提高人们对印度大峡谷的认识

There was the family who traveled 11 hours to meet Grand Valley 代表. Another family was trapped by a monsoon in India and had to abandon their car and use public transportation to get to the reception.

This type of dedication and excitement was common during a week in July when a contingent of faculty and staff members traveled to India to meet with incoming students, enhance existing relationships and build new ones, and raise awareness of Grand Valley in a country that 派遣了20万名学生到美国学习.S.

Danny Vélez, associate vice president for 博天堂官方 and Recruitment, said the trip was focused on building on the success Grand Valley has 在印度有经验.

"We started planning this trip last winter," Vélez said. "This trip was an essential part of our international recruitment strategy to develop new relationships and revisit existing ones to ensure that we are successful in growing enrollment of this population 在未来的岁月里学习.”

At Grand Valley, students from India comprise 41 percent of the 国际学生人数. 克里斯·亨德利，国际 admissions program manager, said of the 686 international students enrolled for the Fall 2023 semester, 285 are from India, up slightly 从去年的数字来看.

Traveling with Vélez and Hendree were Paul Plotkowski, dean of the 帕德诺斯工程与计算机学院; Kingshuk Majumdar, professor of physics; and Mark Staves, professor and chair of cell and 分子生物学. 一到印度，他们就和Kirthi一起旅行 Kondapalli, Grand Valley’s in-country recruiter for the 博天堂官方 and Recruitment team, who was instrumental in making the arrangements.

Kondapalli said throughout the week the group met with four stakeholders: high school students, undergraduate students, admitted students and their parents, and staff at the U.S. 领事馆 Hyderabad, the capital of a southern Indian state. 他说他们给了 presentations and connected with more than 1,200 people during the week.

Staves and Majumdar led interactive master classes for audiences of, 有时，有200名热切的学生. 马宗达是土生土长的加尔各答人 was important for students to see how Grand Valley faculty taught classes.

"With the presentations, they can see us and have an idea of what sitting in a class at GVSU would be like," he said. "They may be scared of faculty and how we teach. 这真的是一个 好的，积极的体验."

Staves said interacting with high school and college students was a 伟大的经历. "I gave them an exercise and said if this were my class, we would do these next steps," he said. “学生们 从印度大量招募. 我们在那里有一个很棒的团队 able to share our experiences about Grand Valley classes and campus."

Plotkowski said the contingent possessed a lot of institutional 知识. He added he was most impressed with the admitted students and families who attended what they called "Grand Valley Engage" events, providing students with information and 交流和提问的机会.

"The turnout was outstanding but also impressive was the 学生和他们的家人的奉献. 一个家庭开了11辆车 到那里需要几个小时，”普罗特科夫斯基说. “我认为这很有帮助 them a lot to meet us and set the parents' minds at ease."

Hendree said the 博天堂官方 and Recruitment office has received some applications and many inquiries as a result of the trip. 的关键, 亨德里说，就是保持联系.

"We plan to host virtual events with these students and our 现在的学生，让他们参与进来. 我们最好的招聘人员是 现在的学生，”亨德里说. “为了高中 students we met, this is the start of a two- or three-year relationship."

B. Donta Truss, vice president for 博天堂官方发展 and Educational Outreach, said this trip helped grow and enhance the university's presence in Mumbai, Delhi and elsewhere in India.

"India is the second largest exporter of students to the U.S.特拉斯说。. “像这样的旅行，包括 engagement from faculty and personal interactions with staff, go a long way in developing relationships with students and their families 并帮助GVSU继续增加入学率."