Communication with Education Institutions
The student counsellor needs to know how to communicate with the appropriate people in each destination country’s education institutions.
Communication Channels
The student counsellor must be able to communicate with key education institution staff effectively. However, different educational institutions may prefer different methods and formats of communication. The student counsellor should be aware of and use the media and procedures – ranging from formal to informal – favoured by the personnel of each different education institution.
Contacts
For each education institution, the student counsellor should know the staff member to contact in different situations, e.g., the admissions officer for enrolments, the marketing officer for promotional material, and the accommodation officer to book a homestay for a student. Many institutions assign a designated officer as a point of contact for student counsellors.
Media
The student counsellor may use various media to communicate with an educational institution. For example, the student counsellor could obtain course information on printed media or via a website. Enquiries may be made via email, post, fax, or phone. Enrolment applications could be lodged on paper forms by post or electronic forms on the institution’s website. Students’ documents could be supplied as originals or electronic copies. For each situation, the student counsellor must know:
The Correct Form of Communication
For example, enrolment applications must be on the approved forms and supporting documents must be relevant and complete. Requests for marketing material should specify items and quantities, and delivery dates and locations.
The Required Media Type
For example, a phone text message should not be used where an email is required to place an order for marketing material. If enrolment applications are paper-based, the current printed forms must be used. If electronic, the correct web forms and data entry protocols must be used.
Procedures
The student counsellor may need to know different sets of communication procedures for different educational institutions. The student counsellor must follow the correct communication procedure for the particular situation at each separate education institution. In particular, the student counsellor must know:
The Sequence of Events
For example, pre-enrolment checks may precede a formal enrolment application, and supporting documents may need to be lodged only if requested later. A tuition fee deposit is usually paid with the application, the balance of fees could be paid on acceptance, on admission, or later during study. Marketing materials may be ordered directly from some institutions, but only through regional marketing staff from others.
The Processing Time Frame
For example, enrolment applications must be lodged early enough to allow sufficient processing time before the start date and leave enough time for visa applications, preparation, and travel. The delivery time frame determines how far in advance promotional material must be ordered for a marketing event.
Extension Questions: For each relevant education institution:
- What kind of communication channels can the student counsellor use to deal with the educational institution?
- How does he/she use them?
- What is the education institution’s preferred method of communication?
- How does this affect the student counsellor?
Communication Skills
In an ideal world, the student counsellor would have sufficient language proficiency to communicate effectively with the relevant personnel at an educational institution. In addition, both the student counsellor and institution officer would have effective speaking and listening skills, know when to ask and how to answer questions and be aware of culturally appropriate forms of address and social dynamics.
In reality, the student counsellor may need to develop strategies to deal with linguistic and cultural differences. For example, a person with weak speaking skills might prefer to communicate by email, whereas another person might prefer the immediacy of phone calls. Written forms of communication may be more appropriate if spoken contact risks cultural misunderstanding.
Contact with education institution personnel can have both short- and long-term objectives. In the short term, the student counsellor needs to manage communication with the institution officer to ensure that the particular interaction is successful. At the same time, he/she should act in a way that builds the relationship in the longer term.
Contact
A large part of ensuring a successful outcome in the short term is to use the correct communication channels. As discussed above, the student counsellor needs to find the right people to contact, and use the approved media and procedures.
While surface manners vary across cultures, attention to basic courtesies usually results in smoother and more successful communication. For example, the student counsellor should allow the institution officer enough time to formulate replies or process documents before following up. Correspondingly, he/she should reply promptly and clearly to queries from the institution officer. He/she should be familiar with the information supplied by the educational institution to avoid asking for information that has already been provided.
Relationship Building
In some cultures, personal interaction is an essential aspect of communication, while other cultures prefer a “strictly business” approach. The student counsellor who can adjust his/her personal communication style to the approach favoured by the institution officer will be more successful in building long-term relationships than one who does not.
The most important means of building a long-term relationship with educational institution staff is to ensure that each contact with them achieves its objectives efficiently and effectively. The student counsellor should maintain a high level of professionalism in interactions with institution officers.
The student counsellor’s ethical behaviour is equally important. Ethical shortcuts may work in the short term, but will usually be counterproductive in the long term if the institution officer loses trust in the student counsellor. (Similarly, the student counsellor should be wary of dealing with institution staff whose ethics are questionable.)
Communication skills are discussed further in C1.2 Work Practices/Communication Skills.
Extension Questions: For each relevant education institution:
- What kind of communication skills can the student counsellor use to deal with an educational institution?
- How does he/she use them?
- What is the education institution’s preferred method of communication?
- How does this affect the student counsellor?