"Field Notes" is an occasional Connect column covering practical and philosophical issues facing admissions and registrar professionals. The columns are authored by various AACRAO members. If you have an idea for a column and would like to contribute, please send an email to the editor at connect@aacrao.org.
By Nancy J. Walsh, Director of Admissions Operations, Undergraduate Admissions, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
It is no secret that US colleges and universities are turning more and more to international students in helping to diversify their campuses, increase enrollment and bring in more tuition revenue. If you work at an institution that is getting its feet wet in this area, hopefully you will find the following information helpful as your campus considers increasing its international student population.
Recruitment
There are several avenues you can follow in recruiting international students to apply and ultimately enroll at your institution. If your budget is limited in this area, you will need to rely on cost conscious recruitment activities. Make sure your website includes an area specifically designed for international admissions information and develop focused communication plans (most likely via email) aimed at international students. You could also consider online chats or virtual college fairs to reach international populations.
If you budget is more open, you should consider establishing an internal international recruitment team. This team would be tasked with formulating a recruitment plan specifically designed for international students, which would include travel, professional organization involvement and communications. Typically, the key to international recruitment is forming relationships with counselors abroad, just as admissions offices do within the US. Your institution can plan recruitment trips to specified regions individually. Or, you may want to consider group travel, especially if your campus has not traveled widely outside the US. At Illinois, we have mainly done individual recruitment trips, but have also participated in a few group travel opportunities. Some institutions will also work with overseas agencies to assist with recruitment if they do not have the budget and/or in-house expertise to take these activities on themselves. Keep in mind that these agencies typically work off commission, and international recruitment is big business in some regions of the world so you need to be watchful of fraudulent activities.
Admission
Once the recruitment team has generated applications, decisions must be made in determining how to process international applications as they bring with them additional paperwork and complexity. Similar to recruitment, most institutions will either handle the processing of international applications themselves or turn to credit evaluation services to help with this crucial step. If the latter is chosen, applicants are instructed to send their academic records to the services for a fee. The evaluation is then submitted to the institution(s) to which the applicant has applied so that the review can occur using the interpretation of the academic record by the service.
If your institution has decided to take on transcript evaluation yourself, you will need to ensure that you have the proper staff to review international academic records for authenticity and conduct an analysis of the academic work. Keep in mind that international academic records are typically much lengthier compared to domestic records and naming conventions are not standard. Your mailroom/document management team may struggle to match transcripts with application records as names and dates of birth may not follow the norm. One of the reasons my institution decided to have our freshman applicants self-report their academic records during the application process was due to the complexity and time required in matching international transcripts. The official academic records are then only required from freshmen who plan to enroll. Some institutions also require financial documentation during the application process, which only adds to the paperwork influx. At my institution, we also do not require financial documentation unless the applicant has been admitted and plans to enroll in order to issue the I-20. Evaluating international collegiate coursework can also be difficult when processing transfer applications, and again, requires a high level of expertise on staff. In all instances, once the coursework has been evaluated, the application still needs to be reviewed to determine if the international applicant is eligible for admission to your campus.
Proving English proficiency is typically also part of the evaluation of international applications. Each institution has its own policies and practices surrounding English proficiency, but this can usually be proved through ACT/SAT standardized tests or exams specifically testing English skills such as TOEFL or IELTS. If you are allowing standardized tests to meet English proficiency on your campus, it is recommended that you only receive these scores through electronic delivery so that you can be assured that you are notified when the scores are cancelled. If you are allowing paper test reports in your application process, you may not be notified when scores are cancelled.
I-20s/DS-2019s
The vast majority of your admitted international students must obtain an I-20 or DS-2019 from your institution to acquire their student visas and to remain in status. Designated School Officials (DSOs) are the only campus staff authorized to issue these forms. Depending on the number of international students planning to enroll, the I-20/DS-2019 process can require huge staff resources in addition to incurring shipping costs. Documents such as bank statements and passports must be reviewed. Some admissions offices have a DSO on staff for I-20/DS-2019 issuance, while international student services offices on many campuses serve as the I-20/DS-2019 issuing entities. In addition, the I-20/DS-2019 shipping process must be determined. For example, vendor services can be chosen to assist with shipping and to bill students for shipping costs. If your admissions office is responsible for issuing I-20/DS-2019s, be prepared to answer many questions from international students during the I-20/DS-2019 processing timeframe, as these documents, which are needed to secure visas and maintain status, really are as important to them as their admission offer.
Orientation/Registration
International students planning to enroll also need to go through orientation/registration activities. Typically, special accommodations need to be made for incoming international students since it is rare that they would travel to campus over the summer for a one or two day orientation program. Alternatives could include scheduling a ‘late’ registration session approximately a week before fall classes begin allowing for an early move-in; online orientation/registration appointments; or off-site orientation/registration sessions. The latter option seems to be gaining momentum as many colleges and universities increase their international enrollment, particularly in Asia. At Illinois, we have hosted orientation sessions in China over the summer the last few years, but we continue to offer both late registration and online sessions as well. If off-site orientation/registration isn’t an option for you, consider ‘saving’ seats in popular freshman-level courses for late registration sessions and also be aware of internet and timing issues when scheduling online orientation/registration options.
On-Campus
Colleges and universities must also carefully consider the impact of an increased international enrollment on their campuses. By enrolling these students, we should be promising a rich educational experience which will lead to a degree. Those responsible for retaining students may face new challenges in dealing with international students. Integration into the student body is key, so your student affairs and international student services offices should be heavily involved in creating a solid student experience. Some international students may have a military service commitment back home which will require them to leave campus for up to a year. Your campus should maintain contact with such students to ensure that they will return to complete their degree.
Almost all aspects of your campus will be impacted by an increase in international student enrollment beyond those mentioned above – academic advising, health center, and career services to name a few. These units focus much of their attention and outreach are working with domestic students, so special programs and considerations may be needed to cater to international populations. Communication gaps can also pose issues, so it would be recommend to employ bilingual speakers in units which have a high traffic of international students.
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