Policies and Guidelines for International Student Recruiting, California State University, Chico Office of International Education Student Services Center, Room 440 Phone: (530) 898-5415; Fax: (530) 898-6889 Introduction California State University, Chico is pleased to have hosted international students from around the world for decades. These students enrich the campus in many ways through sharing their experiences and perspectives in presentations and class discussions; sparking U.S. student interest in world affairs; enhancing the global environment on campus and in the local community; helping to promote intercultural awareness, acceptance, and appreciation; increasing the diversity of our student populations; providing opportunities for Chico students to be exposed to other languages and cultures; shattering stereotypes; and helping to create goodwill and international understanding. The rapidly globalizing world of the 21 st century enjoins us to provide a strong global aspect as part of the learning experience we provide to our students to prepare them for success in the increasingly interconnected world. The Office of International Education oversees the recruitment of international students for California State University, Chico. This document provides an overview of the recruiting guidelines, processes, and strategies as well as the roles of individual staff, administrators, and departments. Authority & Terminology There are two visa categories under which international students study at CSU, Chico: J-1 Exchange Visitors (Exchange Students): CSU, Chico is authorized by the U.S. Department of State to host visiting exchange students, typically for a period of one semester or one year. These students are enrolled in a university in their home country and attend CSU, Chico as part of a study abroad program. The majority of these students attend CSU, Chico through bilateral exchange agreements, in which equal numbers of CSU, Chico students and exchange students from our partner universities temporarily enroll at each other s campuses. These are non-degree seeking students whose stay cannot exceed 24 months. They typically stay for one or two semesters. F-1 International Students: CSU, Chico is authorized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to admit international students to enroll for Bachelor s or Master s degrees. These students are typically enrolled on campus for more than one year, and often four or more years. IEP F-1 International Students (Intensive English Program for Language Training): CSU, Chico is authorized by the Department of Homeland Security to admit international students for Intensive English Language Training purposes. This program is offered at CSU, Chico by the American Language and Culture Institute through Regional and Continuing Education. These students enroll in programs of language and culture studies ranging from seven weeks to two years. Recruitment and admission of these students are the responsibility of Regional and Continuing Education. However, a number of ALCI students enter their programs through the conditional admission process, constituting around 60% or more of their total Page 1
enrollment on an annual basis. Some of those students later matriculate into degree programs at CSU, Chico; some transfer to Butte College, while others go to schools outside this region. Strategic Planning for Recruitment The Office of International Education (OIE) strives to recruit a diverse population of well-qualified applicants, representing a wide range of countries, geographic regions, and majors. In developing recruitment strategies, OIE makes a concerted effort to use resources wisely, making the most of the limited funds available to recruit diverse and highly qualified applicants. Accordingly, the Office of International Education establishes annual and long-term recruitment plans with input from the campus International Student Recruitment Advisory Committee. International recruitment relationships are long term investments that require upkeep and continued presence and management. Our planning reflects immediate goals as well as the preservation and building of solid relationships. The International Student Recruitment Advisory Committee consists of: Associate Vice President for International Education & Senior International Officer Director of Office of International Education (currently suspended) Coordinator, International Student and Scholar Services Coordinator of International Recruitment and Admissions Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management (or designee) Director of the American Language and Culture Institute Faculty representative with expertise in international marketing Other invitees as the AVP for International Education deems valuable Whereas F-1 students are typically recruited as individuals, recruitment of J-1 Exchange Students is conducted through institutional partnerships with foreign universities. The bilateral exchange partnerships are established only by the President and Provost in consultation with the AVP for International Education/Senior International Officer. On a day-to-day basis, these partnerships are managed by the Study Abroad and International Exchange Coordinator. The recruitment of students through those partnerships is carried out by the Coordinator of Study Abroad and International Exchange programs as well. Collaboration with the American Language and Culture Institute Many students enrolled in the American Language and Culture Institute ultimately join degree-seeking programs at CSU, Chico. Some enter the University directly after completion of ALCI studies, while others transfer to Butte College or other community colleges and universities. For this reason, it is mutually advantageous for ALCI and the University to collaborate on recruiting initiatives. It has been the norm that CSU, Chico representatives display both CSU, Chico and ALCI recruitment materials at recruiting events. Likewise, ALCI displays CSU, Chico recruitment materials when they recruit. Both entities take care to learn the basics of each other s programs and admission requirements in order to be able to represent both units. Past collaborations have also involved cost-sharing on: creating recruiting materials (banners, brochures, videos, etc.), shipping recruiting materials overseas, advertising, etc. Collaboration with Community Colleges, High Schools, and Intensive English Language Programs Page 2
Every year, some students from Butte College, Shasta College, or Yuba College transfer to CSU, Chico. Yet a limited number of recruiting collaborations have been undertaken previously with community colleges. Such collaborations constitute an important focus for expansion of successful international recruitment. Collaborative recruitment with California Community Colleges and outreach beyond this limited context is both mutually beneficial and necessary to student success and academic planning. For example, in Vietnam, many parents prefer to send their children to community colleges first before transferring them to a four-year college later. Therefore, working with community colleges in recruitment in Vietnam and other contexts would be a more effective strategy than directly recruiting all students as freshman. The Office of International Education also reaches out to community colleges in the Seattle region, the Bay Area, and the Sacramento and Stockton areas. Many community colleges in those areas have a large number of international students who transfer to four-year colleges/universities on an annual basis. We need to expand these outreach efforts to community colleges in southern California, in Texas (e.g., Houston City College has over five thousand international students.), and on the east coast. In addition, our west coast focus on community colleges (CA, Oregon, and Washington State) to set up partnerships should expand to include Vancouver in particular and Canada in general (http://www.schoolsincanada.com/community- Colleges-In-Canada.cfm).There are an increasing number of international students attending community colleges in Canada. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of international students at community colleges nationally. CSU, Chico will therefore increase its participation in community college transfer fairs for international students, especially ones held in California, Oregon, and the Seattle region in Washington State. To effectively engage community colleges in recruiting international students to transfer to CSU, Chico, we will continue to enter into transfer agreements with community colleges and work with their counselors to provide information to their students about Chico State and the programs it has to offer. We have been actively engaging in these efforts and have signed agreements with some CA community colleges. Similar efforts should be made to engage high schools that host a significant number of international students. In 2014/15, there were over a hundred thousand international students studying at high schools in the US, over 70,000 of whom came from China alone. The same strategies should be used to engage high quality intensive English language programs such as the International Academy at USC and the New England School of English Studies in Harvard Square. We have since signed agreements with several high quality intensive English programs such as those at UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Riverside, and USC. We have also reached out to high schools and attended a fair at one California high school. Policy on Working with Agents In the U.S. International Education field, the concept of paying agents to recruit international students is a controversial one. There are many countries in which it is common for students wishing to study in the US and elsewhere to use agents. These agents typically assist students in selecting overseas colleges or universities, help students to prepare their applications, serve as intermediaries in sending applications and receiving offers of admission, and sometimes assist in providing orientations to students prior to departure. The agents may also assist with translations between the parents and the campus in case of emergency. Agents are typically paid fees by the students. Sometimes they receive payment from the receiving university, and sometimes the agent receives payment from both the student and receiving institution. Page 3
Despite the prevalence of using agents in some markets, there are a number of challenges in the practice. The greatest challenges are quality control. There is the risk that the agent will misrepresent the campus in order to convince the student to attend. There is also a risk that the agent will advise the student according to the agent s best interest, rather than the interest of the students. Agents may not be transparent with prospective students about the sources of their revenue. Finally, agents/agencies may misrepresent themselves as an actual university employee/representative/department. Despite such risks, it is common in many countries for students (and their parents) to choose to work with agents, and almost all our CSU sister campuses have used paid agents to recruit international students for some time. Yet CSU, Chico has only recently begun to work with agents. With the marked increase in the use of paid agents internationally, agent agreements are a necessary step for us to take in order to be competitive in recruiting international students. Of course, it is imperative that representatives sent by CSU, Chico on recruitment trips abide by university regulations and not engage in any activities that involve a conflict of interest. We have therefore established a set of vetting procedures to guide our process of choosing responsible and reputable agents in order to recruit more effectively in agent-dominant markets. We carefully screen agents and maintain a strict system of quality control to minimize chances of unethical or inappropriate representation. We will continue with due diligence in properly monitoring and managing agents we use for recruiting international students. Attending Recruitment Fairs In every recruitment cycle, there are a large number of recruitment fairs organized by third-party providers and, government agencies, and agents in many parts of the world. We diligently and carefully screen such fairs through rigorous research, reference checking, and recommendations, seeking to determine which ones fit our needs. We also keep track of the effectiveness and outcomes of attending recruitment fairs to inform future decisions on fair attendance. We should take more advantage of fairs organized by EducationUSA, a department at the American embassies and consulate generals overseas. They organize recruitment fairs for US schools for free. We are working on teaming up with sister campuses to go on recruitment trips. We have been using both types of strategies over the past year or so, and the results have been impressive. Partnership Building and Long-Term Program Establishment A significant number of our international students come from government sponsored scholarship programs, especially programs offered by Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and UAE. We will continue partner with the government agencies tasked with managing those scholarship programs. We have been engaging the cultural missions of the countries mentioned above to build trust and set up long-term partnerships with them. Our efforts have proven to be highly productive. In addition, long-term partnerships with schools, organizations, and government agencies overseas will serve to produce a steady flow of students to us. We have been actively pursuing such opportunities with organizations and institutions in China to set up college preparation programs. A lot of progress has been made on this front with a lot of potential. In addition, if we leverage bilateral partnership institutions to establish more collaborative degree programs such as 3+2, 2+2.5, 1+3, 3+1(etc.), we will produce a steady flow of high quality students to Chico State. This strategy is already producing results (e.g., 3+2 for MBA with Chinese universities). Such collaborative degree programs with overseas institutions have been quite popular among many universities in the US, including some of our sister campuses. Page 4
Working with Alumni and Faculty Chico State has produced a large number of international alumni around the world, especially in East Asia (e.g., Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea), South Asia (e.g., India), and the Middle East (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE). We need to tap into this valuable resource in our recruitment efforts. If alumni chapters can be set up in these strategic countries, we could more easily take advantage of such resources. We also have faculty members who have connections and networks in various parts of the world. We have faculty members who travel frequently to areas of the world to do research and to engage in teaching. Quite a number of them have established close ties with people, organizations, and institutions in those areas. We should enlist their help with our recruitment efforts. We have started this effort and have achieved amazing results already. Role of the Website and Social Network Media Deliberate and concerted efforts should be made to utilize website and social network media to recruit international students. We need to use the Chico State web site to make materials about CSU, Chico and its programs readily available to prospective students through downloads or online viewing. Key components of those materials should be translated into the languages of the nations we target in our strategic enrollment plan document. Web-based mechanisms will be established and actively maintained to quickly and effectively respond to prospective students inquiries. Previous and current students testimonials in the form of quotations and video clips should be made available to prospective students via the web site. We also need to identify social media platforms favored by various countries. For instance, in China, WeChat is the most preferred social network platform and Baidu is the commonly used search engine. Role of Staff and Administrators Responsibility for guiding the development of the international student recruitment plan, and making policy decisions regarding recruiting, rests with the AVP for International Education/Senior International Officer in consultation with the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management. Furthermore, the AVP for International Education has responsibility for budgetary decisions related to international student recruiting. Any contracts entered into by the campus in regards to international student recruiting must go through the vetting process and must be reviewed and approved by the AVP for International Education/Senior International Officer. Only the President has the authority to sign international agreements and that authority cannot be delegated to other administrators. The Office of International Education staff, including the Coordinator of International Recruitment and International Admissions, is responsible for the production and distribution of recruitment materials and contact with prospective students. They represent the campus at recruiting events. For More Information For additional information regarding CSU, Chico international student recruitment policies and strategic planning, contact the Office of International Education at 530-898-5415. For copies of recruitment materials, or questions about recruitment procedures, contact the Coordinator of International Recruitment and International Admissions at 530-898-4766. Page 5