INTO Newcastle University showcase their talent!

The Guardian this week published it's University Guide 2013, with Newcastle University having seven top ten academic programmes within their respective league tables. With the University performing so well, what are the contributing factors to their success?

"We have brilliant and extraordinary people here at INTO Newcastle and I don't mind telling people that!"

John Timney, Head of Recruitment for INTO Newcastle University, believes it's the people that drive up academic performance and overall student satisfaction.

"You can't fail to be impressed by the qualifications and experience both in and out of the classroom."

A shining example of INTO Newcastle's quality personnel is the members of staff who make up the INTO Foundation, Science and Engineering team.

From EAP Coordinators to the Programme Manager, each person brings with them experience, innovation and an appetite that students respond to.

Service over and above the call of duty!

The thought of losing your passport evokes fear into most international students but when that nightmare becomes a reality, it is truly terrifying! Zhang Ying Chen, a student from Shanghai, China studying at INTO Newcastle University, was preparing for the worst when she misplaced her passport days before she was due to fly home for Christmas.

Faced with the prospect of spending the holidays alone and certain that no one would be available to help, Zhang sent a copy of her passport to INTO Admissions on the off chance that someone would pick it up. To her surprise, a helping hand was available to send her an immediate CAS (confirmation of acceptance for studies), which not only saved her from buying a new ticket but also meant she could see her family for the first time in months.

When this story emerged recently, Asha Chuang, Regional Marketing Coordinator for INTO University Partnerships, put a call out for those who had gone that extra mile in helping out one of our students.

"It was Marta [Glinska] and myself [Shonagh Doig] who did this looking back over the records. I was sat at my parent's house in Falkirk uploading the information…how's that for service!"

It's a shame that Tim O'Brien, Director of INTO Knowledge, didn't have this kind of service when he lost his passport before the INTO Staff Conference in April. If you have any tips for Tim on keeping his passport safe, then please feel free to email him with your comments.

Coming up next week...

INTO prepare for the summer rush, survey puts CSU 9th among 221 universities for international students' overall satisfaction and INTO Manchester take a trip to Alton Towers.

Dawn Sayer, INTO USF's new Housing & Arrivals Assistant, was born and raised in Greenville, Mississippi, and has worked in Housing (both Residence Life and Administration) at a number of universities including Mississippi State University, Texas State University, and the University of Florida. In her new position, she will be working with on- and off-campus housing and student arrivals to ensure students transition smoothly to Tampa, INTO USF and the University.

Dawn received her Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education and Master of Science in Counselor Education, Student Affairs, from Mississippi State University. An avid social media user, she is a self-proclaimed Star Wars aficionado, movie maven, roller coaster enthusiast and soccer mom.

We are delighted to welcome Ms Ivy Xu to the INTO China team. Ivy will join the senior management team for INTO China as Assistant Director (Operations and Partnerships). She will lead the China University partnership operations and specifically the student experience across our partner Universities. At present this will cover the Summer School operations and teams at Nankai University, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics and Beijing Foreign Studies Universities as well as the soon to be announced long term academic programmes at our University partners. Ivy will also take a direct lead in university partnership development in South China from her base in Guangzhou.

Prior to joining INTO, she was the Assistant Director Education Marketing, British Council China where she served for 11 years. Her role included managing and developing China education market intelligence, leading a national market development team as well as providing marketing services to Education UK Partnership institutions. Ivy has a degree in International Business Communications from the University of Westminster, UK.