INTO This Week 118

The event kicked off with a welcome address from INTO's Chairman, Andrew Colin who reflected on his pride in the development of the organisation and the role public-private partnerships have to play in meeting great higher education capacity challenges. "We believe in the power of education to transform lives and are driven by a desire to have a positive impact on the higher education landscape", he said.

This was a sentiment echoed by Lord Sebastian Coe in his witty and forthright address to the audience. Reflecting on his time as Chairman of the London Olympic Organising Committee, he identified a commitment to a vision, hard work, excellent communications, laughter and teamwork as the keys to success.

The conference itself provided an opportunity for all of those involved in the INTO network to share their views of the successes and challenges. Professor Ella Ritchie, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University summed up "Public-private partnerships can be challenging, but there is a balance to find & a lot to learn from one another."

The delegates considered a range of issues relating to internationalisation and how we can enable the partnership to develop to promote better student experiences, enhanced student mobility and a deeper understanding of the role quality education counseling organisations play in supporting the internationalisation objectives of our partner universities.

The debate was enriched by a stellar array of guest speakers and contributors including, Mr. Shen Yang, Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in London, Will Archer, Chief Executive of the I-Graduate group, Dr. Bill Lawton of the Observatory of Higher Education, Aaron Porter, Former President of the National Union of Students in the UK and Tim Gore of the University of London.

But what stood out for many was the contribution made by our students, reflecting on and sharing their experiences of studying at INTO centres in the UK and China.

A full video of the conference will be available in the New Year but to watch interviews with some of our keynote speakers, including Lord Sebastian Coe, please select the links below:

• Andrew Colin, INTO Chairman
• Lord Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
• Charles Clarke
• INTO student panelists
• Aaron Porter, former-president of the National Union of Students
• Amy Parsons, Vice-President for Operations at Colorado State University

The INTO Awards

In a glittering dinner and ceremony at the magnificent Renaissance St Pancras hotel in London, compered by MJ Miller, the INTO Partner awards were announced.

Scooping the award for INTO Joint Venture Centre of the Year was INTO Oregon State University which has exceeded all enrolment and fiscal targets two years ahead of its original business plan. The partnership with Oregon State University has helped to transform the campus and established OSU as a beacon for successful internationalisation across the entire United States.

The full awards are listed below:

• INTO Giving Award - INTO University Partnerships Brighton
• Start Up Award - Marshall University
• Transformational Project of the Year - Newcastle University
• Social Media Impact - University of East Anglia and INTO UEA
• Academic Performance - INTO University of Exeter
• True Grit Award - INTO Manchester
• Student Integration Award - Colorado State University for its Global Village initiative
• The Star Trek - To Boldy Go Award - INTO Saint George's, University of London
• Above and Beyond Award - INTO University of South Florida
• Blue Whale Award for Outstanding Growth - INTO UEA London and INTO City University
• Ian Sanders Memorial Award for Innovation - Nankai University and INTO China
• Outstanding Student Experience - INTO Scotland at Glasgow Caledonian University
• University Partner of the Year - Queen's University Belfast
• INTO Centre(Centre) of the Year INTO Oregon State University

To see photos from the INTO Partners' conference 2012, click here.

As one might expect, the hospitality offered by Queen's was outstanding. In a welcome address to the delegates, Sir Peter Gregson, vice chancellor of the University, shared the enormous progress Queen's has made in the past three years. Runner up in this year's Sunday Times University of the Year, Sir Peter outlined just how strong an institution the University is and shared with colleagues the global impact Queen's is making.

'The global market for high quality, higher education is expanding rapidly and we need to take a high quality stance." he said.

His sentiments were endorsed by Isabel Jennings, Director of Student Plus at the University. In welcoming the delegates she reflected on how important it was for INTO staff to come and see Queen's for themselves.

"It's hard to represent something like education unless you come here and feel the heartbeat of the place and uniqueness of what the Belfast experience is.', she said.

"The conference provided the perfect opportunity for INTOs global student recruitment workforce to see the impressive Queen's campus and learn more about what the university and the city has to offer international students. Hosting the conference at Queen's underlines INTOs commitment to its partnership with one of the top ranked universities in the UK." Said conference organizer Stuart Coleman.

"This is the time of the year when nearly 100 regional office staff from all corners of the world come together to plan the year ahead and meet colleagues from other areas of our business. Take the sales training for example. When you put over 20 different nationalities from at least as many countries in one session to work on a sales pitch, the outcome is likely to be anything but boring!" said, Tuukka Hinttula, INTO's Recruitment Director for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia

• To view the photos taken at the Global Recruitment Conference dinner, click here.
• To Listen to an interview with Sir Peter Gregson, Vice-Chancellor at Queen's University Belfast, click here.
• To listen to an interview with Andrew Colin (INTO Chairman) and Isabel Jennings, Director of Student Plus (QUB), click here.