ACTION PLAN
PLAN D’ACTION
THE CONSORTIUM
Group of national education associations with a strong involvement and track record in international education marketing.
Members are/will be eligible to use the Imagine Canada national education brand.
Goal : Support a more strategic, coordinated approach to the existing international marketing efforts of Canadian institutions and key
stakeholders.
Objective : Increase the share of students coming to Canada and position Canadian education providers in the international competitive market.
THE CONSORTIUM
We believe :
We can contribute to the national objective of bringing more international students to Canada.
The full engagement of members, individual institutions and the
organizations that represent them is key to achieving sustainable results in education marketing.
We can help contribute to more coordinated national action through structured collaboration among our associations.
We can help highlight the pathways between the various parts of the Canadian education system to overseas students and parents.
THE CONSORTIUM
We wish to:
Leverage the significant resources and expertise of the five national associations which represent the vast majority of educational institutions in Canada.
Work in partnership with the federal government and
provincial/territorial governments, associations and agencies. We recognize:
Collective action is required to improve Canadian education institutions' competitiveness in the global education market.
Competitive advantages that can be achieved through cross-sectoral cooperation.
BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS
In recognition of the role and expertise of Consortium member institutions we will establish a structured approach for their input.
We will work in close partnership with provincial, territorial and federal governments whose role and expertise is critical to the success of our collective work.
Similarly, we will establish a structured approach for the input of non-governmental institutions at the national and provincial
levels in recognition of their role and expertise.
We will explore opportunities to engage and establish
partnership arrangements on specific activities that will achieve greater results through cooperation.
OVERVIEW
The pages that follow represent an initial action plan that reflects the following characteristics:
The seven components of the action plan are areas where we believe CCIEM can add value.
Resources will be dedicated to pilot initiatives at the onset; however, these are scalable in the medium and long term based on success and lessons learned: moving from project to program.
This is an initial rolling plan that is designed through collaboration with key stakeholders and leverages our collective strength.
COMPONENT 1
Enhance visibility through targeted promotion
Enhanced visibility will be implemented incrementally starting with a pilot in up to three countries reflecting the following markets: established, emerging,exploratory.
Delivery will be through direct contact and through use of social media and web based outreach.
Pilot Initiative 2010
• ICEF Berlin Presence
Oct 31 to Nov 2. This event attracts agents from around the globe – in 2009, 860 agents from 92 countries
attended. Actions
Engage with key partner
organisations (eventually engage in-country representatives )
Outreach to potential students, guidance counsellors and others in target countries
Organise unified participation in education fairs, conferences and missions
COMPONENT 2
Enhance marketing capacity for key actors
This component will create a comprehensive and modular body of knowledge and quick reference guide on best practices, policies, procedures and facts on studying and living in Canada. This body of knowledge will be used in direct contact and webinars.Actions
Workshop for government officials (including missions and relevant officials)
Workshop for recruitment agents
Pilot Initiative 2010 • ICEF Berlin Workshop on Canadian education for agents • Webinar with Canadian mission officials on topics relating to studying in Canada
COMPONENT 3
Enhance knowledge for effective marketing
This component aims at enhancing the capacity of Canadian educationalinstitutions to better market to foreign students through the delivery of training on best practices and research on trends in the market and through the effective training of new professionals working in this field.
Actions
Provide capacity development to working professionals
Provide skills acquisition for new professionals
Undertake market research and publications Pilot Initiative 2010 • CCIEM workshop for member institutions on “Pathways” on October 20, 2010
COMPONENT 4
Improve communications
Communication with members and key stakeholders in a coherent manner on events mapping, opportunities and trends. This will leverage our collective communication channels.
Actions
Use social media to disseminate information
Active use of Internet
Distribute hard copy material (if appropriate)
Pilot Initiative 2010
• Collaborate with CMEC and DFAIT on “Imagine
COMPONENT 5
Improve virtual presence
E-visibility activities will be implemented incrementally starting with a pilot in up to three countries and increasing the number every year.
It is clear that we need to enhance and unify our virtual presence, it must be modern, attractive and it must be targeted to the specific audience.
Actions
Strategic use of social media
Create multi-lingual web resources
Create multi-lingual electronic tools such as short videos
Pilot initiative for 2010 is under consideration
COMPONENT 6
Facilitate visas
Working with CIC is an important component of the CCIEM action plan. The close interaction with CIC will contribute to a better understanding of key issues and support policy development with member institutions to improve approval rates.
Actions
Organise an annual CIC round table during one or more of the CCIEM
members’ national conferences
Offer to deliver pre-deployment orientation to CIC officials
Ongoing dialogue with CIC
COMPONENT 7
Enhance the brand
The Canadian brand may be enhanced by charting pathways for international students to show the student and the parents the whole trajectory and eventual goals of the experience of studying in Canada.
In addition, CCIEM intends to identify best ethical practices in student recruitment and examine the feasibility of a national sector wide code of ethics.
Actions
Articulate the various pathways available to students
Analyse existing codes of ethics and best practices
Pilot Initiative 2010
• Pathways document is
