Coronavirus: Consolidated Recommendations
Send a message of solidarity to your Chinese partners and stakeholders. Our team is happy to draft one on your behalf to share on your Chinese social media platforms.
Know whether your China spring recruitment events that you signed up for are still taking place. We put together this list of events for your reference and are updating as we hear news.
Unless your institution requires otherwise, adopt a “wait and see” approach for March, April, and May travel. We believe that the situation will continue to worsen for some days or weeks, but eventually the virus will be contained in a similar way to how SARS was contained in 2003-2004. We expect that schools will reopen in late February or early March. Before then, arranging travel, visits, or fairs will be next to impossible because officials will be hesitant to approve them, if they’re in the office at all. Once the spread of the virus slows down, we expect a trickle of large-scale events to be permitted, particularly in the hotter and sunnier regions of China that are inhospitable to the virus. As normal life resumes, event planning will have extensive restrictions and oversight. Many event planners are cancelling or postponing March events, while others are awaiting more information. If you plan to travel to China in March, we suggest waiting a week from now to get a greater sense of finality about whether the events will be taking place. April events may be affected, but we would suggest waiting as late as you comfortably can before cancelling or adjusting your plans. May events are less likely to be significantly affected, although they may be more limited in scope and participation.
If spring China travel is untenable for you, consider hosting a virtual visit or webinar through Chinese social media and live streaming platforms. Sunrise is taking its March events completely online, with a series of webcasts broadcasted in schools around the country instead of in-person visits. Please fill out this short form if you’d like to hear more. If you have any questions about digital outreach or would like help hosting an exclusive livestream or virtual event, please feel free to get in touch.
Chinese students cannot visit your campus without doing a two week stopover in a third country, and that means that you should make sure that your virtual/VR tour works in China (many do not). Free of charge, Sunrise can test accessibility of your VR tour from inside China and will upload your 360 virtual tour images to Campus360, so they are accessible behind the firewall.
Running advertising campaigns on Chinese search engines or social media platforms like Wechat or Weibo can be useful in driving applications and inquiries. If you have any questions about digital outreach or would like help hosting an exclusive livestream or virtual event, consider reaching out to Sunrise (contact@sieconnection.com) or your Chinese partners.
Advocate that your leadership send a health advisory to your campus community on preventative measures against the virus, together with a reminder that the symptoms are flu-like and the virus has affected less than 0.0007% of the Chinese population. The Coronavirus should not be cause for generalized fear on campus. Chinese students should be accorded the same dignity and respect that all students deserve on your campus. Coordinate with your health services department about the possibility of a dedicated hotline or free health checks for recent travellers from China.
Postpone all admitted student receptions and related events until after March for the reasons stated above.
Consider increased test flexibility for this year’s applicant batch from China, since most February test dates have been cancelled, and uncertainty looms over many March testing dates and locations.
While the coronavirus sounds scary, know that your Chinese colleagues and partners will pull through with your support! Try to be as understanding as possible to your Chinese partners and colleagues: imagine if a massive epidemic spread right before Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid al-Fitr, or Diwali!
We’ll close by saying that you should always strongly consider the advice of medical professionals and government travel notices, and we hope that this overview from the perspective of a recruitment travel organizer is helpful. Please let us know if you have any questions or we can assist you in navigating this time of uncertainty.
Thank you,
Gavin and David
Gavin@sieconnection.com
David@sieconnection.com