The secret life of international student recruitment agents
- Iona Huang, Harper Adams University, UK
- Pii-Tuulia Nikula, Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand
- Vincenzo Raimo, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, China
- Eddie West, San Diego State University, USA
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Most higher education institutions in UK, Australia and New Zealand actively work with international student recruitment agents, as do an increasing number in the United States. Agents have become a core part of the pathway to an international education for many students and vital to many higher education institutions in meeting challenging recruitment targets. While many agents have reported that they are struggling during Covid19 lockdowns, with overall international student mobility expected to be well down in 2020/21 compared to the previous year, agents are also showing how vital they can be to higher education institutions, providing on the ground intelligence while university staff are unable to travel and innovating to provide a bridge for students to institutions during a period of great uncertainty.
Despite the significant role agents play in international student mobility, research on the governance of student–agent-institution relationships is limited and in the UK the work of agents is often hidden from most academic staff.
The webinar will present recent research on the governance of international student recruitment agents: Iona Huang and Eddie West will present their findings on strategies adopted by higher education in Australia, the UK and the United States to govern the activities of their agents while Pii-Tuulia Nikula will consider the effectiveness of national frameworks for the governance of higher education institution–agent relationships and the protection they provide to students.
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Dr Iona Huang is a senior lecturer in management at Harper Adams University. Prior to joining HAU in 2013, she served as Director of the Centre for International Education at Edge Hill University and Director of the International Student Centre at Staffordshire University. In her managerial roles, she provided leadership to the internationalisation of higher education including: international recruitment, international student support, partnership development and internationalisation of student experience and curriculum. International student recruitment agency governance is one of her research interests. Iona is co-author of Power and control: managing agents for international student recruitment in higher education published in Studies in Higher Education.
Dr Pii-Tuulia Nikula is a senior lecturer at Eastern Institute of Technology in New Zealand. She holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Auckland. Most of Pii-Tuulia’s published research is on the fields of higher education policy and management. Her current research topics include the political economy of international education, tuition fee policies, educational inequalities and environmental sustainability. Pii-Tuulia’s research on education agents has been published in Studies in Higher Education, Journal of Studies in International Education and Higher Education Policy.
Vincenzo (Enzo) Raimo is a global higher education specialist who has held senior roles at the universities of Nottingham (International Office Director) and Reading (Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement). He is co-author of a guide Managing International Student Recruitment Agents and has been calling for greater transparency in the student – agent – university relationship for many years. In October 2019 Enzo was appointed Chief Relationship Officer for Unilodgers, the world’s largest student housing hub. He retains his academic associations through a Visiting Fellowship at the University of Reading and as adjunct Professor of Global Higher Education at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology.
Eddie West serves as assistant dean, international strategy and programs at the San Diego State University (SDSU) Global Campus, where he provides leadership of international partnership development, collaborations, and overseas programs. From 2016 to 2019 Eddie served as assistant dean, international programs at Berkeley Extension, the continuing and professional education division of the University of California, Berkeley. Previously he led international initiatives at the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), where he co-authored International Student Recruitment Agencies: A Guide for Schools, Colleges and Universities, and co-edited NACAC’s inaugural Guide to International University Admission.
