Marketing and Recruitment

As the Faculty Director, you have the greatest influence and ability to recruit and promote for your program. You will certainly find that you have a lot of general interest from students when you talk about your program, but turning that interest first into an application and then a confirmed program participant takes persistence and creativity. UNC Charlotte Education Abroad works to promote all available study abroad opportunities at UNC Charlotte, but due to volume is unable to promote each specific program individually. EA will provide you with some resources and opportunities to promote your program at events, but you will need to find alternative ways to take action to promote your program as well.

Ways to Promote

Talk about the program in each of your classes that you teach in the semester leading up to the program deadline. Ask colleagues to allow you to talk in their classes or to mention the program to their classes themselves
Attend the Study Abroad Fair in the fall. Bring lots of visual materials to help you promote the program (e.g. photos, souvenirs, handouts, etc.).
- We will formally invite you to the Fair and send more information in August
Hold information sessions – offer snacks if you can, this helps draw students
Share personal experiences (and photos!) from travels overseas
If yours is a recurring program :
- Bring program alumni into the classroom or an information session to talk about their experiences
- You can also use program alumni as email resources for students who have questions
- Collect written testimonials from past participants that you can incorporate into a handout or presentation
Put up posters around campus and in your building
Every time you have an interested student, write down their name and email, then follow up regularly!
Talk about the benefits of study abroad: academic, personal, and professional
Connect students to UNC Charlotte Education Abroad! We can talk to students about funding opportunities, how to apply, and the steps to studying abroad
Connect your students to an EA Peer Advisor. Peer Advisors are returned study abroad participants who are ready to share their experiences, advice, and perspective on the study abroad process
Partner with student organizations that support your program theme. Student organizations may have events where you could promote your program, or their members may be interested in the program themselves! (e.g. Service Learning program partnering with Global Brigades or the Relay for Life student organizations)
Be sure to regularly follow up with students in the online portal who have started applications, but have not completed them. These are students who have enough of an interest to open an application. Half the work is done at that point, you just need to convert them into a complete application, and then a confirmed participant!

Resources

UNC Charlotte Education Abroad (EA) will provide a program “postcard” for you to distribute. The postcard gives a short overview of the program. They can be handed out in classroom presentations, at the Education Abroad Fair, or posted to bulletin boards and T.V.s around campus
Arizona State University has put together a public website with a Faculty Marketing Toolkit that has several ideas and recruitment techniques.
Use canva.com to create beautiful digital flyers (most are free!). These can be posted to social media, used in digital signage around campus, or emailed out to students
MailChimp provides eye-catching templates and tools for creating newsletters. Use these to create a perspective student newsletter and follow up with interested students that you meet at information sessions
Make a Flickr account to display photos from your past program. Students love to see their peers enjoying their time abroad. This is can be an effective visual tool for recruitment. EA can link to your Flickr album from the brochure page