EDEX NEWS February 2007

ISSUE 2 VOL 2

A HAPPY, HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS CHINESE NEW YEAR!

 

Thursday 1 February by Robert Parsonson

 

Year of the Boar (no pigs)

 

This is the time of the Chinese new year and despite the banners and promos it is actually the year of the Boar not the year of the Pig - the boar is a much nobler creature and being born in this year I would like to make the difference clear! This is a particularly lucky year of the boar that comes around every 600 years. The Chinese believe that it is lucky to have a child born in this year so invest in pram manufacturers.

 

Global Village Sydney UEC New! Improved!

 

Upgrades facilities - aiming to be the best English college in Sydney

 

Global Village Sydney has taken on a major refurbishment of facilities in the 222 Pitt St campus. A renovation of the library has made a fantastic area for learning and relaxing for students. It also brings their student services into one area attached to the library making it a hub of the college. Reworking of the entrance area also has made the first impression of the college a lot more spacious. Additional classrooms have been added to take the increased numbers.

 

Please get along and see the new and improved GV Sydney

 

CATC - New space

 

CATC have taken over more space in the Hickson Road building on the ground level. This space faces the Overseas passenger terminal at the bottom of the building. It features fantastic sandstone walls and views through the terminal to the Opera House. Students will have a large break out area to relax in and upstairs an all new Mac lab is being installed.

 

ACNT - Clinic Move

 

Good News! The famous ACNT student clinic has been moved to the Foveaux Street campus making it much more accessible for us city workers. The clinic relocation makes it much easier for students for completion of the clinic hours which are an integral part of the ACNT training. The refurbished areas include a natural medicine dispensary and preparation area which can be seen from the coffee shop making a great feature.

 

Let your staff know about the excellent deals on beauty, massage and naturopathy treatments that are available.

 

UKRAINE TRIP

 

Students International has opened new offices in Ukraine in Kiev and Odessa to get students from this very new (for Australia) but potentially great market. Ukraine has stabilized politically and is a prosperous and agriculturally rich country. Odessa has been highlighted as a good source of students. Odessa was always a great cross road of trade in the former Soviet times and has maintained the atmosphere of being a place to do business. Students International held the first 2-day international fair.

 

The event was a great success on day one with more than 1000 visitors who were looking for ESL, undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The Aust/NZ section got a lot of interest - there are very well established Ukrainian communities in Australia and there is fair amount of knowledge in the market already.

 

Unfortunately on the evening of the first day there was a massive dump of snow - the first for the winter (lucky us) that shut the city down. Odessa is not used to big snow falls and they do not have the amount of snow clearing equipment that other cities have. The second day was more subdued but we still had a steady day with about 300 students.

 

This is a market that is worth pursuing and overall the Russian market for Students International for Australia has grown 100% (off a relatively small base) and is still increasing. Russia is the last big market for Australia to pursue after China and India and students are interested in a diverse range of courses.

 

JAPAN STAFF ARRIVING FOR TRAINING

 

The new EDEX Japan office staff Ms. Kiyoko Kano will be arriving for training on the week starting March 19 - I would like her to visit all the colleges in order to get as much knowledge on Australian education as possible. Can you please make time for her to do some training at your institution.

 

Kiyoko studied in the UK and worked with IBM in Japan on her return. She will take over from Takeshi Uchida who started the EDEX office in 2004.

 

Brochure updates

 

The new combined brochure design process is well under way and on schedule with some really great and fresh ideas from the designers at CATC. The new slimmer version will be more visual and less wordy directing readers to the web pages of the institutions.

 

Please send any new images that you may have to consider for inclusion.