Whenever someone takes a new position in an organization, generally one of two things can happen. Either the expectations for the new job are set very high (which is fine if you like a challenge) because there has been a great need for someone in that position, or that no one is really quite sure what this person is actually supposed to do. That's normal--but what happens when you come into a new job and you have both high expectations and no one is really sure what you do?
The good news is I love the people I'm going to be working for and I am more than happy to explain what I'll be doing. After 15 years working in international education, especially over the last 10 years with my contacts with the EducationUSA community, I really see the need for the US to have a more comprehensive, unified approach to marketing higher education options to international students. While the US has lost its share of the pie of the student market abroad -- from perhaps 35% in the 90's to about 23-24% today, coupled with down years post-9/11--the good news is that as of the 2007-08 academic year, there are more students studying in the US from overseas than at any point in US history. This positive also demonstrates that the pie of possible students studying outside their home countries continues to grow. The most recent Atlas of Student Mobility, published by the Institute of International Education, suggested that by 2025, there would be over 20 million students studying outside their country of origin (currently there are approximiately 2.5 million).
While these are certainly some positive developments, the US has lost some of its luster internationally, and competitors for these students have been backed financially by their governements to increase overseas students on their campuses. In part our competitors have an advantage in terms of funding for promotion, but more significantly they are representing a much smaller number of institutions (less than 200) which are in, by nature, much easier to organize & market. Of course, in the US one of our greatest strengths--our diversity--is also one of our curses. With the EducationUSA network, these 450 advising centers must represent 4500 accredited institutions in the US, no small task.
As I move into this job, my first task will really be establishing a baseline of knowledge of our two main constituencies: advisers & regional educational advising coordinators and the students they serve on one side, and the US higher education community. First, we need to know of the accredited institutions in the US, which universities are aware of what EducationUSA is and does, and if so, what services do they access that are provided by the centers worldwide. Second, we need to see what media prospective students around the world are using not only for university searches, but in terms of social networks, blogs, e-communities, and other technologies. With this data as a base, we can begin to develop appropriate strategies and tools necessary to reach out to institutions and students to bring them in closer cooperation with the EducationUSA network.
Obviously, there will be new marketing materials created and technologies implemented to broaden the reach of the network. We will focus on significant big picture issues, and help individual centers and institutions raise their games. As you can imagine there is much to do and a short time to do it in, relatively speaking. All I ask is your patience & support as we move the ship that is EducationUSA into the proper channels.
That's at least a quick overview of what I'll be doing and hopefully can address questions about expectations at least for the short term.
More soon--stay tuned.
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