Page 29 - ELG1704 Apr Issue 446

COMMENT

On the road to pathway
success

Jennifer Thayer looks at how US universities are partners is the flexibility of their
introducing pathway programmes model. They do not provide a
cookie-cutter approach for all
institutions. And they really look
RE pathways a route to at the market to determine the
enrolment success? That competitiveness of the univer-
A is the question on the sity and the need for a pathway
mind of many university educa- programme before it is imple-
tors when the topic of pathway mented.
programmes for international Our point is simply that suc-
students comes up. cessful programmes have strong
At International Education leadership and defined respon-
Advantage (Intead), we work sibilities that are managed well
with universities and private from start to finish. That level
secondary schools to help build Ownership of on-site language schools at US institutions of reliable, consistent oversight
their global digital marketing and execution is more common
presence, and, in turn, their when a single party owns the
recruitment numbers. We are whole process. If your pathway
part of these discussions when programme is too cumbersome
international admissions officers or time consuming, or simply not
are asking: are pathways benefi- pulling the numbers you need,
cial for universities? What is the do consider other options.
best way to implement them on a Choose a partner that will
US campus? Do they really drive work with you, not for you.
enrolment? Much like building an agent
These questions are due, in network, a language programme
part, to the relative newness of will fail if you sign a contract for
pathway programmes in the US. others to do the work and simply
As Jean-Marc Alberola, president International students on campus, by ownership of language school put that contract in a drawer
of Bridge Education Group, expecting everything to fall into
puts it, ‘Pathway programmes are The adoption of third-party lan- providers tend to behave in ways place. Regardless of the opera-
misunderstood because they are guage school providers has grown that delegate responsibility to the tional model, time and effort
so new and evolving in real time.’ substantially over the last decade provider and neglect the overall and an engaged leadership are
Bridge’s work in this area and more rapidly over the past management of the programme. all required for success. Not an
is often challenged by misin- three years. Some of the key play- The result is that marketing and amazing insight there, just plain
terpretations of what pathway common sense.
programmes provide to the Pathway programmes are Our recommendation is to
university and the student, and absolutely consider a third-party
how they can be beneficial to misunderstood ... provider to help you with your
recruitment. pathway programme. Make sure
In that case, what are the ba- they will be flexible and will
sics of US pathway programmes? ers in the US include Kaplan, operational responsibilities are adapt their approach to your
Well, they are really not any Shorelight, Bridge, Navitas and not managed as well as when institution, your management
different than the models used INTO. the institution is responsible for structure, your academic offer-
in the UK and Australia. The What we see, on average, is everything. ing, etc. And be sure the pathway
only difference is that the oldest that institutions that are building Should you ditch your path- programme management is
US pathway programmes are no and managing their own lan- way programme providers? handled by trusted partners, not
more than a few years old. guage programmes tend to have a That’s not what we’re saying. rigid profiteers.
The basic model of a pathway higher percentage of internation- A third-party provider can cer-
programme allows international al students on campus than those tainly do the job. In fact, many Jennifer Thayer
students to come to the US and using third-party providers. of these relationships have been is marketing
communications
take a foundation year of English Our theory behind this: hugely successful. Jean-Marc manager at
courses at a university. On-cam- language programmes require tells us that the key to the many Intead student
pus programmes can be run by hands-on management. Those successful relationships Bridge marketing
universities or by third parties. institutions hiring third-party has built with their university consultancy

30 April 2017

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