Annemiek Bailey

Abstract: In the AI era, institutions across the Asia-Pacific face pressure to grow international enrolment while keeping humanity at the centre of the student experience. Yet the strongest driver of sustainable recruitment is not technological efficiency - it is whether students feel they belong. The Council of International Schools’ (CIS) unique vantage point across international schools and higher education, combined with evidence from the CIS Educational Transitions Framework (2025) reveals a clear pattern: strong transitions foster belonging, belonging strengthens retention, and retention contributes to more stable and sustainable enrolment outcomes. This session reframes transitions practice as a strategic lever for recruitment, retention and enrolment management across the student journey, from pre-arrival through graduation and alumni engagement. Drawing on CIS research and Asia-Pacific insights, it explores how coordinated, human-centred transitions enhance well-being, stabilise enrolment outcomes and strengthen institutional trust. Participants will reflect on institutional practices across recruitment, admissions, academic services, and student affairs, and consider how retention evidence, often shaped by North American contexts, can be tested, adapted and enriched through school-sector insights and diverse Asia-Pacific settings. In an AI-shaped landscape, effective transitions practice offers a powerful, human-anchored response to a pressing regional question: how to sustain international student belonging, retention, and enrolment stability? Learning objectives: By the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1. Explain how effective transitions practice strengthens belonging, retention and sustainable enrolment across the international student journey. 2. Recognise transitions practice as a strategic recruitment and enrolment tool, shaping satisfaction, retention and institutional trust. 3. Leverage school-sector insights to inform approaches to student mobility and sense of belonging in postsecondary education 4. Analyse their institution’s transition ecosystem, from pre-arrival communication to alumni engagement, to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for improvement. 5. Consider how international student retention evidence and practices may need to be tested, adapted, or reframed for diverse Asia-Pacific contexts. 6. Evaluate opportunities for coordinated human-centred practice that strengthens cross institution collaboration, belonging, well-being and continuity of care throughout the student lifecycle. Target audience: University leaders, admissions, recruitment, student support