Thompson Rivers University has officially opened its student recruiting office in India.

The Bangalore office will serve as a business development centre and student recruitment office for India. Local staff will help to provide strong support to prospective students, their families as well as TRU partners in India.

It will help to ensure that students from India who wish to study at TRU will receive the best possible service helping to ease their transition to Canada.

The opening of the TRU office in Bangalore coincided with BC Premier Christy Clark’s visit to India and the launch of TRU’s 2011-2012 social media campaign. The campaign is an innovative recruitment strategy that allows Indian students to network with each other both before and after coming to Canada.

The social media promotion will raise awareness of study opportunities and demonstrate what TRU has to offer students from India wishing to pursue their education in Canada by incorporating an interactive e-brochure, an e-shot campaign, and a comprehensive Facebook campaign. With millions of prospective students in India, the students themselves will play an important role in this social media strategy by communicating with each other.

“The opening of the TRU office in Bangalore and the launch of this campaign are key components of our recruitment strategy in India,” said Dr. Alan Shaver, TRU President and Vice-Chancellor. “We recognize the exemplary quality of students in India seeking higher education overseas and know there is tremendous potential in the growing numbers of students seeking opportunities to study in BC.”

While in India Dr. Shaver hosted a President’s Summit where British Columbian and Indian university presidents met to discuss the changing needs of Indian students and created new partnerships between institutions. TRU expects to double its current enrollment of 150 students from India in the next two years with its new marketing initiatives.

“Many students do not have direct access to institutions of higher learning abroad, and are faced with a major challenge in selecting the university that best suits their needs,” said Dr. Wesley Koczka, AVP TRU International. “By establishing a strong presence in India through local offices and now an integrated social media campaign, Thompson Rivers University will help bridge the gap for such students and provide them with improved access to information to study in Canada.”

Premier Clark’s trade mission sought to strengthen BC’s relationships in Asia and discover new ways to work together through the development of educational initiatives. It is also an opportunity for government to form the new trade and business relationships that will ensure the success of the BC Jobs Plan.

For the fall 2011 semester TRU has 1,572 international students on campus, representing 85 countries from all over the world, an increase of 8 per cent over last year. International students generate nearly $88 million annually for the local Kamloops economy.