University Partner
Dr. Michael Benarroch
President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Manitoba
Dr. Michael Benarroch is the President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Manitoba, Western Canada’s oldest university that is also one of the country’s top research universities and a proud member of the U15, an association of 15 Canadian public research universities.
Navitas has partnered with the University of Manitoba since 2007 and manages the International College of Manitoba that offers foundation as well as pathways to an undergraduate degree at the University.
“This is an organisation that deeply cares about its students, that invests heavily in their students, that provides them with the skills that many international students need in first year.”
Transcript
The demand continues to grow over time and the fact that over half of our international students are now coming to the University of Manitoba at the undergraduate level through Navitas.
Hello, I’m Michael Benarroch, I’m President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Manitoba.
Our association with Navitas goes back a long time here at the University of Manitoba, I think from 2007. And over that time, Navitas has become a bigger player within the university, recruiting students, international students. And it first started with them starting their own class of students who just quite didn’t qualify to come into the University of Manitoba, upgrading their skills over a period of a year, a little longer, including their English skills, and then transitioning them to the University of Manitoba. It’s worked really well. Those students transition, a high proportion of those students transition – over 90% to the University of Manitoba. And while at the university, they perform as well as any international student within the university.
So, I think one, it’s really helped us to solidify and grow a foundation of strong international students. But over time it’s also improved our brand internationally because as Navitas recruits internationally, they talk about the success here at the University of Manitoba. And so not only has it been the direct association with Navitas bringing students here, but I believe it’s improved our brand across the world, driving students, international students to apply directly to the University of Manitoba also.
And so it’s really strengthened our ability to support international students, to recruit international students and to improve our brand internationally.
Well, I think some of the key achievements are the growth in the program, the demand continues to grow over time and the fact that you know, over half of our international students are now coming to the University of Manitoba at the undergraduate level through Navitas. So, that that’s a big achievement.
But I also think the success rate of 92% of the students continuing from Navitas into the university from first year to second year, which actually exceeds the success rate across the university from students continuing from first year to second year. So, I think some of those milestones really point to the success of the program.
This is an organisation that deeply cares about its students, that invests heavily in their students, that provides them with wrap-around services and in some ways provides them with the learning and the skills that many international students need in first year. But sometimes they don’t get within a university environment because they get a little bit lost in the bigger program.
And so, I would encourage them to look carefully at Navitas as a potential partner and consider the benefits based on the success of the program and based on the success of international students who have come to the University of Manitoba.
It’s been a very successful partnership, one built on mutual respect and, and you know, we continue to see the partnership grow.