New admissions ambassador program to accelerate international enrollment

<p>Arizona State University faces a paradox when recruiting outside the United States: there are many students who want to study in the U.S. but identifying and reaching these students can be difficult at such a great cultural and geographical distance.   </p><separator></separator><p>To help grow ASU’s student population while accelerating the achievement of the university’s design aspirations of societal transformation, diversity and global engagement, the ASU Alumni Association and the undergraduate admissions office of University Student Initiatives are collaborating, with the support of the Office of the Vice President for Global Engagement (OVPGE), to create a unique international enrollment marketing strategy: the International Alumni Admissions Ambassador (IAAA) program.</p><separator></separator><p>Using a faculty-nomination process, the IAAA program identifies and appoints international alumni to serve for two years as Admissions Ambassadors. These ambassadors help the admissions office identify schools that are preparing students who can succeed at ASU. This innovative strategy focuses on identifying the needs of such students and parents as early as the 10th grade and providing a local contact who understands their needs and who can represent the university.</p><separator></separator><p>ASU has selected 19 alumni to serve as ambassadors in the pilot phase of the program. Ambassadors live in Germany, Sweden, Ecuador, Russia, China, Japan, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, France, New Zealand, Jordan, India, Mexico, and Yemen. Stephen Barnett, director of student international advancement for OVPGE, said that if the pilot is successful, plans call for increasing the number of ambassadors in the program to 70 in 2009 and to 120 in 2010.</p><separator></separator><p>For more information about the IAAA program, contact Linda Glover, associate vice president of enrollment management, at 480-965-2200 or <a href="mailto:Linda.Glover@asu.edu">Linda.Glover@asu.edu</a>.</p&gt;