Highlights of this issue include an update of the Users Group Workshop, marketing intelligence on IDP’s newest source country Turkey, and the introduction of IDP’s new CEO: Andrew Thompson.
The five main topics are:
- Tony Pollock retires, Andrew Thompson steps in
- Get to know Andrew Thompson
- What took place at the Users Group Workshop?
- Meet IDP’s first U.S. student placed from Indonesia
- Introducing Turkey as an IDP source market
IDP Education Appoints New CEO
A media release issued from Peter Polson, IDP Education Chairman
I wish to advise that IDP Education’s CEO, Tony Pollock, retired at the end of June, after six years with IDP.
Under Tony’s leadership, IDP has achieved a great deal – but most significantly he led the successful transition of IDP from not-for-profit to corporate enterprise. Tony’s leadership, direction and positive approach throughout this transformation has been an enormous asset to IDP.
While we will be sorry to see Tony go, he has put in place a very strong management team to take us forward. The internal appointment of Andrew Thompson, as the new CEO from 1 July will ensure a smooth transition.
Andrew, currently IDP’s Chief Operations Officer, is well positioned to take on the role given his significant work in leading our global operations. Andrew and the team remain committed to driving IDP’s vision for a strong and sustainable student placement, English language testing and English language training business and to the important role IDP
holds in international education for its shareholders, clients and students.
The Board is very confident IDP has the strategy, the management team, and a skilled network team to deliver.
Peter Polson
Chairman
IDP Education Pty Ltd
Introducing Andrew Thompson
IDP Education’s incoming Chief Executive Andrew Thompson has served as Chief Operating Officer of the company since June 2007, managing the operation of IDP’s global businesses in student placement, English language testing and English language training.
In this period, Andrew has overseen the restructuring of the business and led the development of IDP’s successful growth strategy. He consolidated IDP’s business in Australia while establishing student placement operations in new destination countries.
As COO, Andrew has emphasized close cooperation with IDP’s educational institution partners, establishing a new client relations team with the skills and cross business connections to link partners to the IDP network.
Prior to joining IDP, Andrew worked in senior management positions at major Australian retailer Coles Myer. He was a general manager, and member of the senior management team, in Coles Myer’s Officeworks business.
Earlier in his career he worked in senior positions as a lawyer and corporate counsel. Andrew holds a B.Sc. (majoring in immunology) from Monash University, an LL.B. (Honors) from Monash University and an MBA from Melbourne Business School.
Recap of the Users Group Workshop
IDP’s second U.S. Users Group Workshop was touted as, “the world’s largest student recruitment training event,” and it lived up to the pre-event excitement.
80 university representatives from more than 60 U.S. and Canadian partner institutions attended the two and a half day workshop in Chicago, Illinois. They were joined by everyone from the IDP North America team and more than 40 Network representatives. Included from overseas were regional directors from South Asia / North America (Harmeet Pental) and North Asia (Allen Jiang), and country directors from Singapore (Daryl Fong), Indonesia (Isla Winarto), Vietnam (Nhi Tuong), and Turkey (Carl Holtman).
By all accounts, the event was a resounding success.
Networking in the clouds and on the sea
The workshop began with an opening reception 95 stories in the air. In a lounge at the top of Chicago’s famed John Hancock Observatory Deck, amidst breathtaking views and a varied enough menu of food and drinks to please nearly 20 countries’ worth of tastes, IDP’s overseas staff and university representatives appreciated the opportunity to meet each other and begin to develop relationships.
On the following evening, the group enjoyed a dinner cruise on Lake Michigan. As the sun set in an explosion of pink over the calm water, the lights of the city blinked on, and the dancing intensified. By the end of the night, we were more than just colleagues – we were friends.
A time to teach
One of the most well received aspects of the Users Group was the way counselor training was handled. We gave our university representatives an opportunity to discuss key higher education topics on panels moderated by Judy Freudenberger. The audience of counselors were all seated at roundtables with other university representatives, and after the panels, these roundtables were able to hold private discussions on each topic. This allowed for varied perspectives and thorough interaction.
We also held a day-long session where partners were segmented into certain bands based on Carnegie categories and allowed the opportunity to discuss their institutions in particular and their type of institutions in general. Though a long day for the counselors, they took furious notes, filmed each band with their phones or cameras, and said afterwards that they learned a great deal about the differentiations of the schools and school types.
A time to learn
University representatives didn’t attend the Users Group Workshop only to train counselors. We also hope that they took some new knowledge with them as they returned to campus.
There was an overview session where leaders from the Network presented three key elements of their respective markets:
- Market intelligence and information
- Updates on their U.S. counseling launch and any major learning’s
- Tips and advice on how institutions can succeed in these regions
University representatives also had the chance to meet in small groups with these same leaders to discuss the markets more intimately, and meet privately with their personal university account manager and coordinator to discuss details of the partnership. In a session at the end of the last day designed specifically for those new to IDP or to working with overseas placement services, participants were able to receive additional advice from IDP’s overseas experts.
Firsthand experiences
Some of IDP’s counselors have visited or studied in North America. Some even lived here. But for many, the Users Group Workshop was their first time on this continent.
On the first day following the workshop, the counselors participated in an all-day North American higher education training with education guru Carl Herrin. Then, they broke into small groups and began their campus tours.
More than 50 campuses were visited in total, from all across the United States and Canada. Counselors met with students and administrators, ate in dining halls, and even slept in dorms. They truly got to experience U.S. and Canadian campus life, and now have firsthand stories they can share with prospective students.
They also now have strong relationships with university representatives that may last well beyond the IDP partnership.
We are so grateful for all who participated. We hope everyone is already looking forward to next year’s Users Group Workshop.
If you would like a copy of the PowerPoint slides from the Network’s market update presentation, contact Matthew Ulmer at matthew.ulmer@idp.com or 215.282.1885.
First Indonesian Students to the United States
By Isla Rogers-Winarto, IDP Country Director Indonesia
In May 2011, Mirza Aditya became the first IDP Indonesia student to be fully processed for studying in the United States. A 17-year-old graduate from the prestigious President High School in Jakarta, Mirza first approached IDP for counseling after having met with senior IDP counselors visiting his school in January 2011.
Mirza, the grandson of a well-known general and head of police, has enrolled in an undergraduate program in biological and chemical sciences. He and his mother are extremely happy with their choice of university and with IDP’s assistance.
Another recent student to be enrolled is Hassan Mohammad Hassan Dawodieh, the son of the current Jordanian Ambassador to Indonesia. Hassan will study at Glendale Community College, and will be accompanied by two other Jordanian friends.
We look forward to providing many more interesting and qualified Indonesian students to IDP’s partner institutions.
IDP Expands into Turkey
While many of us were attending the NAFSA conference, IDP Education’s first Turkey counseling center officially opened in Istanbul.
In honor of this exciting development, we present below some information from Carl Holtman, IDP Turkey’s new country director, about himself and the student market in Turkey. Please also note that Turkey is one of the stops on the Fall Road Show.
What can you tell us about your background and previous higher education experience?
I’ve been in the industry going on six years now, all of it in Turkey. Started out with one of the many agencies in Turkey, then quickly moved into the educational fair side of the business. It wasn’t long before I realized that the student services industry in Turkey was not very professionalized. I took an opportunity with ELS Language Centers to establish their agent support office here in Turkey in the hopes that I could impact change on the local agents by providing good training and support. Unfortunately, the high turnover at the agencies and the lack of qualified counselors (most agents are simply glorified travel agents) meant that we were constantly starting at square one. So when I heard that IDP was considering the possibility of opening an office in Turkey I actively pursued them, because I knew that the opening of an IDP office in Turkey would be a game change in the industry and I wanted to lead that change.
What are you most excited about regarding your new role at IDP?
Similar to the above, I want to change the industry here for the better (introduce regulation amongst other things) and IDP is the platform from which to do that.
What can you tell us about the new IDP team in Turkey?
My team is not from the “industry” per se…but they have lived the experience. One of my team members is a dual Turkish-Australian citizen who did his year 12, TAFE and university degree study in Australia (graduated from Curtin University of Technology). My other counselor is a dual Turkish-American citizen who did a couple of postgraduate certificate programs in the United States and worked there for six years. So both are great examples of Turks who went abroad for education and then came back home to their country to contribute positively to society.
Can you provide any information or market intelligence on students from Turkey? Is there interest in the United States and Canada?
The United States is by far the number one choice of Turkish students seeking a university education abroad. Canada is also gaining some ground in Turkey, especially amongst those students who would like to settle in Canada after their studies.
What are the most popular subjects? State/province and city destinations?
Turkish students that might typically use student placement services would in general tend to be bi-costal (east coast or west coast; New York, Boston, Florida and California). However, as a product of the American Midwest myself, I know that Turkish students would find themselves at home if they were matched with the right university. There is also a huge population of Turkish students in Toronto, and Vancouver is very popular as well.
The fact that I have a strong team of counselors means that I am certain we’ll be able to speak with confidence about what programs would be the best fit for the student rather than just pandering to the images of America that they know from the movies. Popular subjects include the usual suspects: business, engineering, hard sciences, and architecture.
What is the breakdown of desired degree level? Are community colleges popular?
Turkey is still a graduate heavy market (60 percent graduate, 30 percent undergrad and 10 percent language study). Community colleges have been trying to market themselves as a viable option for studying in the United States; unfortunately there is still some learning to be done from the perspective of Turkish students and families. When Turks hear about two-year schools they end up likening them to the technical schools here in Turkey, which offer almost zero chance of movement beyond a two-year associate’s degree. There is no concept of studying at a two-year school here in Turkey and then transferring to a university to finish. So it will very much be our responsibility to explain this concept to students and parents.
Are most students from Turkey fully funded? By their parents? Scholarships?
Most students that would use a placement agency are fully funded by their parents. Few Turkish students take standardized tests that we might be accustomed to in the United States; therefore they are not typically competing for scholarships. There are some ministries and private companies in Turkey that will sponsor students for graduate study.
What types of marketing materials should institutions have?
An easy to navigate website is essential as Turkish students are heavily connected to the Internet. Facebook is extremely popular here. One-page information sheets about various majors and highlights of the university would also be helpful. Printing course catalogues and such is not necessary anymore.
We hope you found this information useful. You can reach IDP’s newest country director at carl.holtman@idp.com.
Road Show Update
As a reminder, Fall Road Show registration closes on Friday. The schedule is:
INDIA:
September 23-24: New Delhi
September 25-26: Mumbai
September 27-28: Ahmedabad
September 29: Hyderabad
Sept. 30-Oct. 1: Bangalore
October 2: Chennai
MIDDLE EAST:
October 5-6: Istanbul, Turkey
October 8-9: Dubai, UAE
October 10-11: Abu Dhabi, UAE
October 12-13: Kuwait City, Kuwait
October 14-15: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
October 16-17: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
October 18: Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Talk to your personal account representative about event discounts.
Follow IDP’s News
As the level of news about IDP continues, we suggest you link to our Twitter pages: http://twitter.com/IDPUSA and http://twitter.com/IDPCanada. Here, we post announcements, new university partners, media coverage, and other items of interest.
Thank you for taking the time to read this edition of IDP’s North America partner newsletter. If there is anything you would like to see in future newsletters, please contact Matthew Ulmer at matthew.ulmer@idp.com or 215.282.1885.
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