By Shannon O’Brien
Griffith University has won a national award for its outstanding engagement of the Latin American business community.The Australia-Latin America Business (ALABC) Excellence Award is for collaboration on projects such as developing environmental management strategies for sustainable living and waste water management.
Queensland Treasurer Tim Nicholls presented the accolade at ALABC’s annual dinner in Brisbane on Wednesday night.
Latin American students are increasingly turning to Griffith as their choice of Australian universities. It now accounts for 7.56% of recruitment from that sector and is the second most popular destination for Latin American students.
Griffith International’s regional director for Latin America, Guie Hartney, said the university would continue to attract new students from the key markets of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuala.
Student support
“The student support network at Griffith is well established and well known. Latin American students feel quite at home,” she said.
“Griffith is a very friendly environment in regards to integration and contributes a lot to settle students into the University lifestyle”.
Griffith’s Latin American Student Club also has won many accolades including best university club in 2012 and currently has over 700 members. The University also boasts afacebook page for Spanish-speaking students
Ms Hartney said she and other University staff would continue to engage the Latin American community over the next year and would even consider establishing a permanent office in the region.
“The Latin American market remains new for the Australian international education sector. People have realised that it is an invaluable part of the world with much to share in areas of research and innovation. We want to add to the diversity of the student population and look beyond the traditional model of student recruitment to focus on multi-sectoral partnerships with universities, private and government entities in Latin America.”