We just talk about the good stuff

Can universities use the metaverse to recruit more international students? Christina Yan Zhang, founder and CEO of The Metaverse Institute, thinks so – and to do much more.

The team at The Metaverse Institute, which launched in 2022, help organisations including governments, research institutes, institutional investors and corporations, to “identify the relevance of the metaverse to them” and develop strategies to begin using the technology to achieve their goals. Underlying this, Zhang says, is a “very strong focus on social impact”. 

“We can really use the next generation of the internet to help improve the real world,” she says. Now, Zhang has her sights set on universities. 

“They can use metaverse for a whole range of activities from student recruitment, from branding, teaching and learning research simulations, alumni engagement, student employability,” Zhang explains. “We want to help more institutions to really start to look at how to benefit from this environment.”

A former international student herself, Zhang began researching the metaverse long before most of us had ever heard of it. When starting her master’s degree in 2006, Zhang’s dissertation was focused on using the metaverse to develop international strategies for universities. “At that time, I’ve been told it’s a really forward thinking idea, although very few people see the tremendous potential of the metaverse and understood what I was talking about,” she says.  

Zhang believes that the metaverse can help universities become more agile in their recruitment. For example, when trying to create compelling digital open days for students who are thousands of miles away. 

“Online virtual worlds could be a cheaper and more personalised way to give international students a foretaste of campus life than a traditional face-to-face open day,” she says. “The cost of international travel and accommodation can be prohibitive for some international students.”

“Virtual campus experiences can be delivered through online portals accessible through ordinary browsers, meaning prospective students can log in without VR/AR headsets. Universities may even be able to create AI-powered ‘ambassadors’, which would act as guides during the virtual experience,” Zhang says. Universities like Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology have already successfully incorporated metaverse-related technology into their digital open days.

Plus, using the metaverse is “a good PR campaign in its own right”, she adds. “In the same way that universities have embraced marketing via TikTok to reach ‘generation Z’ students, they can use virtual worlds to reach out to the following generation – known as ‘generation Alpha’ – who will be considering universities from 2025 onwards. This generation is already growing up using virtual worlds for playing, learning and socialising.”

Beyond student recruitment, Zhang believes the metaverse has the potential to change education altogether by providing an “immersive, interactive and intuitive user interface” which will allow learning to become more “bottom-up”.

“It will create a more decentralised structure of the education system, where the role of university, employer, students, professors would be able to have more opportunities to co-create the future curriculum for the future of work and skills.” 

Zhang’s own experience as a Chinese student in the UK has inspired this mission to link universities to new technology. While studying at Loughborough University, she threw herself into student life in a bid to have a “truly international experience”. 

“We are going through a great time of disturbance and uncertainty”

She was elected as Loughborough Student Union’s first international development officer during her PhD (which also focused on the metaverse), helping to drive the university’s international strategy from below.

Zhang says she worked with Shirley Pearce, former vice-chancellor of the university, to “look at what we can do to help treating every single student as a global citizen, to really drive their global aspiration to become the leaders of the future of the world”. She was later elected as the founding International Students Officer at the UK’s National Union of Students, before going on to hold jobs in UK parliament and at international education company QS. 

“I think if I hadn’t been going through the very best of the international education offered by Loughborough, I think I’d just be an ordinary overseas student,” Zhang says. 

“We are going through a great time of disturbance and uncertainty. But as the community of global education, we should be really enormously proud of the major impact we have on every single student we have helped. 

“We need to figure out a really efficient strategy to keep that kind of positive work going. And we will be very keen to support universities worldwide to achieve that.” 

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An international student attending Cape Breton University has died in a fire in the house he was renting with seven others, raising questions about overcrowding in accommodations and student safety.

At the request of the family, officials have not released the name of the deceased, who was from India and was studying business analytics. He came to the school in Sydney, Nova Scotia, in September 2021.

Cape Breton Regional Municipality deputy fire chief Gilbert MacIntyre told The PIE News that emergency workers received a seemingly straightforward call on December 17 about a blaze in a garbage can on the back porch of the house. However, the fire quickly spread inside and the structure filled with smoke.

MacIntyre said that when fire crews arrived the other students living there were gathered outside. “They yelled out to the firefighters, ‘We haven’t seen our friend. He’s staying on the third floor.’”

While some of the crew put out the fire on the back porch, others went to the front door, the deputy chief said. “They found a high level of heat and heavy smoke and entered the building,” he said.

Firefighters climbed the stairs to the second floor of the three-storey structure. “They discovered the student’s body on the second floor – he had made it down there from the top floor but was overcome by smoke,” MacIntyre said.

The deputy chief said that the building was a “company house” constructed by former steel and coal mining firms to accommodate workers. These houses were built about 100 years ago.

Eight international students were living in the small house, attached to an adjacent duplex. All of the students were left homeless due to the blaze, as was a family of five in the house next door.

“Landlords are increasing rents and it’s very hard to manage the cost as an international student”

“Regretfully, Cape Breton University can confirm the passing of one of our students in a recent fire… As we grieve together, there are a variety of services that have been made available to students, faculty and staff, including grief counselling,” the university said in a statement.

“We are also supporting students who are currently displaced by the fire.”

“There is such a shortage of housing that students have to share bedrooms with other students,” Damanpreet Singh, president of the student union at the university, told The PIE.

“Landlords are increasing rents and it’s very hard to manage the cost as an international student.”

The student union arranged for the homeless students to stay at a local motel and provided them with donated food and clothing. Most have since found permanent housing but a couple are still living at the motel.

Last month, Cape Breton University, citing a housing shortage, told international students that they should defer coming to Canada unless they had confirmed accommodations. It also announced plans to build new apartments by taking advantage of a $5 million grant from the Nova Scotia government.

“The new housing is good but it will take time before it’s available,” Singh noted.

The university announced that it is capping enrolment on its two-year post baccalaureate business diploma program, which is popular with international students.

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The minister of education, culture and science in the Netherlands has written to the boards of all public research and applied sciences universities, urgently requesting a halt to international student recruitment.

The letter, dated December 22 2022 and signed by Robbert Dijkgraaf, comes weeks after a parliamentary motion, spearheaded by MPs Peter Kwint and Harry van der Molen, was passed which called on Dijkgraaf to limit international student recruitment efforts. 

The letter, discussing the “termination of active recruitment of international students”, highlighted the importance of international students but cited pressure on teaching staff, facilities and accommodation shortages as overwhelming reasons for the request.

“In addition, in the long term it could threaten the continuity, affordability and quality of the Dutch higher education system,” Dijkgraaf said.

Dijkgraaf urged institutions to follow a framework which includes “a complete halt” to international student recruitment activities, with the exception of highly limited and targeted recruitment for specific programs focusing on regional sector shortages in healthcare, science and education.

Institutions are further expected to facilitate such students to postgraduate employment in sectors which are experiencing shortages.

Peter Birdsall, president and chair of executive, Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences, said that “the letter shows that the minister is under great pressure from various sections of the parliament to act, even though we are quite convinced he understands the importance of international students for Dutch higher education and the economy.”

In November 2022, Dijkgraaf spoke to The PIE about the benefits and value of international collaboration. 

“I feel the exchanges of students and researchers actually typically bring countries closer together,” said Dijkgraaf.

Many stakeholders have already opposed the parliamentary motion, including a group of university chairs whose letter was published in the daily newspaper NCR.

Wittenborg in Apeldoorn is the latest institution to argue against the move to cease recruitment of international students, in a letter addressed to Dijkgraaf, obtained by The PIE.

The business school, which represents around 1,200 students from approximately 100 countries and operates entirely in English, argued that it should be able to operate as normal since, as a privately funded school, it is not using public funds and is able to invest and develop its own student accommodation in the city.

“As is ethical, we guarantee all new arriving students [have] places to sleep and comfortable rooms. We do not have a problem housing our 300-400 new students every year,” the letter from the university stated.

“We do not have a problem housing our 300-400 new students every year”

Shortly before the 2022 academic year began, certain universities in the Netherlands warned international students with offers not to travel to the country unless they had already secured accommodation, due to housing shortages.

Wittenborg also highlighted the value of internationalism for the Netherlands in opposition to the motion, stating that cutting back on international students “sends the wrong signal”.

“Anti-internationalism goes completely against ‘our’ Dutch liberalism and is completely unnatural to the Netherlands,” the letter continued.

“It is our belief that internationalisation of higher education is also critically essential to the well-being of this country, without being at the front of top higher education in the world, the Netherlands would surely not be as successful today as it is,”

“This means that the Netherlands must remain fully participating within the international academic and research communities, and means that international students and academics play an important role in this.

“International higher education and the international students studying here are part of a healthy, holistic, liberal-thinking, developed society. Without it we will be a poorer country both in materialistic and non-materialistic terms.”

In the letter, the university made a number of suggestions, including the implementation of an obligation that higher education institutions ensure housing is available for non-EU students before admitting them.

“We would like to point out that our motto is ‘if you can’t house them, then don’t recruit them’,” it said.

It also suggested that a clear distinction be made between taxpayer-funded EU students and the much smaller group of fee-paying non-EU students.

“We feel that if the communication were changed regarding the categorisation of these groups, the discussion could be better focused on the actual problem, which is one also faced by other EU countries, especially those bordering Germany.”

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Over a quarter of employers are not actually aware of the UK’s Graduate Route Visa allowing international students to work sponsor free for up to two years, according to a new policy note from the Higher Education Policy Institute.

In conjunction with Kaplan, HEPI surveyed 656 members of the Institute of Directors – an organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs – and found 27% of those asked were not familiar with the scheme set up in 2021. 

Just under half said that they were aware of its existence and haven’t utilised it, while only 3% had used it or were in the process of using it for the first time. 

This is despite a crippling labour shortage in the UK, with three quarters of businesses responding to a CBI survey in October 2022 saying they had been impacted. 

“The widespread skills shortages across the public and private sectors will only be filled with the help of international students already in the UK,” stressed Nick Hillman, HEPI’s director. 

“So I was shocked to discover that so few employers have used the Graduate Route, which is a brilliant way to recruit highly skilled staff,” he said.

Between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022, 83,486 Graduate Route visas were granted, which is “broadly in line with what the government had forecast/ expected”, according to UUK.

Managing director for Kaplan International Pathways, Linda Cowan, agreed with Hillman, citing the “huge net financial and tax benefits to the UK” that international students bring. 

“The Graduate Route is unlike other employment-related visa schemes because it is free to employers, involves no bureaucracy and makes it possible to evaluate an international graduate for two or three years before making a longer commitment,” she explained. 

“I was shocked to discover that so few employers have used the Graduate Route”

However, the lack of awareness among employers could be stonewalling the initiative’s success. 

When respondents were asked to elaborate on their use or lack of use of the scheme, one said they were “not sure of the new scheme”, that “quality control was needed”. 

One even commented saying, “Not heard of this’ I wonder if it is something that partly restores one of the many benefits taken away by the idiocy that is Brexit?” 

Another respondent, also linking their answer to the issues surrounding the Brexit deal and its consequences, said the negative impacts of Brexit have “resulted in piecemeal patches such as [Graduate route visa]” – suggesting it ironically created “more not less” red tape. 

The lack of knowledge regarding the Graduate Route visa was on top of a slightly contradictory response from those surveyed, that saw 20% having already sponsored a visa before or currently doing so – a more difficult process than the use of the Graduate Route. 

“The Graduate Route visa could make an important contribution to the government’s growth agenda if only more employers understood its benefits and ease of operation,” added Cowan. 

It was also found that bigger companies were much more likely to sponsor a visa in any situation than smaller companies. Some 5% of companies with a turnover of under £250,000 had sponsored a visa compared to 18% of those with over £50m turnover.

However, this is not taking into account that in general, there are 32,000 UK organisations that hold a valid sponsorship licence enabling them to do so, out of 1.4m employers. 

“The Graduate Route visa could make an important contribution to the government’s growth agenda”

Large or small, bureaucracy was the consistent issue. One respondent said sponsoring cost over £30,000, and another said that the attitude of immigration authorities “towards these valuable tax paying workers is problematic”. 

The Graduate Route is known to be unsponsored, with no commitment through paperwork for employers, and no commitment to pay towards the visa cost or immigration health surcharge. 

In July 2022, the UK government released early analysis on the Graduate Route’s performance, surveying 50 of the graduates who had taken it up – and 50% of those who had taken it up found the surcharges “unfair”. 

“It is right that those in power want to ensure the visa system is trusted and robust. However, any attempt to tighten the current working rights of former international students will hamper economic growth. It would make more sense to increase their rights than to restrict them,” Hillman commented. 

It also said that most are working in professional or associate professional level jobs and earning between £20,000 and £30,000 a year – and therefore gaining a similar salary to many of those in entry level jobs from the UK. 

However, if not enough people are taking up the initiative to hire people through the Graduate Route visa, it may not be sustainable – which is another issue that respondents had, especially in the wake of Brexit: “while the program has strengths, it is not appropriate in all circumstances because of its temporary nature,” the policy note said. 

“Alongside any general improvements in the migration regime, if the Graduate Route visa is to work as well as possible for both employers and graduates, not to mention the Exchequer, then it would make sense to convey its benefits more clearly to employers,” the report concluded.

“This research highlights a lack of knowledge among many employers about the visa, and we would encourage government to work closely with business representative organisations to raise awareness about its benefits,” said IoD principal policy advisor for sustainability, skills and employment, Alex Hall-Chen.

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Greystar’s acquisition of UK purpose-built student accommodation provider Student Roost was approved in December.

Originally announced in May 2022, and expected to complete in the third quarter of 2022, the deal between GIC, Greystar and Student Roost underwent a Competition and Markets Authority merger inquiry.

The acquisition was cleared last month and a monitoring trustee appointed on December 22.

Global institutional investor GIC and Greystar announced the joint venture to acquire the UK’s third largest PBSA in 2022. Under the deal, Student Roost will continue to trade under its existing brand, comprising over 23,000 beds.

Some 3,000 beds in UK student cities are also in the development pipeline. Greystar has agreed to divest two of Student Roost’s assets in Birmingham, The Heights (909 beds) and The Old Fire Station (483 beds), with JLL managing the sale.

“The successful financial close of Student Roost marks an important milestone in Greystar’s UK growth strategy and adds an outstanding business to our existing portfolio of over 120,000 student beds globally,” Mark Allnutt, senior managing director – Europe at Greystar, said in a statement.

“It also builds our footprint in UK PBSA”

“It also builds our footprint in UK PBSA, which is characterised by an imbalance in the supply of high-quality and professionally managed assets.”

In early 2021, Greystar acquired five Nido portfolio PBSA assets for £291 million in the UK. It also owns London-focused brand Chapter and was part of a partnership with Goldman Sachs and the Wellcome Trust that sold the iQ portfolio to Blackstone for £4.7 billion in 2020, the largest-ever private property deal in the UK.

Jess Gallop, who will lead the new management structure at Student Roost as managing director, noted that the provider is “widely known for the quality of its all-round resident experience, centred around student wellbeing, extensive amenities and professionally run accommodation”.

“I look forward to working closely with Greystar, GIC and the existing team to take that to the next level and capitalise on the significant opportunities that lie ahead for the business,” Gallop stated.

Chief investment officer of Real Estate at GIC, Lee Kok Sun, added that the “partnership with Greystar will provide a strong platform for Student Roost to pursue further growth while continuing to offer exceptional purpose-built student accommodation with good occupancy rates”.

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Australian businesses and higher education suppliers will have “greater access” to the Indian market, the Australian government said as the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement came into force on December 29.

“Australia and India are natural trading partners – this agreement will unlock the enormous potential in our trading relationship,” Australian minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell, said in a statement.

“This agreement reflects the government’s commitment to diversifying exports and strengthening our partnerships,” he added. An interim free trade agreement was signed in early 2022.

The agreement will also unlock deeper economic and social benefits, according to Universities Australia.

The agreement was also welcomed by the independent skills training and higher education sectors.

“There are strong economic and societal benefits for Australia through improved access to the adult Indian education sector, and ITECA members look forward to developing the collaborative relationships in India to bring these to fruition,” said Troy Williams, Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia chief executive.

India accounts for some 70,616 student enrolments for independent skills training providers (99.2% of total Indian skills training student enrolments) and 18,121 enrolments for independent higher education providers (32.0% of total Indian higher education student enrolments), the 2022 ITECA State Of The Sector Report found.

“ITECA looks forward to working with both the Australian and Indian governments to ensure that the benefits of IA-ECTA deliver the outcomes for both Indian students and Australian independent tertiary education providers,” Williams said

“Some providers continue to do it tough, and student visa processing issues continue. We’re hopeful that IA-ECTA will help in the rebuilding phase and leverage Australia’s world-class education system, our liveable cities, multicultural society and student protection mechanisms.”

The agreement will also support tourism and workforce needs in regional Australia, the Australian government added. Some 1,000 Work and Holiday Program places will be made available to young Indian travellers.

In the middle of 2022, India and Australia sought to bolster education ties as the latter faced shortages of some 500,000 skilled workers.

“More skilled workers and more research and development is what we need to keep pace in a changing world, and universities here and in India can help with that,” Jackson added.

“Education is already our largest services export and closer connections with India will only boost the significant contribution it makes to our economy and social cohesion.

“We look forward to working closely with the Australian and Indian governments to achieve the best outcomes for universities and our nations under this agreement.”

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Universities and education agents are confident that new testing requirements for travellers from China will have a minimal impact on international students as Beijing scraps restrictions on outbound travel. 

The Chinese government is set to resume processing passport applications, which had been suspended during the pandemic, making it easier for citizens to travel abroad. 

But multiple countries have imposed new restrictions on incoming Chinese travellers as Covid-19 infections surge among the population. Chinese students will now have to show negative Covid-19 tests in order to enter countries including Australia, the USA, Canada, and the UK. 

“The only factor affecting studying abroad industry is the current economic situation”

“It shouldn’t have a serious impact on Chinese students who wish to study abroad,” said Chenxing Sang, secretary general of BOSSA, an association of study abroad agencies in China.

“The covid test is not difficult to carry out before departure. Students are aware that covid infections cannot be worse overseas. I can see more students planning to study abroad in the near future given the constant changes of policies. The only factor affecting studying abroad industry is the current economic situation.”

High rates of unemployment and economic downturn are leading to a surge in interest in study abroad among some Chinese families, particularly for postgraduate courses, with experts predicting that the UK and Canada are likely to benefit from this demand in future.

Catriona Jackson, CEO of Universities Australia, echoed that the new testing requirements are “not an impediment” to Chinese international students, ahead of the new academic year set to begin in February for most universities across the country.

Speaking on ABC News earlier today, Jackson said she hoped Australia’s new restrictions will be “a short-lived, temporary measure”.

“International student numbers have recovered well. However, we are not all the way there,” Jackson continued. “We are still about 18%, across the board, behind where we were pre-covid, and that number is bigger for Chinese students, just because of the impediments they’ve had in getting out of their own country.”

“We very much now welcome the opening of travel for China. At the same time, there is a very complex situation going on right across the world.”

Approximately 36% of Chinese students enrolled in Australian universities remain outside of the country. 

“We would urge Chinese students just to hold with us a little bit longer. Many of them will be able to return pretty much now if they just have that test. And there’s a little bit of time between now and the start of the academic year for us to get this sorted out,” Jackson said.  

Despite the new testing requirements, the relaxation of restrictions within China is expected to boost the international education industry.

“Families who have had a long plan to study abroad will benefit from the reopening and return to their original plan,” said Wendy Wu, a café owner in China who formerly facilitated China-US exchange programs. “Also, I think Chinese institutions will be benefiting from the reopening, especially those who want to have partnership with overseas schools.”

Jamie Arrowsmith, director of Universities UK International, said that the news “may create some uncertainty for students” but that the health and wellbeing of students and staff is “of the utmost importance”. 

 “Where new guidance impacts on a student’s studies, universities will endeavour to offer what support and flexibility they can, for example if students are unable to return to or enter the UK as planned at this time,” Arrowsmith said. 

“Anyone concerned about how any changes may affect their travel plans should continue to check the latest advice from their travel provider and contact their university if they have any questions.”

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