Wittenborg Online News!

WUP 13-14-15/9/2014

Wittenborg University at the ICEF Higher Education Workshop, Prague

Wittenborg University is pleased to be attending the ICEF Workshop in Prague this weekend and its Academic Director, Mr Peter Birdsall, has a full schedule booked to speak to agents from around the world. ‘We are a private international University with more than 60 nationalities working and studying together in one of the most exclusively intercultural study environments in the Netherlands. We offer Bachelor and Master programmes in the school of Business and the School of Hospitality & Tourism and are looking forward to working with new agencies and partners to continue the growth of the current student body.’

The use of agents for the recruitment of students  in the Dutch higher education sector is not widely documented, although the National Commission, responsible for the Code of Conduct for International Students in the Netherlands, tries hard to monitor Universities’ use of study abroad agencies.

In the past 10 years, Wittenborg has built a good network of agencies in many of the key recruitment countries, such as China, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal and Nigeria, however in the past three years has been working hard to develop many contacts in new countries, such as Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia and South Africa, as well as closer to home, for instance in Germany and the UK.

Wittenborg attended its first ICEF workshop in March, when it was held in Moscow, and the outing has immediately resulted in an increased interest from Russian speaking students.

“We are hoping to further increase our internationality through these events” says Birdsall. “We reached our target of 50 different nationalities a year ago and are now aiming at the next level: 75 different nationalities studying at Wittenborg in Apeldoorn by the end of next year!”, he adds with a smile.

WUP 14/9/2014

About ICEF: Industry leading Higher Education Networking

The Higher Education Workshop facilitates targeted, pre-scheduled, one-to-one business meetings between educators, quality higher education focussed agents and international education service providers.

While most higher education institutions understand the importance of international student recruitment, many educators do not realise the crucial role agents play in the continued growth of this sector. Agents act as in-market representatives for institutions and provide culturally-aware counselling to students in their native languages. Agents also monitor all enrolment criteria prior to application, streamlining the entire process and saving work for university admissions departments.

In 2013, a total of 116 tertiary educators and 29 exhibitors met with 146 specialist higher education agents from 53 countries around the world. This reflects a 33% growth in participant numbers over the 2012 event.

ICEF is known for selecting the best and most professional agents to attend its events. This reputation was established, and is maintained, through ICEF’s thorough agent selection and screening procedure. Agents are required to provide verifiable data on their business practices, performance, and provide recent references from higher education partners.

WUP 13-14-15/9/2014

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