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| Survey 2008-09: CBIE Reaches Out to International Students This autumn, CBIE will once again be surveying international students to assess their satisfaction with academic and life experience in Canada. The 2008-09 study builds on successful earlier surveys in 1988, 1999 and 2004. Thanks to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, CBIE was recently able to undertake a methodology review and revision. The new survey will take a more in-depth look at the motivation for studying here. Last survey we learned that for 60% of international students here, Canada was the first-choice destination – have we gotten closer to 100%? We will be looking at the impact of university and college rankings and of marketing on student decision-making. Although Canada’s education brand is yet to be launched, we will try to assess the impact of promotion by institutions and countries generally. An innovation: we will ask foreign students abroad for their impressions of Canada as an education destination. The 2008-09 survey will be conducted online and will be open to more institutions than in the past. In earlier surveys, International Student Advisers had a labour-intensive role - played willingly and with excellent results. However, we think that ISAs and other members will find the new methodology much less onerous. The 2004 survey identified as a key student concern their lack of access to part-time off-campus employment during their studies. Students were interested in work both for financial reasons and as a means of enhancing their experience of and connections with the local community. For educational institutions, it was a competitiveness issue: other countries were offering off-campus work and promoting this to attract prospective students. CBIE drew media and government attention to our findings and, in 2006, we were successful in convincing Citizenship and Immigration Canada - already offering off-campus work to students in four pilot provinces - to extend the program across Canada. Advocacy Success: Post-Graduation Work Permit Program Improvements Last October, CBIE issued a major report on international students entitled Northern Lights: International Graduates of Canadian Institutions and the National Labour Force. The report stated that only a third of our international graduates want to work in Canada, many discouraged by the narrow 90-day window to find a job and others by lack of employer awareness about the post-graduation employment opportunity. CBIE is pleased that we were able to attract media coverage and to get our message across to the federal government. As a result we were successful in obtaining major changes in the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) Program. For details see our release: April 24, 2008: International education community applauds post-graduation work improvements for foreign graduates back to top Canadians Hit by Cuts to UK Commonwealth Scholarship Program The UK government's commitment to the Commonwealth Scholarship Program with Canada, applauded by many for being highly effective in building future leaders and fostering close ties between Canada and the UK, was recently cut. Canadian students and those from several other countries who wish to pursue post-secondary education in the UK will no longer be eligible to receive funding from the British government under this program. CBIE learned of the UK decision in March and quickly began to rally Canadian supporters of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2009. Similar efforts are being made on the other side of the Atlantic by Universities UK, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and Canadian students currently in the UK with CSFP funding. CBIE also drew the attention of The Globe and Mail's Jill Mahoney to our concerns. Her May 4, 2008 article listed notable Canadians who have benefited from the UK scholarships - including the Globe's editor-in-chief, Edward Greenspon - and quoted Dr. Stephen Toope, President of the University of British Columbia, a CBIE member institution, Parker Mitchell, CEO of Engineers without Borders and a CBIE Excellence Award winner, Jim Fox, CBIE President, and Jennifer Humphries, Vice-President responsible for membership and scholarships. CBIE also successfully urged the Globe to publish an editorial following up on the article. Commonwealth Scholarships: Auld acquaintance forgot? appeared on May 13 and expressed concern that the UK would “brush off” old friends in the pursuit of new links with emerging powers such as China and India. On May 15, 2008, the termination of the program, and what our federal government is doing to reverse the decision, was raised in the House of Commons by MP Michael Savage. The government response was encouraging and we will be following developments closely. CBIE continues to urge a stronger commitment and much higher contributions by our own government to the Commonwealth Plan, a first-rate program connecting Canada with over 50 countries across the globe. See: The Globe and Mail, May 7, 2008: Jill Mahoney, Award's demise 'shortsighted,' supporters say back to top Events November 1-4, 2008: CBIE Conference 2008. Block these dates in your agenda for our 2008 conference in magnificent St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. See: www.cbie.ca/conference/2008/index_e.html Registration opens July 15. Congratulations to organizers of CBIE regional meetings: Ontario - May 12- 15, London, and Atlantic - May 22-23, Charlottetown. Resounding successes! September 10-13, 2008: European Association for International Education (EAIE), Antwerp, Belgium. See: www.eaie.org/Antwerp back to top Deadlines July 18, 2008: DFAIT International Scholarships - CARICOM competition. See www.scholarships.gc.ca | ||||
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