Dick Krajczar, EARCOS Executive Director and Jane Larsson, CIS Executive Director welcomes the delegates.
Keynote speaker Andy Davies, Head of School, International School Bangkok.
4 Institute on International A th
EARCOS and the Council of International Schools (CIS) have once again successfully partnered on a regional institute to connect university counselors in Asia and university admissions officers from around the world. The EARCOS-CIS Institute on International Admissions and Guidance brought together over 450 participants for two days of networking, sharing effective practices, and brainstorming new and better ways to serve globally mobile student populations. Over 240 university counselors from 21 countries across Asia attended the institute, as well as over 200 university representatives from the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Networking opportunities were built into the program through joint lunches, coffee breaks and a closing reception. School counselors also had a chance to represent their schools during the school fair, where universities could circulate and talk to different counselors, and counselors had a chance to network with universities during the reverse university fair. Schools were able to leave with increased knowledge about global university options for their students, and universities were able to gain a better understanding of the schools in attendance and even consider adding in visits to new schools and regions in future student recruitment trips. Drawing on the talent and expertise of the attendees, 36 sessions were offered over the course of the two days that appealed to both university and school attendees, and stimulated dialogue that continued long after the sessions were over. Topics varied from “Negotiating Ethical Dilemmas” and “Using Data and Technology in the College Process” to “Preparing Students for a Career in the 21st 6 EARCOS Triannual Journal
Century” and “Adding Value to the College Visit.” Counselors were also able to present on regional topics such as “Recruiting in Indonesia” and “The Geography of International Schools and University Recruitment Experiences in Vietnam” to share effective practices and regional knowledge with the university representatives in attendance. Not only did participants engage with each other over the two days, but a large university fair was planned for local students to meet the university representatives. Almost 700 students from dozens of schools in the Bangkok area attended the Saturday evening fair. The universities were able to engage directly with potential students and their families, which helped to increase their knowledge of as well as provide greater access to global university options. For the first time, an “unconference” session for counselors was held concurrent with the university fair for students. Counselors were able to generate ideas for discussion on a whiteboard during the conference, and during the last session block of the conference participated in a moderated discussion to problem-solve and generate ideas. Topics submitted for discussion included how comprehensive counseling offices can best support mental health counseling, European and UK university options for students who are not completing the full IB program, and how to best predict admission for students who don’t take SAT or ACT and for countries that don’t use those in admissions decisions.The report back from the “unconference” session was positive and we hope to continue this session format in future years.
