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How are membership fees calculated?
In order to determine the fair cost of each member’s usage of services, annual membership fees are calculated based on the combination of two factors: institution type (K-12, college, university, etc.) and number of FTE (full-time equivalent) students enrolled. When completing the membership renewal form, the cost of your membership will be shown in Section 3 after you have populated Section 1.
What is included with the membership fee?
By becoming a member, you are entitled to the following services:
- Shelf space for displaying your collateral at all CEC locations
- Timely market reports detailing trends and statistics from each CEC country
- Access to up-to-date overseas agent and school lists
- One-on-one consultation with in-country personnel for your market research needs
- Advice from in-country personnel on trip planning, meeting arrangements, and travelling logistics
- Basic profile on StudyCanada.ca
- Opportunities to participate at overseas fairs and promotional events at 50% of non-member rates.
Who can I contact regarding membership and marketing opportunities with CEC Network?
Our Members Service team across Canada is the dedicated point of contact for members to seek marketing advice and strategic consultation. While we are currently re-staffing these positions, we encourage you to contact Philippe Cardin, Vice President Operations to discuss your membership, and Lina Yu, Director of International Events for event participation.
What happens if an event that I registered for is cancelled?
To protect our mutual financial investments, we may decide to cancel an event if we don’t feel that a satisfactory return can be promised as the planned date draws near. To this end, we request that registration fees be paid once the event has been confirmed after deadline has passed. We also advise that you make travel commitments after you have receive final confirmation or securing tickets without restrictions.
Is there still a CEC in Mexico?
CEC Mexico is due to be back up and running by early 2010. The set-back in June and the complicated Mexican bureaucracy has made the relocating and revamping of our Mexican operations more lengthy than anticipated. As soon as all the paperwork has been finalized, we will facilitate members with access to the market. Due to the extreme importance of the Mexican market to our members, CEC Network will be focusing heavily on Mexico in the coming year to ensure a strong Canadian presence. In addition to the events and services that we have offered in the past, new promotional channels will be added.
Now that DFAIT funding has ceased, how will be CEC Network be managed and funded?
A long-time member of CEC Network and owner of several government-funded institutions, Mathieu Bergeron, saw the urgency in preventing the closure of the valued organization. In order to buy time for CEC Network to re-organize itself and to implement a sounder business model, Mr. Bergeron personally volunteered a loan to support its continued operation. Thanks to this help, the network is given the opportunity to tighten its infrastructure with the aim to improve the quality and relevancy of its member services.
To rebuild a stronger foundation for CEC Network, a top priority was to put in place a solid executive team. In the recent two months, we are happy to leverage Charles Ivey's 25 years of experience in the Canadian education arena as newly appointed Acting CEO; to have Philippe Cardin bring his expertise in corporate restructuring and business processes into his role as VP, Operations; and to count on James Aldridge's hands-on recruitment knowledge as he steps up from Country Director, China to VP, Asia Business Development. Based in Montreal, Toronto, and Beijing, respectively, and working closely with the Vancouver head office and Country Directors around the world, CEC Network is equipped with a truly national and global scope to serve its members.
In light of CEC Network's new source of funding, is there a conflict of interest with its members?
Members who have expressed concern and confusion about CEC Network being "sold" or now "owned" by a private entity can be assured that by virtue of a not-for-profit company, we remain an organization with no shareholding structure. We are not legally nor in practice owned by any entity. More blatantly, the institutions owned by Mr. Bergeron continue to be members of CEC Network and are billed for services and event participation just as any other member. CEC Network does not represent or promote these institutions in a preferntial or biased manner. Its operations, finances, and staff are completely independent of and separate from Mr. Bergeron's business ventures.
What is DFAIT’s current position and relationship with CEC Network?
At present, DFAIT has cut all funding to CEC Network. However, we remain receptive to exploring renewed roles for DFAIT, as the near closure of CEC Network sounded a wake-up call in Ottawa as to the importance of promoting Canadian education abroad. The recently released findings from a DFAIT-commissioned independent study on the economic impact of foreign students in Canada spells out the urgency to increase our presence overseas. In the field, many Canadian embassies and High Commissions that have been in contact with CEC staff expressed consensus and support on the need for CEC Network to revise its operation model.
Is CEC Network becoming an agent?
There have been rumors regarding us becoming an agent or adopting an agency model. These rumors are not founded. They arose from the decision of the new CEC Network management to seek co-location opportunities with country agents as a means to reduce costs. Furthermore, the decision to implement a referral fee policy has been swiftly misinterpreted as an attempt to create an agency model within the CEC Network. This is also incorrect as the we will continue to work with agencies as specified by the member institutions.
What do all these changes mean for CEC Network’s members?
The decision to shut down operations in late June was one taken by the previous management team, which was a move that compromised the reputation of CEC Network due to the manner in which it was undertaken. The goal of the present administration is to ensure that members receive full value for their membership, which is precisely the reason why a loan was secured so as to allow CEC Network to re-organize itself. Albeit the set-back, we are committed to work that much harder to rebuild the trust that the CEC Network had managed to gain over the 14 years of its existence.
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