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• Changes to INZ’s panel physicians

  INZ is continuing to implement changes to its panel physician network as part the agreement with Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) to create a jointly managed offshore panel physician network. 

  Implementation of the network, which is occurring in a phased approach, is expected to be fully completed by November 2014.  Changes implemented in April and June 2013 resulted in alignment of panel physicians in over 100 countries.

  INZ is now making some changes to its panel in China, ahead of formal alignment with DIBP in this region in late 2014.  This will result in the addition and removal of some panel physicians, but will not result in a net decrease of INZ panel physician coverage in China.

  Changes will be effective as of 1 November 2013.

  • Panel physicians being removed from INZ’s list have been informed not to accept appointments after 31 October 2013.

  • Applicants who have had a medical and/or chest X-ray certificate completed by a panel physician being removed from INZ’s panel will still be able to submit these with their visa application if they have been completed prior to 1 November 2013.

  • The INZ panel physician list is on the INZ website . If applicants are unsure whether their medical certificates have been completed by a panel physician they should refer to the INZ website, or contact their nearest INZ office for further advice.

  Further information

  Additional information is published on INZ’s website  

• ENZ Facebook group connects international students

  The ENZ social media team has created #MyStudyinNZ Journey, a Facebook group for international students across New Zealand to connect, share upcoming events and meetups, ask questions and offer advice.

  ENZ Director of Student Experience, Hayley Shields, says the group is a space for international students to support one another while also offering ENZ valuable learnings about the types of information they need. Plans are in place for a similar group on WeChat to be launched later in the year.

  “This idea has come out of our student experience research where students told us they value the advice of other students. Facebook communities provide an easy forum for our international students to connect.” 

  To ensure the Facebook group is entirely student-focussed, ENZ has recruited a group of domestic and international students to act as moderators. They will ensure students get the information they need while maintaining the group atmosphere as a safe and positive space.

  One of the Facebook moderators, Pritchard Mukuka, says, “For me, this group means bringing home, security and comfort to fellow international students to make their study and stay as pleasant as possible.”

  How education providers can get involved

  Please share the Facebook group details with your international students and encourage them to join up.

  If you would like to share information about events taking place at your institution with the group, please email ENZ International Social Engagement Manager, Olivia Silverwood, on olivia.silverwood@enz.govt.nz

• Dan Carter meets Game On English students in Japan

  Former All Black star, Dan Carter, visited Japan earlier this month to take part in a charity event for Support Our Kids (SOK). SOK works with children deeply affected by the Tohoku earthquake of 2011, nurturing them to become future reconstruction leaders.

  So far 296 children have taken part in the programme which is supported by 11 countries around the world including New Zealand.  Students get the opportunity to take part in two-week international exchanges focused on developing leadership skills and learning more about different cultures. They are placed with homestay families for the duration of their exchange.

  Ian Kennedy, former New Zealand Ambassador to Japan, serves as the Honorary Chairman of SOK. The New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo has been a key supporter along with over 200 major Japanese corporations and organisations.

  SOK and its sponsor companies hosted a series of events for Dan Carter including rugby clinics in three cities: Fukuoka, Kamaishi and Hachimantai. Fukuoka clinic included school children who had travelled from Kumamoto, a city that was hit by an earthquake in April.

  "Dan’s support of the recovery and rebuilding efforts in the cities he visited as well as his dedication to supporting the Japanese youth has been amazing," said Misa Pitt ENZ Senior Market Development Manager Japan.  

  This year, Education New Zealand (ENZ) is sponsoring 10 SOK students who will arrive in New Zealand in August to take part in a one-day Game On English (GOE) taster programme at Canterbury Rugby Football Union, one of GOE’s rugby partners. The announcement was made during the charity auction dinner, where Dan met with the students and wished them all the best for their two weeks’ stay and study in Auckland and Christchurch.

  GOE is an edu-sport programme combining New Zealand’s expertise in sports coaching with our world-class English language teaching. There is demand for this product given the Japan government’s goal to improve English language skills and increase sporting capacity in the lead up to hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Summer Olympics.

  “ENZ really welcomes partnering with SOK," said Ms Pitt. "Rugby is a disciplined sport which promotes strong team work and leadership qualities. We hope the students will learn and gain lots from this experience.

  "By working closely with the host cities of the Rugby World Cup in 2019, we hope to be able to identify new opportunities to introduce New Zealand’s expertise in English language teaching, rugby coaching, hospitality, tourism and other special areas,” said Ms Pitt. 

  

  MISA PITT, ENZ SENIOR MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER JAPAN AND DAN CARTER.

• INZ “Apply on Behalf” almost here…

  The new service will allow overseas-based education agents to submit visa applications online on behalf of their clients.

  Education agents based in New Zealand, as well as education providers, will be able to help students complete and submit an online application, but they are prohibited by law from providing immigration advice.

  …and eVisas coming soon

  Later this year, eVisas – passport-free and label-less visas – will be available to students from visa-waiver countries (these are countries whose citizens do not need a visa to travel to New Zealand).

  Also later in 2015, education providers will be able to view their students’ visa status through Immigration New Zealand’s VisaView service.

  We will have more detail on all this in upcoming eNews.

• Student ambassadors appointed in Christchurch

  “The Student Ambassador programme is one of several initiatives aimed at better supporting international students so that they make the most of their time in Christchurch and perhaps encouraging them to stay longer in the region,” said Richard Ashmore, International Student Pathway Coordinator with Christchurch Educated.

  “It is also a great personal development opportunity for the new ambassadors who will receive training and the chance to expand their own international networks.”

  The inaugural group of ambassadors is made up of 14 students from New Zealand, Australia, Afghanistan, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Russia and the Philippines.

  “Some of the New Zealanders in the group benefitted from similar programmes during their own overseas study experience and want to help others in the same way,” said Richard.

  Izzie Guo arrived in Christchurch in 2009 totally unprepared for the shock of landing in a foreign environment with only a limited understanding of the language. She was fortunate to have amazing support from her homestay mum and senior classmates to help her adjust to a lifestyle, language and living environment vastly different to the one she had left behind in China. Now Izzie is looking forward to helping other international students faced with the challenges that come with embarking on a learning experience in a new country.

  “I have always wanted to help students new to Christchurch. I remember when I first arrived. I had many difficulties and so many people helped me in many ways. I want to give a little help and hopefully that can make a difference,” said Izzie.

  The student ambassadors are studying at mostly tertiary institutions including the University of Canterbury, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Southland Institute of Technology, along with Middleton Grange and Kaiapoi high schools. 

  The student ambassadors were received into the programme by Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel in mid-October. In addition to their mentoring duties, the ambassadors will represent Christchurch Educated and the city of Christchurch at official functions and international education visits and events. They will start in their roles as fully trained ambassadors in January 2015.

  Interest in the roles was so high that a second group of ambassadors will be inducted into the programme next year.

• Korean agents tour New Zealand

  From 7-14 May, the agents (three of whom were winners of ENZ’s “I want to Study in NZ” video competition) met with schools, ITPs, universities, export education stakeholders and key industry players.

  Sunah Kim, ENZ’s Market Development Manager – Korea, said the agents also got a taste of the Kiwi lifestyle that students enjoy outside the classroom.

  “We wanted to showcase New Zealand as a high quality, safe and creative destination for Korean students,” said Sunah.

  “This was a nice balance to their meetings with industry professionals, which were aimed more at expanding the agents’ partnership networks in New Zealand.”

  In Auckland, the agents met with local schools and providers, while their visit to Wellington focused on the creative sector, and pathways from high schools to Yoobee School of Design, Massey University College of Creative Arts and Park Road Post Production, which ran its first film production training programme last year.

  The final stop was Christchurch, where some of the agents had sent their very first students. Ara Institute of Canterbury thanked them for continuing to build strong education ties with the city, and also thanked ENZ for increased engagement with the Korean market through the video competition, scholarship offers and agent famil.

  

  Networking event at Ara with Christchurch education providers.

  Sunah said the numbers suggest Korean agents have taken note of these activities. Visa data shows a 14% increase for the first quarter of 2017 – the first time in a decade. The growth is consistent across all visa types and has been sustained since November 2016.

  “Agents are important players in the Korean market, and their reinvigorated energy has helped raise New Zealand’s education profile in Korea,” said Sunah.

  “Many thanks to everyone who made this trip successful by showing such warm hospitality and providing useful insights to the agents – particularly Misook Kim from Study Auckland, Christine Pugh from Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency, and Karen Haigh from Christchurch Educated.” 

  

  Left: At the Yoobee School of Design. Right: At the ENZ head office in Wellington.

• Great ideas from schools

  The ENZ Schools’ Reference Group was set up last year as a way to collect school feedback and ideas about how the sector can best develop. 

  ENZ Business Development Manager Mary Camp says the latest meeting on 25 February generated a swag of suggestions for the professional development workshops held in the lead-up to the New Zealand International Education Conference (NZIEC). More are welcome…

  “This reference group is really benefitting our work to support the industry,” Mary says. 

  “Given there are so many schools, spread from one end of the country to the other, and with so much variety of character and programme, it can be hard for us to be sure we’re hearing what we need to hear from schools.”

  “It’s great now to have an official channel open for that conversation, as well as the other connections we have through regional clusters and the like. We’ve been able to design services and products to suit schools’ current needs, and schools’ feedback on other parts of Education New Zealand’s work has been hugely valuable.”

  Mary says the pre-conference workshops in 2013 (on business planning, social media and working with agents) were well attended and rated highly by participants. The aim is to keep relevance high for this year’s NZIEC –  held in Wellington on 21-22 August 2014. 

  Additions to this ‘working topic list’ from the Schools’ Reference Group meeting are welcome:

  • Collaboration – looking at different collaborative business models, eg regional, niche

  • Homestay systems/ processes, building your homestay community, sharing ideas

  • Alumni – using them effectively

  • Agent perspectives – what are they looking for? (panel)

  • Market analysis – including hard stats, competitor analysis, and recommended key markets for schools.

  To make a suggestion for workshop topics please contact one of ENZ’s Business Development Managers for the school sector, Richard.Kyle@enz.govt.nz or Mary.Camp@enz.govt.nz. 

• ENZ wins gold

  ENZ took home Gold at PR Week Asia in the category of South Asia PR campaign of the year – the most prestigious PR category that evaluates a campaign’s overall impact and success.

  'From Volume to Value' aimed to enhance New Zealand’s education brand position in the Indian student market, to attract more high-quality students from south India as well as more students overall wanting to study at level seven and above, particularly at graduate and postgraduate level. The campaign supported a 20 percent increase in university enrolments from India, and saw New Zealand move up in preference ranking from seven to three as a study destination for Indian students.

  ENZ was nominated alongside Marico Ltd, Star India Pvt. Ltd., The Coca-Cola Company and Team Indus.

  John Laxon, ENZ Regional Director – South, South East Asia & the Middle East is delighted with the win.

  “It's a big achievement, going up against Coke, Star India and Team Indus to win ENZ's first gold in the South Asia PR Campaign of the year. To give a sense of the calibre of the entrants other category winners included AirBnB, Panasonic, SAP, Huawei, Ford and the World Wildlife Fund.”

  “The award is a testament of the hard work and passion put in by the entire team to deliver a high-impact campaign, and to the support and commitment from our New Zealand education industry partners.

  "We’d like to thank all of the New Zealand education providers who have invested in attracting high-quality students from the Indian market, and look forward to further strengthening New Zealand’s reputation as a positive learning destination for international students.”

  You can find the complete list of winners here. 

• New Zealand Story launched

  An initiative to help Kiwi organisations gain competitive advantage by building a strong, consistent profile for New Zealand in international markets.

  The New Zealand Story - which you can watch online here - was produced to broaden the perception of New Zealand internationally, beyond the scenic beauty of the country to include attributes like our innovation and resourcefulness, our unique Māori culture, our integrity and our welcoming, friendly approach.

  Education is a strong part of the story, particularly in its third chapter ‘Our Open Minds’, which illustrates New Zealanders ingenuity and problem-solving skills by sharing examples from tutorials, research labs and small-to-medium businesses around the country.

  The New Zealand Story reflects attributes and values shaped by New Zealand’s place in the world, and highlights the welcoming nature, integrity and resourcefulness of New Zealanders.

  It was developed by Tourism New Zealand, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and Education New Zealand, in close consultation with public and private sector stakeholders including those working in international education.

  Read the full media release here or visit www.newzealand.com.

• Study in New Zealand website delivers greater value

  Euan Howden, ENZ’s Student Attraction Director, says prospective students are increasingly using StudyinNewZealand.govt.nz (SiNZ) to search for study options, with new statistics showing use of SiNZ’s search widgets (stand-alone applications) surged 117% from last year.

  “The addition of the ‘Find a course’ search widget last year, alongside existing widgets for institutions/schools, scholarships and agents, has considerably improved engagement.

  “This shows the site is delivering value to prospective students as well as New Zealand providers who want to attract students to their unique education offerings.”

  Those using the new search widgets are finding what they are looking for much quicker and are spending more time reading the results, an average of 4.22 minutes, which combined with a bounce rate (people who leave without reading further) of 5.9% is an outstanding result – the industry bounce rate average is 40%.

  “The recent improvements to the search widgets have significantly increased our target audience’s exposure to content about why they should choose New Zealand, and we’re very pleased with results to date,” says Euan.

  

  
  The SINZ search widgets allow prospective students to search for courses, institutions, scholarships and agents.

  This improved search performance coincides with a suite of other initiatives designed to improve site performance and deliver greater value to students.

  Other updates include:

  • Default search results are now randomised if a user has not used any search filters. This is a change from the previous approach of presenting results in alphabetical order and means preference won’t be given to institutions with names beginning with ‘A’.
  • The start date refinement filter has been removed due to inconsistencies in the data available from institutions, which led to inconsistent search results.
  • Keyword search will be enabled in the search widgets to allow for more intuitive search results for users.

  These changes are in addition to the launch of My StudyNZ, which helps to connect students to New Zealand study options.

  In the last year, more than one million users visited the SiNZ website. To maximise the potential of SINZ for your institution, ensure your institution’s profile is complete and up-to-date.