Mission
The mission of the Office of International Student Services (OISS) is to actively promote international and intercultural understanding and to cultivate a mutual commitment and support for international education throughout the campus community.
Summary Narrative
1) Enhance recruitment and retention efforts to increase enrollment
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, international recruitment markets are more fluid, dynamic, and competitive, and offer significant challenges to those institutions without global and national rankings.
Institutional rankings are very important to international students as well as to their parents and play a critical role in the student and parent decision making process. Beyond rankings, there are many other uncontrollable variables of the international student recruitment life cycle that determine student flow. These include, but are not limited to: travel restrictions, economic and political conditions in a country, US relations with those countries, visa regulations and limitations against a country, currency exchange rates, country location, scholarship opportunities, safety, affordability, and employment opportunities.
Therefore, international student recruitment and retention requires strategic thinking, financial support, and some level of centralization. This involves multiple support aspects, including but not limited to:
Providing necessary resources, financial and otherwise, to fund and support an on-campus international student infrastructure.
Creating scholarship and fellowship opportunities for highly gifted and talented international students in areas of academics, athletics, art, and music.
Engaging in bilateral agreements between UA Little Rock and institutions of higher education outside of the US.
Developing and expanding the Intensive English Language Program (IELP) specially to recruit foreign government funded students.
Updating and otherwise improving marketing materials.
Enhancing web sites devoted to prospective international students.
Collaborating with various academic and non-academic units (e.g., Graduate School, Colleges, Office of Admissions, Intensive English Language Program, Financial Aid, Student Affairs Division) to engage in recruitment and retention of international students.
Exploring partnerships with stand-alone ESL programs in the US.
Creating positive relationships with foreign governments that sponsor fully funded international students.
Expanding the number of UA Little Rock students and faculty participating in academic pursuits outside of the US.
Most of OISS functions are designed to support the recruitment and retention efforts of the University and we almost have no retention issues with our international students and scholars. One of the key retention services that we provide to our students is to support current and incoming international students and scholars in immigration advising.
The immigration-advising piece is heavily regulated and monitored by the Federal Government. Due to US federal immigration laws, OISS is responsible for ensuring full compliance with all aspects of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). SEVP is a program within the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which acts as a bridge for federal government agencies that have an interest in information on non-immigrants whose primary reason for coming to the United States is to obtain a degree. On behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), SEVP oversees schools, nonimmigrant students in the F and M visa classifications, and their dependents.
Additionally, OISS is a US Department of State-designated sponsor of its Exchange Visitor Program and thus is authorized to issue the Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitors who are interested in coming to obtain a degree or academic and cultural exchange. Therefore, it is expected that OISS will fully comply with the U.S. Department of State’s governing regulations (i.e., 22 CFR Part 62) that oversee these programs, nonimmigrant exchange visitors in the J visa classification, and their dependents.
The Graduate School, Office of Admissions, IELP, and International Student Services are working together to recruit and admit international students by focusing on our online presence, communication, and marketing. A recent collaboration between the Office of Admissions, Office of International Student Services, the Graduate School, and the Office of Communications and Marketing enabled UA Little Rock to purchase a pilot of Keystone International, which is a third party marketing tool designed to market UA Little Rock programs and degrees within specific countries in their languages. This pilot program will run November 2019 through November 2020. Countries represented in this pilot include China, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, among others. As of today, this new recruitment initiative created more than 800 student leads in the first three months.
Finally, OISS is also involved in community outreach by introducing international students to local families through the International Friendship Outreach (IFO). IFO offers opportunities for social and cultural interaction between Americans and international students while they study at UA Little Rock and it also sponsors a number of social events and day trips during the academic year to make students’ time fun and enjoyable.
2) Strengthen student-friendly operations and customer service
Within the last 2 years, OISS has had a number of staff changes and lost a full-time position due to budgetary constraints. From November 2019 to February 2020, OISS had only one full-time staff member to serve current and incoming international students at three instruction sites (i.e., Main Campus, Bowen Law School, and Clinton School of Public Service). Compared to other state institutions, OISS has one of the lowest number of staff members in an international office where the personnel is required to monitor, maintain, and report more than 700 active immigration records under various immigration types at three instructional sites.
Due to the workload, lack of resources, and to optimize our and students’ time, we have created a web-based student request system, which operates almost like a full-time staff member. This system has also made most of our procedures paperless and was internally created by the OISS personnel without any cost to the institution.
3) Improve diversity and inclusion efforts to provide a safe and inclusive environment for students
All functions of OISS are designed to support the UA Little Rock vision statement, which addresses “improving students’ lives and enhancing our communities”. OISS actively promotes international and intercultural understanding and cultivates a mutual commitment and support for international education throughout the campus community and is committed to following all applicable federal and state laws as well as institutional policies.
The Office carefully and reflectively advises international students and scholars regarding federal immigration rules and regulations and helps to improve diversity, inclusion, equality, and global understanding in the campus community.
4) Align financial and human resources to operate more effectively and efficiently
OISS has had a number of staff changes and lost a full-time position due to budgetary constraints within the last 2 years. From November 2019 to February 2020, OISS had only one full-time staff member to serve current and incoming international students at three instruction sites (i.e., Main Campus, Bowen Law School, and Clinton School of Public Service).Compared to other state institutions, OISS has one of the lowest number of staff members in an international office where the personnel is required to monitor, maintain, and report more than 700 active immigration records under various immigration types at three instructional sites. Due to the workload, lack of resources, and to optimize our and students’ time, we have created a web-based student request system, which operates almost like a full-time staff member. This system has also made most of our procedures paperless and was internally created by the OISS personnel without any cost to the institution.
To increase the total number of well-qualified international students at a minimum cost, OISS needs a unique set of recruitment tactics. Typically, most schools respond to the initial inquiries coming from prospective international students; however, few schools maintain a sustained level of communication with prospective students that encourages students to progress through the enrollment funnel. In contrast, OISS has developed a full electronic communication strategy that capitalizes on each student inquiry received to ensure that contact is maintained and prospective international students are prompted weekly to continue moving through the enrollment process. This communication strategy utilizes coordinated email campaigns, customer relationship management, and cohesion with all communication outlets including our website, social media, and print materials. This electronic communication campaign was also internally created by the OISS personnel without any cost to the institution.
5) Promote student development, engagement, and leadership
In many tangible and intangible ways, international students and visiting scholars positively impact the learning environment as well as the bottom line of the University. In the 21st century, producing graduates with global competence is the responsibility of every university. This new era requires the University to prepare its students for the rigors of a globally interconnected and highly competitive marketplace so that American students can be successful upon graduation and thereafter. For decades, US Universities across the country have enrolled students and invited scholars from around the world. These students and scholars contribute perspectives from their home cultures and education systems to the courses and research in which they are involved, and serve as a vital resource to U.S. students interested in increasing their global competency.
UA Little Rock receives a number of non-traditional and first-generation American college students with little to no international experience. This situation has created an international knowledge and experience gap within the community and state. UA Little Rock and its international student office play a key role in closing the gap by recruiting and retaining international students that eventually enable the University to produce graduates with global competence who are ready to meet the current demand for labor in the local, national, and global economy.
6) Other
Our team serves all incoming and currently enrolled international students and scholars at UA Little Rock, the Bowen School of Law, and the Clinton School of Public Service. Our office provides assistance to prospective international undergraduate applicants, supports current international students and scholars in immigration advising, social, cultural, and academic issues during their stay. In addition, OISS seeks to increase international ambience on campus by identifying and implementing new opportunities between domestic and international students through workshops, collaboration with the International Club for social programs, trips and cultural excursions.
UA Little Rock is a Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)-certified school. This certification entails a great deal of responsibility for monitoring, tracking, reporting, and recordkeeping of nonimmigrant foreign students. As a certified school, on behalf of the University, OISS is responsible for ensuring that international students are maintaining lawful nonimmigrant status and reporting information on those students to the US Department of Homeland Security, through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
Schools are required to go under review (i.e., recertification) every 2 years to stay in compliance. Our F-program recertification petition was approved in early 2019 without any Request for Evidence (RFE) and Request for Information (RFI).
In addition, the University is approved by the US State Department to host degree seeking international students, exchange visitors, visiting professors and researchers, and non-degree student interns under J visa classification. The US Department of State adjudicates petitions of schools who wish to issue form DS-2019 for J1 exchange visitors, which is a different designation from SEVP certification mentioned above.
Schools are required to go under review (i.e., re-designation) every 2 years to maintain a good standing with the US Department of State. Our J-program re-designation petition was approved in early 2019 without any Request for Evidence (RFE) and Request for Information (RFI).
Assessment 1
Type of assessment (learning outcome or operational)
operational
Activity or experience being assessed
International Student Orientation
Assessment artifacts
Surveys
Time period assessment was done
August 2019 and January 2020
Results
Survey results show that students are very mostly satisfied with the Orientation Sessions. However, 10% of the survey results showed that the professional development session and the health insurance sessions were told long.
During the spring 2020 orientation, OISS had only one full-time staff member to help and welcome all the new and returning students. Due to lack of staff members, we failed to add the survey to the Welcome Package to find out what international students learn at student orientation about life in the US. This will be fixed for orientation in fall 2020 or spring 2021.
Continuous improvement process
Based on the survey results, we asked the faculty member to keep his professional development presentation no more than 20 minutes with leaving a 10-minute question and answer session at the end. At the same time, the Health Insurance session, which is conducted by an OISS staff member, will be no more than 20 minutes with leaving a 10-minute question and answer session at the end.
WHEN: Depending upon how everything unfolds due to COVID-19, changes will be made starting from fall 2020 or spring 2021 semester.
Stateholder involvement / Communication plan
OISS administration and staff members, as well as the faculty regarding his presentation.
Assessment 2
Type of assessment (learning outcome or operational)
SLO – 1A: Demonstrate respect for cultural and demographic differences
Activity or experience being assessed
Both activity and experience are being assessed during the International Celebration Day and planning committee meetings.
Assessment artifacts
Survey, observation
Time period assessment was done
Planning meetings throughout Fall 2019, International Celebration Day November 2019.
Results
Based on the observation results shared by the former assistant director of OISS, the event unfolded much better than the 2018 event due to additional funding for the ICD activities. As far as the survey piece goes, the number of surveys we received were too small to extrapolate, and had no open response questions.
Continuous improvement process
We were able to successfully argue for a $1,000 starter budget towards underwriting the cost of the event, including buying ingredients to cook international food, and t-shirts to give away. This will enable us to inform students earlier and encourage greater participation.
We will add questions to the survey next year that speak to what students have learned about cultural differences
WHEN: Next year
Stateholder involvement / Communication plan
Planning committee
Assessment 3
Type of assessment (learning outcome or operational)
Operational
Activity or experience being assessed
Implementing Keystone to help with targeted efforts to enhance recruitment and retention of international students
Assessment artifacts
Data provided by Keystone
Time period assessment was done
November – December 2019
January – June 2020
Results
Prior to the COVID-19, we received about 200 leads through Keystone from November 2019 to December 2019, which is a month period.
However, COVID-19 has negatively impacted the rest of the six months of the FY 2020. From January 2020 to June 2020, we have been seeing ~100 student leads per month.
Continuous improvement process
Based on a feedback provided by Keystone, we have made a number of changes to existing prospective international student communication templates.
In November 2020, the Office of Admissions, OISS, IELP, the Graduate School, and the Office of Communications and Marketing will review the data provided by Keystone to decide to retain Keystone for next year or not.
WHEN:See above
Stateholder involvement / Communication plan
Office of Admissions, OISS, IELP, the Graduate School, and the Office of Communications and Marketing, Enrollment Management.
Priorities for Next Year
- Ensure full compliance with all aspects of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).
- Promote a learning environment with an international perspective that expands and elevates the global horizons of our campus community.
- >Advocate for international students to make sure they are treated fairly, helped appropriately, and respected.
- Educate the campus community on intercultural understanding and the benefits of hosting international students and scholars.
- Provide necessary immigration advising and documents for student visa processing after admission to UA Little Rock.
- Provide information sessions on employment (e.g., OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, AT, on-campus employment etc.) taxes, and travel each semester.
- Increase well-qualified and fully funded international students at the undergraduate and graduate levels by closely working with the Office of Admissions and the Graduate School.
