(L-R): Nate Cronk, associate director of international admissions; Wayne Powell, Canada representative, Mericler Inc.; Jennifer Patrick, executive director, Canisius Center for Professional Development; Rami Hijazi, general representative, Mericler Inc.; Mark Kopenski, president, Global Student Recruitment Associates and Christina Qi, Canisius China representative. Representatives from Mericler, a Canadian educational consulting firm, met with the Admissions team during a recent visit to discuss partnerships to bring international students to the college.
Canisius’ global footprint grew exponentially with the recent opening of its office in Shanghai, China. In cooperation with Beijing International Education Institute (BIEI), the effort is part of the college’s recruitment initiative to enroll more international students. The office is staffed by Canisius’ Chinese representative Christina Qi, who collaborates with BIEI to utilize various recruitment strategies, including establishing university partnerships.
“Instead of reactively approaching recruitment in Asia, we decided to proactively engage by hiring a recruiter and opening an office in China to be present in the largest international student market in the world,” says Nate Cronk, associate director of international admissions. “This provides Canisius with front line representation from Christina, who understands the culture and knows the best ways to find students who would excel at the college,” says Cronk.
This spring, the Admissions team plans to travel to the Middle East, China, Japan and Hong Kong to follow up with prospective students. Approximately three percent of the current student body is comprised of international students. According to Cronk, the Admissions team would like to see that number rise to five percent in the next two to three years, with the ultimate goal of 10 percent of the student body being non-U.S. citizens.
Submitted by: College Communications
