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2006
Fall American Education Fair Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of American Education Fairs in Taiwan Report Contents:
Special Briefing for Newcomers A special briefing for school representatives new to recruiting in Taiwan was organized by AIEF one day prior to the launch of the 2006 Fall American Education Fair in Taipei. Owing to construction projects, the briefing was moved from AIEF’s EducationUSA student advising center to the Howard Plaza Hotel. Speaking at the briefing were Mr. Stephen Smith, Director of AIEF-Washington, DC, Ms. Darian Tai, Deputy Director of AIEF-Taipei, and Ms. Alice Chow, Counselor at AIEF-Taipei. After warmly welcoming the U.S. school representatives to Taipei, Mr. Stephen Smith delivered a presentation focusing on “Tips for Recruiting Students in Taiwan.” Mr. Smith called attention to the fact that the American Education Fairs in Taiwan are single country fairs, accepting only accredited U.S. schools as participants and not allowing agents to be exhibitors. The fairs are very effective, Smith said, because they specifically target students whose goal is to study in the USA. He offered various tips for schools to consider during and after the fairs. At the fairs, Smith recommended that school representatives be aware of cultural issues, noting that some students may be shy about speaking English and prefer to communicate through an interpreter. He advised school representatives to heed their own body language, so that they do not appear to be overly aloof or unfriendly. Another piece of advice was to prepare materials and signs in the Chinese language, preferably in advance, for the convenience of the fairgoers in Taiwan. Smith also informed the audience about how to efficiently collect student data at the fair by using AIEF’s tracking system. Maintaining a presence in Taiwan after the fair is important, Smith noted. He suggested that U.S. schools can do so through college brochures, the Internet, email, and follow-up visits to Taiwan. Stressing the importance of “word of mouth” as an effective promotional resource for U.S. schools, he recommended developing alumni connections. Other activities beyond the fair include school visits and participation in AIEF’s Study in the USA seminars, said Smith. Next, Ms. Tai provided a local perspective on some of the numerous attractions that Taiwan has to offer. She urged the school representatives to visit the Taipei office and make use of its services after renovations to the building are complete. Afterwards, Ms. Chow introduced AIEF’s Taipei office, an award-winning EducationUSA student advising center. She said that among the center’s many services are individual and group counseling, weekly seminars, library services, outreach programs, testing, print publications, e-news, and membership services for U.S. schools. Ms. Chow explained that membership services for U.S. schools include an extended office to members when traveling in Taiwan; display of materials and brochures at a special area at the center;
a location for individual student interviews; school presentations at the center; advance announcements of the school representative’s visit through e-mail and on the web; and assistance with translation, printing and advertising as requested.
At the start of the pre-fair orientation on the morning of September 30th in Taipei, AIEF - Washington Director Mr. Stephen Smith announced that the 2006 fall fair marked the 15th anniversary of the American Education Fairs in Taiwan, as well as the occasion of this premier biannual event’s 28th fair. This news was greeted with a hearty round of applause from the audience. Following brief introductions, guest speakers from the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) addressed the U.S. education delegation. Mr. Oliver Tsao, Deputy Director of the MOE’s Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations, presented an overview of Taiwan’s education system, recent educational reforms, international bilateral agreements, scholarship programs, and recruitment of foreign instructors to teach in Taiwan. American Cultural Center Director Mr. Nicholas Papp cited the efforts of the EducationUSA network, of which AIEF’s Taipei student advising center is a part, to help U.S. schools recruit students in Taiwan. Mr. Gregory Harris, AIT Commercial Officer, noted the fierce competition in the overseas study market. Harris pointed out that some of the opportunities in the Taiwan market include ESL programs, MBA or business-related programs, TESOL programs, Computer/Digital Arts programs, study and work programs, and professional training programs. Mr. Franc Shelton, AIT Consular Officer, referred to the extremely high student visa application success rate in Taiwan. He predicted that current trends indicate that the number of student visas issued this year for studying in the USA could potentially reach 16,000 -- a record number. Other AIT representatives who met with the U.S. education delegation at the orientation were Ms. Judy Chow, AIT Cultural Specialist, and Ms. Grace Tao, Commercial Officer. In Kaohsiung, the U.S. school representatives enjoyed AIEF’s pre-fair luncheon orientation on October 2nd with Mr. Jean Pierre-Louis, Chief of the Economic and Cultural Sections of AIT-Kaohsiung, Ms. Janee Pierre-Louis, Chief of the Commercial Section, and Ms. Monica Hsu from the Consular Section. Mr. Jean Pierre-Louis offered a warm welcome to the group and wished them success at the fair. Together with other AIT personnel, he manned the EducationUSA booth at the Kaohsiung fair venue later that day.
Pre-Fair publicity and promotional activities included extensive local newspaper, radio and television coverage. Several representatives from U.S. educational institutions were interviewed on ICRT, the local English-language radio station in Taipei, while others communicated with local students via web chat sessions conducted by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). In addition, AIEF offered free seminars at local public libraries and other sites in Taiwan to introduce the upcoming Fair events.
Fair Venues & Attendance Statistics AIEF’s 2006 Fall American Education Fair in Taiwan was held in Taipei at the Howard Plaza Hotel on September 30-October 1st, in Kaohsiung at the Grand Hi Lai Hotel on October 2nd, and in Taichung at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel on October 3rd. The total number of visitors for all three cities was 7,257. AIEF’s Student Tracking System Online pre-Fair registration was offered by AIEF to the exhibition’s visitors. Students who visited the American Education Fair were encouraged to register their educational goals and contact information in AIEF’s student tracking system. AIEF pioneered its online student tracking database in 2001, and has offered the database as a service exclusively to U.S. schools since 2002. AIEF’s emphasis on service, quality, and integrity explains why its current database, the largest of its kind in Taiwan, has accumulated a membership of more than 90,000 student names. Data from 4,712 students was collected in Taiwan during the fall 2006 American Education Fairs. Participating U.S. schools have received a list of the student contacts that visited their individual school’s booth during the Fair. Concurrently with the 2006 Fall American Education Fair in Taiwan, a series of seminars for students were presented at the Taipei and Taichung Fair venues. Seminar topics covered the iBT TOEFL, IELTS English language proficiency testing, finding ESL programs in the USA, student insurance, and MOE scholarship applications. At the fair venues in Taipei and Taichung, AIT Consular official Mr. Franc Shelton conducted sessions on the student visa application process.
To encourage more students from Taiwan to apply for U.S. undergraduate programs in the fall of 2007, AIEF has expanded its scholarship program to include 50 undergraduate students. Eligible undergraduate students must have been accepted by a U.S. college or university for the first time, and they must complete their enrollment by the end of the year. Applicants for AIEF’s undergraduate scholarships need not go through the regular selection process. Each of the first 50 qualified undergraduate students will receive a scholarship in the amount of NT $3200 on a first-come, first-served basis. For graduate students, the scholarship application process will remain the same as in previous years. This scholarship has been awarded annually since 1994. Graduate school scholarship applicants will first be screened by AIEF, and the final candidates will later be selected by a scholarship committee, comprised of members representing academic, government, and business sectors. Through AIEF, the ETTV/Annenberg School of USC scholarship will also be expanding this year. AIEF administers this scholarship program on behalf of ETTV for graduate studies at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications. Created to encourage promising students from Taiwan to follow a career path in mass communications, the purpose of the ETTV/Annenberg School of USC Scholarship Program is to help to cultivate future professionals who will be able to use their expertise gained at USC to develop quality programming for Asian, American, and international communities. The scholarship amount for this program will be US $100,000 for the 2007 academic year. Schools participating in our fairs are encouraged to submit scholarship information to AIEF in advance for dissemination at future fairs. This service is free to all participating schools. Registration will soon be open for AIEF’s 2007 Spring American Education Fairs in Asia. The Spring Fair schedule is as follows:
Spring:
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