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NAFSA Marketing and Communications MIG Virtual Open Meeting Recap
Thanks to everyone who was able to join us a few weeks ago for our annual open meeting. We enjoyed our dynamic discussions and were glad to see that while we are all struggling with the current situation and the uncertainties surrounding the future of international education and student mobility, we also found some common silver lining among our discussion groups.
After comparing our breakout room discussion notes, here are our main takeaways:
Silver Lining:
Many of us have been able to focus on areas that usually take a back seat: content strategy, rebrand, website redesign, rethinking the definition of global education – lots of “re-s” that allow us to press the pause button and shift gears.
The same goes for trying out projects and campaigns you have never done before, such as Snapchat Takeovers by students that are no longer on-site are now hosted by alumni or using Instagram Live for faculty interviews for their programs. We are exploring new ways to reach students, getting us out of our old habits, and encouraging us to be creative and innovative.
And finally, we have been able to get our colleagues and supervisors to agree to projects that we were initially hesitant about, such as adding live chat options to the website and offering virtual office hours.
Challenges:
We have also been dealing with similar challenges and concerns:
Engagement: how do we keep students engaged and excited about global opportunities during these times? Financial distress and travel restrictions have taken on completely new dimensions. At the same time, how do we combat video overload, feeling Zoomed out, and engaging students in virtual events - especially many institutions’ fall study abroad fair was a major conversation topic (join the recently formed LinkedIn group for more on this topic).
Furloughs, lay-offs and budget cuts: This unfortunately, affected many of us. Some more, some less. From reducing international education staff from full-time to half-time to staff of decentralized offices having been laid off, sharing in the works of others, and taking all kinds of staggered pay cuts. This part of the conversation focused primarily on universities, while third-party providers have seen an even greater impact.
Announcing New Monthly Open Meeting Series
Every last Wednesday of the month at 1:00PM CST
We have seen tremendous interest in continuing our conversations beyond our annual open meetings, especially in the current uncertain situation. So, we decided to hold monthly open meetings.
Please make sure to register in advance for our open meetings. You can use the same registration link for all meetings or choose which ones you can attend:
Jul 29, 2020 01:00 PM
Aug 26, 2020 01:00 PM
Sep 30, 2020 01:00 PM
Oct 28, 2020 01:00 PM
Call for NAFSA Proposal Collaborators
Would you like to find someone in the MIG to present with at NAFSA in Orlando? Use this Google Sheet to see what others are interested in presenting on or to list the topic you would be most interested in.
Call for webinar presenters on the following topics:
- Fall Study Abroad Fair Planning
- Messaging and Content Strategy During Uncertain Times
- International Student Orientation Planning Uncertain Times
- Other topics?
Just reply to this email if you are interested!
Until next time, stay safe and healthy,
Your NAFSA M&C MIG
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