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Written by: Zeeshan Aleem
Published: 12/10/2009 The Changing World of International Recruitment
IDP Education, the world's largest student placement firm, has released a list of ten universities that pay for its international recruitment services, reports Inside Higher Ed. The release is considered by many as an indicator that outsourcing international recruitment services to private agents may be gaining acceptance in the higher education community. "As the number of traditional college students drops and overseas institutions advance their recruiting efforts, U.S. universities face unprecedented competition that, if left unchecked, could lead to another iconic American industry succumbing to foreign competition," Mark Shay, North American director of IDP Education, said in a news release. "Our charter partners are being proactive in working to compete for students worldwide." While international recruitment itself is not a new phenomenon, commission-based recruitment has historically been stigmatized. In the U.S., many officials involved in college admissions are skeptical of the merits of contracting out recruitment, seeing the goal of a private agent as likely to be at odds with the mission of a university – a placement firm is motivated by commission revenue, while a university is most interested in qualified students who are a strong fit for the school. Yet just a couple of days after IDP Education's release, the American International Recruitment Council, a new standards-setting body, announced that eight independent agencies that recruit college students from abroad have passed a rigorous certification process – another sign of the growing legitimacy of third-party agents in recruiting international students, reports Chronicle of Higher Ed.
"There is a real sense of significant momentum building," Mitch Leventhal, chair and president of the year-old recruitment council, told the Chronicle. "I think we're on the cusp of more institutions working with agents."
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Readers had the following comment(s) on this article:
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12/11/2009 |
Mitch Leventhal, Chair & President, American International Recruitment Council, mitch.leventhal@suny.edu |
In response to the person writing as Bob Jones, who uses a Hotmail account and who appears to work at a fictitious university, I wish to set the record straight: My employment at IDP ended in 2004. Following IDP, I have worked at the University of Cincinnati (from 2005-2009) and now at the SUNY system (since September 2009). I have no financial interest in and receive no compensation from IDP. My work on behalf of AIRC - a not-for-profit standards development organization - is as its Board Chair and President, and is done on a strictly voluntary basis. The AIRC is constructed such that Certification Board’s activity is completely firewalled from the Board of Directors. Decisions made by the Certification Board are confidential, and board members are not informed of these details. The AIRC certifies underlying business processes. Some companies, such as Hobsons, which have an established business in related educational marketing, have a desire to set up operations in accordance with the best practices developed by AIRC. AIRC believes that it good to allow companies such as this the opportunity to have their business processes certified and will do what it can to establish best practices throughout higher education. We at AIRC, and I personally, understand that the use of agents is highly controversial, and we welcome a lively and open debate. However, it is unacceptable for people to throw out false and inaccurate claims - parading them as truth - while hiding behind the anonymity of the web. Mitch Leventhal
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12/11/2009 |
Bob Jones, VP Enrollment, Long Branch University, bob.jones@hotmail.com |
This article fails to mention a very interesting link between the AIRC and IDP. Mitch Leventhal who is the head of the AIRC was the CEO of IDP USA/Canada from 2001-2004. How can a "a new standards-setting body" have such a close relationship with an agent service provider? Doesn't anyone see an obvious conflict of interest here? It is also very telling and very interesting that AIRC somehow found a way to qualify Hobsons as an approved agent even though they are just launching their agent services this year. For every other agency they must show "proof" of being in business for 2 years. For the record Hobsons is considered a founding member of AIRC. Double standards and obvious conflict of interest abound for an organization that is less than a year old. What's next?
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