Education providers come in all shapes and sizes: large or small, urban or regional, government-owned or private, commercial or not-for-profit. They may cater primarily to domestic students or to international students. They may have national or international accreditation for their courses and may offer a wide range of qualifications. The various types of education institutions found in destination countries are discussed in A2.1 Education Systems/Institution Types.

With such a range, the student counsellor needs to know who the right people are to contact. This is made difficult by the variety of ways in which institutions organise themselves and distribute operational roles to personnel. To find the right people, the student counsellor should become familiar with the organisational structures of target education institutions.

Although their arrangement can vary considerably, most institutions have common functional elements. For example, whether called vice-chancellor, principal, director, or CEO, the person in charge of an organisation has a similar role and performs similar functions.

The size of the institution often determines who the student counsellor will interact with. Generally, the larger the organisation, the more the person in charge tends to delegate functions to staff. That is, the student counsellor could interact directly with the director of a small institution, but with the international education office staff of a large university. (Note: the director of a small institution has more decision-making authority than staff officers of a large institution, and therefore more flexibility.) In some cases, the student counsellor and institution officer may communicate personally. In other cases, the interaction may be no more than an exchange of electronic data.

Organisational Charts

Education institutions’ organisational charts help determine which people are involved in the roles and functions related to international education. These are the people most likely to interact with the student counsellor.

Schools

A simple organisational chart for a school which accepts international students might look like this:

In this organisational structure, it is reasonably easy to see which staff the student counsellor is likely to deal with. For example, he/she is likely to interact with marketing staff, and perhaps also with administration staff and student counsellors. However, he/she is unlikely to communicate directly with the deputy principal or teachers.

Second-language Schools

A simple organisational chart for a second-language school might look like this:

In this case, the student counsellor is unlikely to interact directly with the director of studies or teachers. However, he/she is likely to communicate with international marketing staff and may work with admissions, student contact, and accommodation officers in the administration.

Vocational and Technical Colleges

A simple organisational chart for a medium-sized vocational training school might look like this:

Again, the student counsellor is unlikely to interact directly with the director of studies or teachers. The range of people with whom the student counsellor might come into contact has expanded. While most likely to interact with the international marketing staff, the student counsellor may also work with international admissions and student support officers, and perhaps with the international student academic adviser.

In practice, many institutions designate a particular person (e.g., the international admissions officer) as the point of first contact for student counsellors. Nevertheless, the student counsellor might have to deal with a number of different people in a large institution.

Universities

Universities can sometimes have quite complex organisational structures due to their need to encompass both academic and administrative criteria. A simplified organisational chart for a university might look like this:

Generally, the student counsellor is not likely to deal with the academic staff of a university. In the above example, he/she could be contacted by international marketing staff initially. When enrolling a student, he/she could interact with international admissions and international student services personnel.

Extension Questions: For each relevant education institution:

What kind of organisation is it?
What is its organisational structure?
Which personnel are involved with international education?
Who is the point of first contact for student counsellors?
How does this affect students?
How does this affect the student counsellor?

Functions and Personnel

From an education institution’s organisational chart, the student counsellor can identify which staff roles are related to international education. These staff are usually found in the following areas:

International marketing and relations
International student administration
International student support

The position titles of personnel (e.g., manager of international marketing) in these areas of the organisational structure often indicate their function (i.e., to manage international marketing). However, the student counsellor should be careful, because position titles can vary greatly, depending on country, education sector, type and size of institution, and personal idiosyncrasy. (For example, for the same task, the student counsellor might deal with the director of international education at a small institution, the registrar at a school, and an international admissions officer at a university. A manager in one institution might be called director, deputy director, assistant manager, or officer in others.)

The tasks handled by one person in a small college might be handled by four different sections of a large university. Therefore the student counsellor should look beyond the position titles to the tasks performed. The major tasks in each of the above three areas can be described in functional terms.

International Marketing and International Relations

Education institutions need to build relationships internationally and work with education agents and other international partners to market themselves. Their international marketing and international relations functions could include:

Manage International Marketing

This function is performed by the person in overall charge of international marketing. He/she is responsible for the institution’s overall marketing plan and its strategic management. His/her approval is usually required to appoint an education agent. Contact with this person is mainly at the management level (e.g, during selection and appointment as an agent, and contract negotiations).

Manage International Relations

This function involves investigating and developing international opportunities for an institution, and maintaining relations with international suppliers, partners, and clients. Except for large institutions, this role is usually performed by the international marketing manager.

Manage an International Marketing Region

This function is performed by the person in charge of marketing in a particular international region. He/she may operate alone or direct a number of regional marketing staff. He/she is responsible for marketing and promotions in their region and usually reports to the manager of international marketing. He/she may be influential in selecting new education agents, and in monitoring the performance of existing agents. Regional managers may operate from their institution or may be based in their region.

The regional manager (or delegated staff) is usually the student counsellor’s main marketing contact. He/she is usually the main source of marketing information and training about the educational institution. The student counsellor could also be in contact with this person concerning promotional exhibitions, representative interviews, and directed marketing strategies.

Coordinate International Marketing Material

This function involves coordinating the distribution and use of marketing material. The responsible person may also be involved in developing promotional material and coordinating exhibitions. The student counsellor would normally contact this person for marketing material and exhibition matters.

Coordinate Exchange Study

This is a specialised function. This person is responsible for a single type of student: exchange students. This might involve both incoming and outgoing exchange students.

Organise a Project

This function is project-specific. It involves responsibility for a specific marketing project by the project officer assigned to it.

Extension Questions: For each relevant education institution:

Who are its marketing personnel?
Who are the marketing positions with whom the student counsellor interacts?
Who is the point of first contact for student counsellors?

International Student Administration

The education institution must have systems to process international student enrolments and admissions, and to manage their academic progress while they are studying. Therefore, there are likely to be administrative staff assigned to the following functional roles.

Manage International Student Admissions

This function involves overall responsibility for the admission of international students. It may be handled by a single person or by a number of admissions office staff. The person in charge is usually responsible for enrolment application processes and time frames. Other responsibilities are checking enrolment applications and verifying supporting documents, preparing valid certificates of enrolment, and notifying visa authorities of enrolments. The student counsellor could work with admissions staff when lodging and following up on enrolment applications, applying for credit for prior learning and addressing concerns such as fraudulent documents and visa issues.

Coordinate International Student Orientation

This function involves organising and delivering the orientation programme for newly arrived international students. It may involve a separate position in large institutions but is usually performed as one of the duties of administration or student support staff. The student counsellor would not normally contact this person directly but may query or pass on information about students’ orientation needs through the marketing or admissions staff.

Liaise with Immigration Authorities

This function mostly involves providing information to immigration authorities. This might include confirming enrolment and that students meet entry requirements, and reporting to immigration authorities regarding students’ adherence to visa conditions.

Liaise with Scholarship Providers

This is a specialised function. This officer is responsible for liaising with external organisations which provide scholarships to students and is usually the primary contact for scholarship students studying at the institution.

Provide Academic Advice for International Students

This function ensures that international students receive academic advice that is appropriate for their language proficiency and culture. International students may contact the academic adviser (or staff) for advice about subjects and course planning, credit for prior learning, exchange programs, etc. In a sense, the student counsellor hands over the task of advising students to the academic adviser when the students enter the institution. The student counsellor ordinarily communicates with advisers indirectly through marketing or admissions staff.

Teaching

There would be no common reason for the student counsellor to contact teachers directly.

Extension Questions: For each relevant education institution:

Who are its administrative personnel?
Who are the administrative personnel with whom the student counsellor interacts?
Who is the point of first contact for student counsellors?

International Student Support

International students need additional support compared to domestic students; they are in a foreign country with a different language and culture, and cannot easily access their family or other support. Education institutions generally have student support services to counterbalance this. Most institutions have internal staff involved in student support, and they may refer students to external organisations for assistance if necessary. Large institutions may have a number of staff involved in this area. International student support functions could include:

Manage International Student Support Services

This function is performed by the person in overall charge of support services for international students while they study at the institution. This may be a separate role or a subsidiary administration function. This person is responsible for organising support services such as airport reception and transfers, assistance with accommodation, orientation, personal counselling, student finance, student services, and activities. The student counsellor might contact this person (or staff) regarding logistical issues (e.g., airport pickup, accommodation), but is more likely to direct any queries through marketing or admissions staff. He/she might become involved if a student has a personal crisis.

Advise International Students

This concerns providing emotional, financial, and academic support for international students. This person may be responsible for organising airport pickup, cultural advice, financial guidance, career advice, academic preparation, and personal counselling. The student counsellor might interact with the student advisor regarding a student’s social and personal welfare.

Organise Accommodation

This function involves assisting in securing accommodation for newly arrived students before or after their arrival. It may also involve assisting with accommodation problems or changes after arrival. The student counsellor may work with the accommodation officer when organising student enrolments.

Assist Students to Participate in Student Society

Some larger institutions might have a staff member or student union officer specifically to advise and assist international students with participation in student services, social clubs, and societies. The student counsellor would not normally interact with this person.

Extension Questions: For each relevant education institution:

Who are its international student support personnel?
Who are the student support personnel with whom the student counsellor interacts?
Who is the point of first contact for student counsellors?

Executive Positions

In addition to staff roles involved directly with international students, the education institution’s senior management functions to manage the strategic, financial, and educational direction of the organisation.

The following executive functions might all be performed by the director of a small college, or be separated into divisions in a large university. The student counsellor would rarely interact with senior management directly.

Manage the Organisation

The person whose function is to manage the overall strategic and operational running of the institution is its most senior operational executive. All other management and staff report ultimately to this person. This role is performed by the vice-chancellor of a university, the principal of a school or college, or the director, managing director, or CEO of an institution.

Manage International Operations

This function is performed by the overall head of international operations for the organisation. This may include responsibility for international relations, marketing and promotions, offshore campuses, and strategic alliances. This person reports to the director.

Manage Academic Programmes

This is the function of the person in charge of education: the faculty dean, director of studies, academic director, or deputy principal. This head academic manages the institution’s programmes and courses, accreditation, academic staff, and educational resources, and has the final responsibility for any academic or educational decisions.

Extension Questions: For each relevant education institution:

What is its senior management structure?
Who are the senior managers?
Who reports to them?

Government and Other Organisations

The student counsellor should be aware of other stakeholders in addition to the personnel at the education institution. Such stakeholders might include various government agencies, industry bodies, or other organisations. The student counsellor may only communicate with some of these bodies irregularly but may need to develop an ongoing working relationship with others.

Government Agencies

The student counsellor usually has some contact with immigration authorities during the visa application process. This could include researching visa information, lodging visa applications, and following up on requests for more information or documents. Visa applications may involve personal contact with the staff at the local embassy or consulate, or may be conducted electronically through online lodgement and email.

In addition to the embassy or consulate, the destination country’s government may have other official offices in the student counsellor’s home country. For example, the student counsellor may seek information from a country’s trade office or tourism bureau and may be involved in exhibitions with them. In the destination country, the student counsellor might occasionally request information from accreditation and registration authorities, and may regularly communicate with qualifications authorities to obtain recognition of students’ qualifications.

Industry Bodies

Some education industry associations actively promote their industry and members. Their marketing staff may provide promotional material and information regularly, and they may work with the student counsellor during exhibitions and other promotional activities. In addition, some industry associations run tuition assurance schemes to guarantee students’ tuition in the event of the closure of a member.

Other Organisations

In addition to education and immigration, the student counsellor is also often in contact with other organisations involved in a student’s stay in the destination country. In particular, he/she may regularly work with accommodation, travel, and welfare organisations. These may be in the destination country or have representatives in the home country. Communication with them could include requests for marketing information, making bookings, and ongoing liaison.

Extension Questions: For each relevant destination country:

What other kinds of organisations does the student counsellor deal with?
Who does the student counsellor deal with in them?
How does it affect the student counsellor?