coordinators, program heads, deans and faculties to effectively engage students and faculty to see the world.  The key to developing an effective strategy for Education abroad experiences for students and faculty requires a three tier approach. Firstly, EA programs need to form an integral part of the experiential learning mandate of the institution. Secondly, there needs to a strong integration of the EA programs into the academic and professional experiences of the students as well as in the curriculum. Thirdly faculty needs to be provided with the opportunities to engage internationally either through research or teaching collaborations.

Creating this opportunities for Faculty will result in strong a buy-in that results in the formation of strong allies and faculty champions of internationalization. From this session participants will understand how to build edgy EA programs that will disrupt the pre-conceived notions of international work and how it enhances academic experiences of the students and builds international reputation for the Faculty.

Learning Objectives:

  • Increase knowledge on how to develop practical tools to incorporate international experiences into the curriculum.
  • Increase an understanding of matching students to EA programs.
  • Increase faculty engagement through the creation of effective Faculty mobility programs.

Key Points:

  • How to profile your students and build program to match their needs.
  • How to use social media to promote and recruit for EA programs.
  • How to build an effective faculty engagement strategy to create faculty champions.
  • How to develop financial awards to assist with student and faculty mobility.

Engaging Faculties, Staff and Students in Internationalization through Cost-Effective Short-Term Global-Oriented Programs
Ms. Li Liu
Operations Director, Confucius Institute & Global Training Initiatives

Short-term and global-oriented programs allow institutions to develop cultural competence towards their faculties, staff and students due to its flexibility, hands-on nature and a wide range of educational and professional options. Therefore, such programs have been recognized as one the most effective international strategies. The intent of this presentation is to describe all phases of developing a cost-effective short-term program of an international nature, whether the program focus is on language advancement, cultural exploration, and academic or professional development; furthermore, to demonstrate how the short-term program can fortify institutional international partnership and enhance recruitment efforts. Efficient practices and lessons learned about managing the program will also be shared and discussed with the participants.