Centennial College is presenting this interactive "how to" session for Higher Education Professionals at the 2014 Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) Conference in Ottawa, Canada. · Gain strategies for planning, promoting and hosting chat events that support recruitment such as: Skype Conferences with High School and University Classrooms Internationally, Virtual College Fairs, Webinars, live chat at in person fairs · Get ready to solve seating limitations and remove barriers to participation by broadcasting International Student Services workshops online for free (Google Hangouts on Air, Google Classrooms) · Improve pre-arrival communication procedures and helps welcome, support and engage new and potential international students. · Design an inclusive live chat program that supports outreach to groups with specific needs.

1. Live Video Chat & Virtual Fairs:
Strategies for International Student
Recruitment & Retention
Nadia D’Lima, Manager, International Student Services,
Centennial College
Greg Long, Digital Media Recruitment Officer,
Centennial College

2. Looking Back:
History of International Registration at Centennial College
98 101 136 155
264
Total FTE's: 1994 to Present
379
596
779
923
1162
1064
982
1212
1232
1408
2449
4179
5499
5681
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13

3. Where do our international students come from?
>134countries

4. Live Chat and our Strategic Plan
1) Student Engagement
2) International Student Diversification
3) Student Advising
4) Use of IT to Increase Productivity/Reduce costs
5) Alignment with Marketing and Communications
6) Academic Quality
Anique: “I’m so glad to see that we have so
many contacts to help us along our journey!”
 12,473 + visitors from 104 countries
at Centennial’s virtual fairs (2012-2014)
 111 Conversions resulted from virtual
fairs (2013-2014)

5. Right Time: When can Live Chat support RECRUITMENT?
1) Generate leads with Virtual College Fairs
2) Bring along current students virtually to
Classroom visits / traditional fairs
3) Support yield by engaging leads with live chat
events through the planning and decision making process
4) Host Pre-arrival Orientation and Welcome Events for
new entrants focused on making a successful transition

6. Right Time: When can Live Chat support RETENTION?
5) Support Information Needs by broadcasting
on campus info sessions and workshops free
online (Google Hangouts on Air)
6) Support Academic Quality - Webinars focused
on college preparation (Academic matters like citation and plagiarism).
7) Strategic Conversations - International Student Ambassador Calling
Campaign for new students, group and one on one Advising, and
Social Media Engagement

7. WHAT INFLUENCES THEM?

8. WHAT ARE THEIR CONCERNS?

9. HOW DO THEY COMMUNICATE?

10. Noel-Levitz & CollegeWeekLive Research
Demographics: Citizenship
Asia
(exp. India/China)
13% China
10%
India
12%
Central America /
Caribbean
3%
Latin America
9%
Middle East,
North Africa, &
Arabia
13%
Sub-Saharan
Africa
21%
Canada
7%
Europe
11%
Australia
1%

11. How many colleges will
they apply to?
1-2 colleges
16%
3-5 colleges
44%
6-10 colleges
27%
11-15 colleges
9%
16+ colleges
4%
Highest Applications:
China – 28% apply to
11 or more

12. After rankings and websites, conversations
are most influential
4.15
3.95
3.75
3.55
3.35
3.15
2.95
2.75
University web
site
College rankings Convos
w/ students
Convos
w/ reps
On-Campus
tour
College
search sites
University
brochures
EducationUSA
office
Guidance
counselor
Indpendent
counselor/agent
University
facebook pg.
How influential are the following experiences on application decisions?
(1-5 scale)
Asia, China, and India had the most significant
preference for students over reps
Campus Tours rank #1 among
US students, rated at 4.4
average
Independent Counselors/Agents
rated highest in China and sub
Saharan Africa

13. After email and traditional fairs, open to a
variety of online channels
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
Email Traditional
college fairs
Live chat
(IM)
Campus
tour
Live video
Webcast
Phone Social
media
Webcam
Call
Text
messaging
(phone)
Please rate your interest in using each resource to
communicate with college or university reps (1-5 Scale)
Student
Live Chat preferred over social media
Video Webcasts over skype style video calls

14. Colleges should rely more on current
students than alumni.
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
Which campus representative would you be interested to
Admissions
representative
International Student
Services
Representative
Financial Aid
Representative
Current international
student
Professors Alumni/graduates of
the school or
program
see in a Live Video Presentation?
Current students favored over alumni
China: Students value
students & professors over
financial aid

17. Top three topics by region
Asia
Financial Decisions
EssayWriting
Where to Apply
Canada
Essay Writing
Where to Apply
Initial Research
China
Essay Writing
Initial Research
Financial Decisions
Europe
Financial Decisions
Essay Writing
Test Prep
India
Visa Applications
Financial Decisions
Completing Apps.
Latin America
Financial Decisions
Test Prep
Essay Writing
Middle East
Financial Decisions
Essay Writing
Where to Apply
Sub-Saharan Africa
Financial Decisions
Visa Applications
Initial Research

18. The Right Message: The Power of ‘Peer to Peer’
Involve Students when Planning,
Promoting and Hosting Live Chats!
• Help students address Specific Concerns
• Build personal connection to your school
• Help students take the next step

19. Useful Content Defined by Chinese Students
“I can’t find much info about student life on campus”
“Nice to see school intros written by Chinese students, not
something too official”
“I want to hear from students who have gone through the
application, admissions and study process so that I know
better what they are going through”
Zinch Study, NAFSA 2013.

20. Useful Content: Authentic, Informative, Timely
“There is a lot of scope for improvement. Institutional
social media accounts could be more interactive, like a chat
room.” — 21-year-old male, India
“College/university pages are not very active and update
slowly, but I can also get information from their students’
activities online.” —22-year-old female, China
Source: WES, World Education Services, 2012. Not All
International Students Are the Same: Understanding
Segments, Mapping Behavior

21. Students like other students!
• Our students want to meet: “Home Friends”,
“Host Friends”, “International Friends”
• Greater attendance and interest for student
led activities on our campus than other extra
curricular activities.
• Record Applicants for programs such as
Leadership Passport, LeaderShape, Student
Mentor Program and Student Ambassador
Program.

22. International Student Ambassador Program
• Call for participation every four months.
• 12 Ambassadors in May 2013 > 32 students in Fall 2014.
• 20 hours of volunteering at on and off campus events for
international students. Incentives: Credit towards their
leadership passport, which in turns earns them a credit on
their final transcript. Leadership Opportunities, public
speaking, presentation skills, references.
• Students want to continue being part of the program after 20
hours.

23. Redefining “Experts”
Shift in Advising Strategies:
• Redefining the expert to include student voices.
• Students tweet, fb, insta and love sharing stories
• Leverage their platforms to share messages with a common goal
of making students feel welcome and that they belong to a
supportive community.

24. Live Chat Conversations:
Right Time, Right Message, Right Channels
Right Channels:
• Virtual Fairs: CollegeWeekLive and Edufindme
• Skype/Google Hangouts – Live Chat Table
• Classroom to Boardroom Skype Conferences
• Google Hangouts on Air

25. Student Diversification with Virtual Fairs
 Diversify recruitment efforts, target specific groups, and limit travel.
 CollegeWeekLive: Total 12,473 Leads from 120 Countries

27. Conversations with Highly Engaged Students
August 13th International Students Day Chat:
Student – Carla
Faigmane
Hi Greg! What's your GMAT requirement? Do you also require TOEFL/ IELTS certification for
international students?
Rep – Greg Long Hi Carla, welcome. You actually do not need GMAT to attend college or university in Canada
Student – Carla
That's good to hear! How about TOEFL/IELTS though my business and accountancy
Faigmane
curriculum is in English.
Rep – Greg Long If English is not your first language, we do require IELTS or TOEFL (unless you are taking a
foundation program or ESL). The IELTS or TOEFL scores required depend on your program, and
level. For post graduate program. For post-graduate or fast track programs, an applicant requires 6.5
overall with no bands less than 6.0 (IELTS).
Student – Carla
Faigmane
I'm planning to take up a post-grad degree in business. In addition, I'm also a licensed public
accountant in the Philippines. Do I need to take classes in order to take Canadian CPA exams?
What do you recommend?
Rep – Greg Long We recommend you check out the post-graduate program in our school of business. Yes, there are
academic requirements before you can complete the CPA program. Our Strategic Management
Graduate Certificate program provide s great pathway to CPA for internationally educated grad
students: http://www.centennialcollege.ca/programs-courses/schools/school-of-business/graduate-studies/
Student – Carla
Faigmane
Thanks a lot, Greg! Will check it! Looking forward to meeting you

28. Repeat Event Visitors
 Centennial College had a total of 2,696 repeat visitors!
 Interested, Self - Motivated and Highly Engaged
Frederick ******, Ghana (Seeking a
Grad Degree)
EMEA Day 2014
Int’l Students Day August 2014
June AlwaysON 2014
Int’l Students Day May 2014
March AlwaysON 2014
Caleb *******, New Zealand (Seeking a
Grad Degree)
September AlwaysON 2014
August AlwaysON 2014
July AlwaysON 2014
June AlwaysON 2014
May AlwaysON 2014
March AlwaysON 2014
Krystina*******, Russia (Senior)
EMEA Day 2014
September AlwaysON 2014
Jose*******, Mexico(Transfer)
May AlwaysON 2014
March AlwaysON 2014

29. Student Advising: Feedback from Students
Racquel:
"Great, you are making me feel even better about my choice about
coming to Centennial.“
Dian:
"Thanks for the info guys, they are really helpful. I'm really excited”
Mathias:
You guys are really great, simplifying all asked questions in a mannerly
way
Sophia
“I want to say thank you all for this presentation. We have got to
know a lot of different and interesting things about this program. All
of us are actually really interested”

30. Live Chat Follow up Match Game
Oleg (Country of Recruit: Russia):
“Will there be a new chat within some
future months? Can you please give me
your ________or _______ account?”
Answer: VK and Skype
Strategies for Following up on Live Chat
• Peer to Peer Follow Up
• Online Community Invites

31. Live Chat Follow up Match Game
Which Type of Follow Up is a good
match for the countries in our
Live Chat?
A) Email
B) Phone
C) Travel
D) Virtual Events
E) All of the above

32. Live Chat Follow up Match Game
On Which platform did 3,230 see this post?
Answer: Facebook
Strategies for Following up on Live Chat
1) Peer to Peer Follow Up + Online Community Invites
2) Admissions Representative Follows up via Phone, Email, Travel, Virtual Events
3) Leverage Content on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Youku

33. Live Chat Follow up in Facebook Groups

34. #iexperiencecentennial
Alejandro Meixueiro: I am really happy to know that I belong to Centennial College,
its amazing to travel everywhere and let people know where you come from! I am really
proud to be part of Centennial College; sharing my experience with every person I meet
is like planting seeds around the world. Thank you so much for this opportunity because
I am living my dream. Clifts of Moher, Dublin, Ireland.. #iexperiencecentennial
Sahil Elisa Veronica Verma: Tromba #Romero: iexperiencecentennial
Had Ariemma: an Taking amazing Each advantage life minute time of counts global every experience to second reach to my in study potential...the dense and improve The rainforests centennial
my
of
Rohit Kashyap: Sit on a couch and study whatever you want with mind blowing view
Costa experience english. Rica. Waiting Such comes the an along bus learning or with the conservation me subway, every place every expedition. I moment go... #iexperiencecentennial
#is Costarica important #Centennialcollege
and precious.
in front of you from centennial college progress library.... #iexperiencecentennial
##iexperiencecentennial
iexperiencecentennial

35. #iexperiencecentennial
Alejandro Meixueiro: I am really happy to know that I belong to Centennial College,
its amazing to travel everywhere and let people know where you come from! I am really
proud to be part of Centennial College; sharing my experience with every person I meet
is like planting seeds around the world. Thank you so much for this opportunity because
I am living my dream. Clifts of Moher, Dublin, Ireland.. #iexperiencecentennial
Sahil Elisa Veronica Verma: Tromba #Romero: iexperiencecentennial
Had Ariemma: an Taking amazing Each advantage life minute time of counts global every experience to second reach to my in study potential...the dense and improve The rainforests centennial
my
of
Rohit Kashyap: Sit on a couch and study whatever you want with mind blowing view
Costa experience english. Rica. Waiting Such comes the an along bus learning or with the conservation me subway, every place every expedition. I moment go... #iexperiencecentennial
#is Costarica important #Centennialcollege
and precious.
in front of you from centennial college progress library.... #iexperiencecentennial
##iexperiencecentennial
iexperiencecentennial

36. Key Takeaways
Right Channels
Conversations
influence decisions.
Take advantage of
preferences for online
communication
channels.
Right Times
Students say it’s very
important to have
conversations
throughout the
process.
Right Message
Students want
access to a variety of
representatives and
need help with a
variety of topics.

37. QUESTIONS &
DISCUSSION

38. How Live Chat Supports NAFSA’S
Armchair Recruitment Communication Procedures
1) Build Awareness – More quality information goes out:
 Live Chat supports Lead Generation, Engagement, Diversification
2) Develop responses for students at different stages:
 Student Engagement, Student Advising, Reduce Costs
3) Provide Timely Response: Conversations support Engagement
4) Provide Specific answers to specific questions: Right Message
5) Move student through the next step in the process: Right Channels