AIEF Education Foundation | Education Fair Taiwan Article

On the morning of Saturday, March 19th, Mr. Stephen Smith, Director of AIEF’s East Coast Operations, conducted a pre-fair orientation for 2011 Spring AIEF Education Fair participants at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Taipei. Invited speakers were Ms. Judy Chow, Cultural Officer at the American Institute in Taiwan, and Director-General Tony W.T. Lin, Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations, Ministry of Education. After greeting the U.S. education delegation, Ms. Chow explained that the AIT consular officers originally scheduled to speak at AIEF’s events were unable to attend, owing to temporary reassignments in support of efforts to assist American citizens and others affected by the recent disaster in Japan. However, this did not impact the AIT visa presentation in Kaohsiung, which was conducted as scheduled. Next, Director-General Lin presented an overview of Taiwan’s programs to foster international educational exchange and cooperation, study abroad, and study in Taiwan. He noted that Taiwan is offering generous scholarships to attract international students to study in Taiwan. Lin suggested that if U.S. schools encourage their students to study in Taiwan, the friendly interaction with local students could potentially help to recruit Taiwanese students to enroll at their campuses.

AIEF’s Mr. Stephen Smith pointed out that AIEF has been successfully organizing Education Fairs in Taiwan for nearly 20 years. At AIEF Fairs, students have the opportunity to obtain accurate, up-to-date information directly from authorized school representatives, Smith said. Citing data from the Open Doors Report, Smith related that there were 26,685 students from Taiwan studying in the United States in 2010, making Taiwan the fifth-leading source of international students in the United States. Statistics from Open Doors reveal that over 50 percent of students from Taiwan study in the United States at the graduate level, around 25 percent at the undergraduate level, and about 20 percent either for OPT (optional practical training) or other programs, he said. Smith also recommended several strategies to help schools bolster their student recruitment efforts in Taiwan, including supporting AIEF’s campus ambassador program, offering seminars and visiting local schools, and promoting networking between U.S. and Taiwan schools.

Pre-Fair publicity and promotional activities included extensive local newspaper and radio coverage, web announcements, e-newsletters, and posters & flyers. Representatives from selected U.S. educational institutions were interviewed on ICRT, the local English-language radio station in Taipei, as well as by local newspapers. AIEF offered free seminars at local public libraries and other sites in Taiwan to introduce the upcoming Fair events.

On Saturday and Sunday, March 19-20, AIEF’s 2011 Spring Education Fair in Taiwan was held at the China Petroleum Corporation (CPC) facilities, situated near the famous Taipei 101 tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world and a major tourist attraction.

On Monday, March 21, participating school representatives traveled via Taiwan’s High Speed Train to attend the Kaohsiung Fair in the Grand Hi Lai Hotel. On March 22, the group traveled by bus to Taichung for the AIEF Fair at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel.

Including online registrations, AIEF collected data from 2283 students at the events in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung. Student data will be sent to each participating school in accordance with the visiting log at its booth.

Online pre-fair registration was offered by AIEF to the exhibition’s visitors. Students who visited the AIEF Education Fair were encouraged to register their educational goals and contact information in AIEF’s student tracking system. Following our verification of student data, participating U.S. schools will receive a list of the student contacts that visited their individual school’s booth during the Fair.

A series of free seminars for students were offered at the AIEF Fair venues. Seminar topics included “The TOEFL ® Test – Your Passport to the World,” “What the University of South Carolina Can Offer You,” “A New Kind of MBA: The Early Career MBA,” “Travel, Work, and Internships in the U.S.,” “Prepare for Student Visa Interview to U.S.,” and “Student Loan to Study Abroad.” At the Kaohsiung Fair venue, AIT representative Ms. Monica Hsu offered a presentation on the student visa application process in Taiwan.

Fair visitors enjoyed AIEF’s free counseling services at all three Fair venues. Based upon the academic background and goals of the visiting students, AIEF counselors provided guidance to students to visit the booths at the fair venue.

At the Taipei Fair, volunteer students were sponsored by the Kang Chiao Bilingual School and Pu Tai Senior High School. The Kaohsiung Fair was sponsored by the Fooyin University, while the Taichung event was sponsored by the Chia-Yang High School. The group from I-Shou International School was led by College Guidance Counselor, Ms. Carol Ann Siegel.


Student Translators (in yellow jacket) are provided for each school booth.	Student Volunteers (in blue jacket) are at work at the venue.	Interpreters and Volunteers Training

AIEF treated the U.S. school representatives to a variety of delicious Chinese dishes at lunches at the Kaohsiung Grand Hi-Lai Hotel on March 21, as well as at the Taichung Evergreen Laurel Hotel on March 22.

Free copies of the 2011 Spring edition of UScampus Guide were issued to all Fair visitors. Created by AIEF, this semiannually published magazine offers accurate and up-to-date information to international students interested in studying in the United States. Complimentary copies of the magazine are distributed at all of AIEF’s American Education Fairs in Asia, as well as to public libraries in other sites. UScampus Guide is also distributed to Educational Advising Centers in 16 countries in the region, as indicated in the inside back cover of the magazine.

US educational organizations are encouraged to submit articles or place advertisements in the UScampus Guide. For more information, please e-mail info@aief-usa.org.

U.S. school representatives visited AIEF’s Taipei American Education Center on March 18th. Ms. Pearl Wu gave the visiting group a tour of the facilities and introduced the activities conducted at the Center, including the library resources, computer testing center, student advising, and seminars. U.S. school representatives were encouraged to leave copies of their schools’ materials at the Center for the benefit of students in Taiwan who are planning to study in the USA.

Registration is now open for AIEF’s 2011 Summer and Fall American Education Fairs in Asia. The Fair schedule is as follows:

Summer 2011
   China
      Shenyang – July 9-10
      Anshan – July 13
      Dalian – July 16-17

Fall 2011
   Korea
      Seoul – Sept. 17-18
      Busan – Sept. 20
   Taiwan
      Taipei – Sept. 24-25
      Kaohsiung – Sept. 26
      Taichung – Sept. 27
   Singapore
      Singapore – Sept. 29

Online registration is available at: http://www.aief-usa.org/services/signup_fairus.htm. For more information, please visit our website, www.aief-usa.org, or call the AIEF office in California at 714-985-1995.