Offering 222 non-stop sessions and 111 straight hours of coverage, Niagara College promised this year’s Niagara College Canada Worldwide Application Days (NCCWAD) would be even bigger and better than last year’s inaugural event. Thanks to the hard work and collaboration of the College community and its partners- the College delivered on that promise.
“NC’s focus on diversity and inclusion is no better represented than by the NCCWAD event,” shared NC’s vice president of International, Sean Coote. “This unique and innovative initiative, seen around the world with attendees from 89 countries around the world, gave students the opportunity to learn about our communities, Niagara College and most importantly, showcased the passion our colleagues at Niagara College and in the community, have for providing opportunity for students.”
Hosted on Zoom and broadcasted live around the world on Facebook Live, the event took place April 13th at 9 am until April 17th at 11:59 pm Eastern Time (ET) with incredible contributions, support and teamwork from faculty, support staff, students, graduates, administrators, and community and global partners. The event allowed students and our partners to meet incredible Canadian leaders, professors and NC students, as we shared why Niagara College and its communities are the best places to live, study and work.
“It also allowed for our community members to present to a global audience,” added Coote. “By engaging with our global partners, prospective students and their families, our community and partners were able to showcase the global competencies that Niagara College embeds in its programs and services that makes our graduates world ready and work ready for the global marketplace.”
In addition to sessions focused on student services and academics, the event went beyond offering the opportunity to get a glimpse of life in a classroom or on campus to highlight life outside of the classroom and showcased what living in Niagara could feel and look like. To see the schedule of events that took place, click here.
“Niagara College Canada Worldwide Application Days was really an incredible event,” shared School of Business and Management Studies professor and coordinator, Holly Catalfamo, EdD. “Hat’s off to all those involved in this incredible reach out around the world. As a professor, it was so exciting to give students a “sneak preview” of teaching and learning at NC and to give them a chance to sample our NC – DNA!”
Event attendees took part in live tours and special presenters included NC’s president, Sean Kennedy, NC’s chair of the Niagara College Board of Governors, Del Rollo, NC’s vice president of International, Sean Coote as well as the mayors of Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Welland. Other community and corporate partner session highlights include events hosted by Niagara Falls Tourism, Niagara Regional Police, Welland Fire and Emergency Services, CIBC, guard.me International Insurance and many more.
“The goal of NCCWAD was to provide prospective students and partners with a holistic approach to advisement about studying at Niagara College,” said associate director of International Recruitment, Howard Slaney. “Academic faculty, support staff, administrators, students, graduates and community members, international partners and corporate partners, the event were all involved in promoting Niagara College and the Niagara Region as a study destination. This gave prospective students the opportunity to learn about our NC community and showcased Niagara as a welcoming community, something that resonated from every participant.”
In addition to learning about NC and connecting with NC representatives around the world, those attending NCCWAD learned about Niagara College’s many global partners. NCCWAD offered a variety of other benefits for prospective students interested in applying to NC during the five days of the event, including scholarships, a special event promotional code to waive application fees and other prize giveaways.
“The current pandemic has caused many of our institutions across Canada and around the world to develop new approaches to the way they teach, support and attract students,” said Slaney. “The NCCWAD event is unique in its design, robust in its level of participation from the community, and student-centric in terms of the types of information it provided prospective students; it better empowered them to make an informed decision about studying at NC. This truly trailblazing initiative has likely never, to this degree, been tried before and demonstrates the creativity of our NC community and its passion for providing access to education for everyone, regardless of where they come from.”
The inaugural event last year resulted in over 1,600 new prospective students to apply to Niagara College last year. This year, over the five-day stretch of the event:
- Record number of applications received over a five-day period;
- An average of 1,056 participants attended sessions per day;
- Attendees from 89 countries around the world attended the event;
- Over 1,000 attendees on Zoom;
- 3,436 people tune in across all the segments that tuned in for the live videos reaching 54,753 on social;
- An increase of 1,174.3% in visitors to the Niagara College International website from the previous week totaling 24,608 external visits;
- Over 2.6 million impressions on social media and through NC’s digital advertising;
- 32 community and global partners hosted sessions; and
- 126 participants including staff, faculty, chair of the Niagara College Board of Governors, community members, students, alumni, partner institution staff, the mayors from the cities of Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Welland.
To view or sample the 111 hours of recorded sessions, please visit: www.facebook.com/ncinternational/
