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Hansen recruits international students in Asia
October 13, 2006
This week, Cheryl Hansen, director of international admission, will travel to Taiwan to build relationships with Taiwanese recruiters and schools in hopes of enticing more foreign students to attend PLU.
Hansen is a member of Governor Christine Gregoire’s Korea and Taiwan trade mission and education delegation.
“The key to international education is establishing relationships,” Hansen said. “And face-to-face meetings build relationships.”
Hansen will only be visiting Taiwan with the delegation. Over the last eight years, 80 Taiwanese students have attended PLU, but there are only two currently on campus, she said. PLU has more Korean and Chinese students, and Hansen said she’d like to see more Taiwanese students represented on campus.
For two days, Hansen will participate in a variety of networking opportunities, including a trade show to meet with partner schools and a dinner reception to meet with dignitaries, she said. Additionally, Hansen will meet in a workshop with representatives from 13 Taiwanese universities to discuss ways they can collaborate to get Taiwanese students to PLU for a semester or more.
“The workshop is like speed dating – every 20 minutes they ring a bell and you move on,” she said.
Hansen will also travel on her own to China, giving presentations at private high schools and universities, meeting with university recruiters, and spending time with the parents of current Chinese PLU students and alumni.
“There are five sets of parents who want to meet me and thank me for all that PLU has done for their students that arrived this fall,” she said.
According to Hansen, PLU needs international students on campus because the economy today spans the globe. Students need to recognize that to be educated for today’s world means being educated internationally.
She hopes that by exposing American students to international students on the PLU campus, more American students will decide to study abroad. Additionally, international students at PLU enrich the classroom experience by offering new ideas, she said.
“The best way to change America’s image in the world is to change the way Americans see the rest of the world and interact with it,” she said. “Students need to get out of the U.S. and interact with the rest of the world.”
In the future, Hansen’s goal is that international students make up 10 percent of PLU’s student population, which is the rate most universities strive for, she said. Currently, international students make up around 4 percent of the student population.
“The key to international education is establishing relationships,” Hansen said. “And face-to-face meetings build relationships.”
Hansen will only be visiting Taiwan with the delegation. Over the last eight years, 80 Taiwanese students have attended PLU, but there are only two currently on campus, she said. PLU has more Korean and Chinese students, and Hansen said she’d like to see more Taiwanese students represented on campus.
For two days, Hansen will participate in a variety of networking opportunities, including a trade show to meet with partner schools and a dinner reception to meet with dignitaries, she said. Additionally, Hansen will meet in a workshop with representatives from 13 Taiwanese universities to discuss ways they can collaborate to get Taiwanese students to PLU for a semester or more.
“The workshop is like speed dating – every 20 minutes they ring a bell and you move on,” she said.
Hansen will also travel on her own to China, giving presentations at private high schools and universities, meeting with university recruiters, and spending time with the parents of current Chinese PLU students and alumni.
“There are five sets of parents who want to meet me and thank me for all that PLU has done for their students that arrived this fall,” she said.
According to Hansen, PLU needs international students on campus because the economy today spans the globe. Students need to recognize that to be educated for today’s world means being educated internationally.
She hopes that by exposing American students to international students on the PLU campus, more American students will decide to study abroad. Additionally, international students at PLU enrich the classroom experience by offering new ideas, she said.
“The best way to change America’s image in the world is to change the way Americans see the rest of the world and interact with it,” she said. “Students need to get out of the U.S. and interact with the rest of the world.”
In the future, Hansen’s goal is that international students make up 10 percent of PLU’s student population, which is the rate most universities strive for, she said. Currently, international students make up around 4 percent of the student population.