14th May 2008

1. Conference – Registrations Open

2. Benchmarking New Zealand’s Immigration Policy and Practice with our main competitors

3. Interested in becoming a Trustee of the Education New Zealand Trust?

4. Economic Impact Analysis of Export Education

5. New Zealand Through My Eyes Blog Tour

6. PACE 2008

7. New Zealand Specialist Agent Programme

8. Leadership Development Programme

1. Conference 2008 – ‘Connect the Dots!’

Conference 2008 is Go! At Auckland’s Langham Hotel from Wednesday 6th to Friday 8th August, this year’s Conference features a full 3 day programme with plenty of interest for all sectors. Make this your networking/PD priority this year!

The ‘Connect the Dots’ theme recognises that our industry comprises many different sectors, markets, students and priorities. Highlights for 2008 include:

• Market Updates – from China and Brazil, and market research from Thailand
• Policy/Practice Forums – including Immigration, issues around ‘high growth markets’ (such as India, Saudi Arabia and Germany) and experiences with Muslim students
• Practical marketing workshops – including maximising Fairs, Agent Workshops and the Web
• The popular Schools Workshop Wednesday – six sessions, an all day experience by schools for schools
• International insights from the CEO’s of ICEF and LTM, and other international commentators and practitioners
• The Export Education Innovation Programme – hear from those who received funding, and what they did with it (and what it did for them)
• Internationalisation and international policy developments
• Politicians – you know you want them! With the 2008 General Election expected to be held shortly after conference, both Labour and National will unveil their International Education policies at the conference.
• Community Stakeholders
• International Leaders
• Networking, social sessions, good food, refreshments, good company….

Registrations, Programme, Pricing and information online NOW at http://www.educationnz.org.nz/indust_annindustconf.html

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2. Benchmarking New Zealand’s Immigration Policy and Practice with our main competitors

Immigration policy and practice is a critical gateway issue for New Zealand’s education exporters.  Over the last few months Education New Zealand has been undertaking a benchmarking research study that compares New Zealand’s immigration policy settings as they apply to international student recruitment with our main English-speaking competitor countries: Australia, the UK (including Ireland and Scotland), USA and Canada.   

The report will be released shortly by Education New Zealand and we are seeking a pan industry meeting in early June involving representatives of each sector with Hon Clayton Cosgrove, the Minister of Immigration, to present him with the research and discuss the findings.  Education New Zealand will be raising a number of issues with the Minister, including:

(i) closer operational coordination between the education export industry and the Department of Labour;
(ii) changing provider policy;
(iii) health insurance cover policy; 
(iv) work rights for English language students;
(v) strong support for expansion of DoL's online application process;
(vi) support for DoL's proposed changes to the delivery of immigration services under the Immigration Business Transformation programme; and
(vii) the compliance costs that the government will be imposing on the industry by requiring individuals within educational institutions to become licenced as immigration agents, by the new Immigration Advisers Authority.

Apart from seeking policy and operational changes that ensure competitive neutrality of the international student gateway with NZ’s competitor countries (as informed by ENZ’s benchmarking research), we will also be seeking Ministerial support for the establishment of an ongoing joint ENZ/DoL Immigration Operational Working Group.  The group will give the industry and the department an opportunity to traverse and exchange operational issues at a national level on an ongoing way.

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3. Interested in becoming a Trustee of the Education New Zealand Trust?

Each year the Education New Zealand Trust holds an election for appointing its Trustees (ENZ’s Board of Directors). All educational institutions that are paying the Export Education Levy are entitled to nominate persons to stand for election to become a Board member of the Education New Zealand Trust. Please note that nominations do not necessarily need to be persons currently engaged in the industry – they could be persons from outside the industry with skill sets that would be of benefit to the Education New Zealand Trust.

Nominations are now open. If you wish to nominate someone (or even nominate yourself!), please click here to find out more.

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4. Economic Impact Analysis of Export Education

At long last the new economic impact study of the export education industry (including offshore education) is underway! ENZ and the MoE have commissioned a research consortium comprising economics consultancy Infometrics, market research company National Research Bureau (NRB) and education consultants Skinner & Associates to undertake a thorough, comprehensive and statistically valid study. Concise, robust and neutral data on the economic impact of international students to New Zealand is vital for many reasons, including:

• understanding the financial contribution the industry makes to the overall economy;
• assessing the regional impact;
• providing a data set for strategic planning purposes at a national and regional level;
• informing relevant policy making and debate at all levels;
• informing the public and policy makers of the economic extent of the industry; and
• allowing providers, service industries and other associated industries to make better informed commercial decisions.

A crucial component of the study will be a survey of spending by foreign fee-paying students. To ensure that a truly representative sample of students is obtained, students will be randomly selected institution by institution.

To do this properly, the team may need your help. Should your institution and some of its international students be selected for the survey, the value and accuracy of the study will rely heavily on the assistance of international student coordinators, or others who are responsible for international students. Providers sampled will include schools, universities, institutes of technology/polytechnics, English language schools and other Private Training Establishments. If selected, you will be approached by NRB who will ask you to distribute questionnaires to selected students and press upon the students the importance of them completing the questionnaires. Full details will follow in a separate letter or email.

In a further component, the contractors will be assembling a database of those providers who are also involved in offshore provision of education goods or services. These now comprise a growing export component and should be factored into the economic impact on New Zealand. If your institution is involved and should be included in this component, please ensure you are identified by contacting russ@skinnerstrategic.com.

Please be assured that strict confidentiality of responses will be maintained. All responses will be aggregated and nobody outside the primary data collectors will see any individual information. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Kathy Phillips, Industry Development Programme Manager for Education New Zealand.

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5. ‘New Zealand Through My Eyes’ Blog Tour

The 6 student winners of the ‘New Zealand Through My Eyes’ Blog Competition (one of the elements of this year’s generic promotion programme) have just completed the New Zealand leg of this innovative marketing initiative. Over the 10 day period the students’ blogs have captured information on the academic and organisational strengths of each institution and through experiencing the local leisure and entertainment opportunities along the way they have also reported on the vibrancy of the New Zealand culture and recreational scene.

Accumulated visitor numbers to the blogs have now exceeded 200,000 and although the tour has now finished, this number is expected to further increase on the back of articles written by the 3 Chinese journalists accompanying the students on the tour; followup promotion by blog host sohu.com; and word of mouth.

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6. PACE 2008

March, April and May have been hectic months in the PACE calendar, with 92 institutions attending 27 Fairs and 6 Agent Seminars, and 13 agents and media travelling on three familiarisation tours. 

Please note that Registrations for the New Zealand Education Fairs in Thailand and Vietnam in June have now closed.

Reminders …

New Zealand Education Fairs, Fiji 7 – 10 July

2008 is the 9th year that New Zealand Education Fairs have been held in Fiji.  Significant changes to the 2008 plan include the quieter town of Lautoka being dropped in preference for Nadi, and an earlier set of fairs than the late July events, to avoid clashing with school exams and competitor events.  New Zealand's Acting High Commissioner will welcome guests at the Networking Function, and officially open the Fairs.
A minimum of 11 registrations are required by Friday 6th June 2008. 
For more information, please link to the Event Brochure HERE
Or click on 8 July at the PACE Calendar HERE or
contact Rahael

Hong Kong International Education and Career Expo, 1 - 3 August

This Commercial Fair has been running with great success over the past 5 years in Hong Kong.  In 2007 60,000 visitors attended the Expo over a three day period.  This year the fair is expected to be even bigger and better.  Those interested in registering are reminded to do so soon; the Beijing Olympics get underway not long after the fair meaning that flights and accommodation in Hong Kong may be at a premium.
A minimum of 9 registrations are required by Friday 20th June 2008. 
For more information, please link to HERE or
contact Rahael

CCIEE China Fair Series, 18 October – 2 November

The CCIEE fairs are commercial events approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education and sponsored by China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). 2007 saw over 70,000 visitors attend the Fair series over 7 cities. This year’s theme, “Going Global for Your Future”, is set to appeal to a large audience by bringing a significant amount of high quality education programs and career oriented courses to China. ENZ are planning a NZ Pavilion presence in 5 cities: Beijing, Ji’nan, Shanghai, Nanjing and Guangzhou. Registrations are now open, the registration deadline is 28 June 2008.
For more information please click HERE
or HERE
Or contact Rahael

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7. New Zealand Specialist Agent Programme

Recently ENZ has completed an agent training project to increase the effectiveness and commitment of agents promoting New Zealand education and provide a means by which effective agents can be easily identified by students and industry.  This project followed on from Agent Retreats held in Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Taipei in 2007.

Under the New Zealand Specialist Agent Programme, agents that meet a range of criteria, including passing a test and industry reference checks, will become Specialist Agents and will be recognised with a Specialist Logo, Certificate and listing on the www.newzealandeducated.com website.  A new website in line with this project, to help prepare and inform agents has been created at http://agents.newzealandeducated.com/index.php 

Until now, New Zealand has had only one established Agent Group, the Indian NZIER agents see HERE.
As part of the China Depth Strategy, 23 Agents from Hong Kong have registered for New Zealand Specialist Agent Training in Hong Kong next week. 

Thank you in advance to those asked to provide a reference for involved agents.  We hope to roll this programme out to agents in our key markets, including New Zealand based agents, soon.  Further updates and developments will be announced through E-news.  For further information, contact Sarah 

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8. International Education Leadership Development Programme - 'Meeting Change and Challenges in International Education' module

Registrations are now being called for the third module of the International Education Leadership Development Programme.  Please click for a course overview, further information and an enrolment form, or contact Dr Karin Dobric at Unitec New Zealand. Karen can be contacted by email at kdobric@unitec.ac.nz, or telephone +64 9 815 4321 ext 8395.

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