Latitudes: To better support foreign students, one campus puts faculty and staff members “in their shoes”

A program at the U. of Arkansas raises awareness about the common, yet specific, challenges international students face. ADVERTISEMENT [Latitudes Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. Training puts participants through real-world scenarios international students face Staff members in the Office of International Students and Scholars at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville had a dilemma: When foreign students ran into problems, they would often turn to the most-trusted adults in their lives, host families or favorite professors, for guidance. These mentors would try to help: Short on cash? Get a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant. Failing a course? Drop it and make up the credits next semester. But the advice, while well intentioned, was also sometimes wrong. Student-visa regulations forbid international students from working off campus, except in narrow instances in which it’s related to their studies. The same rules mandate that students from overseas be enrolled full time. The international-office staffers came up with an idea, to develop a short training program to help familiarize volunteers, faculty members, and others on campus who work with the university’s 1,200 international students with some of the common, yet specific, challenges that the group encounters. “We always tell people, ‘Our objective isn’t to make you immigration experts. It’s to make you more sensitive to these issues,” said Audra D. Johnston, the office’s associate director — and its “resident immigration geek.” For nearly two decades, Johnston and Cynthia Jane Smith, assistant director of outreach programs, have run the program, In Their Shoes, leading participants through real-world scenarios: When an international student’s roommate moves out, is it OK for a host family to offer housing in exchange for some housework and child care? How should an adviser or supervisor respond if they begin to notice an international student acting erratically? What are the potential visa implications if a student is arrested for underaged drinking or public intoxication? What happens if he is contacted by the FBI? During the workshop, attendees break out into small groups to consider different scenarios, all based on issues the international office has dealt with. “Repeatedly,” Smith said. Then the whole group comes together to talk through the problems and possible solutions. Johnston and Smith offer additional advice: Working as a nanny in exchange for housing would run afoul of visa rules, but host families can refer international students in financial need to a campus emergency fund, and the local food bank is another resource. International-office staff members can sit in if the FBI requests to interview a student. Over time, Smith and Johnston have sharpened the workshop scenarios. In recent years, for example, participants have been more likely than in the past to suspect that the FBI outreach was a scam, so they updated the training to reflect that concern. The presentation format has also grown more sophisticated. Initially, the pair distributed written copies of the scenarios, then they upgraded to rudimentarily recorded skits. Now each scenario is a mini-movie, filmed professionally by a local videographer. International students are recruited as actors; in one video, about a document mix-up, the registrar’s office doubles as the motor-vehicle office. The scenario-based approach can resonate more than other means of conveying the same information, Johnston said. “I think storytelling has a greater impact.” The international office regularly runs the training for groups across the University of Arkansas, including campus police, the diversity office, and resident assistants. They can tailor the training to focus on the issues most relevant to the audience. In recent days, they have held sessions for the geosciences department, which was referred by another academic department, as well as for a cross-cultural communications course. Margaret Miller Butcher, who teaches the communications course, invites Smith and Johnston to present each semester. Despite the course’s subject matter, many of her students have never even spoken to an international student. Working through the scenarios “lets them have a little bit of an understanding,” said Butcher, who has a cameo in one of the videos as a concerned professor whose student has been hospitalized. “It builds better bridges.” The course is a service-learning one, and many of Butcher’s students go on to volunteer in the international office as conversation partners or “campus cousins,” acting as peer support for new international students. In reflection papers at the end of the semester, In Their Shoes is always one of the learning experiences students most frequently mention, she said. Departments and offices that go through the training have a point of contact in the international office. Anecdotally, Johnston and Smith said other faculty and staff members are more likely to flag concerns about students to them, and students who visit the office tell them they’ve been encouraged by their professors to seek support. When the graduate school was thinking about increasing work hours for its teaching and research assistants, it reached out to see if doing so would have any visa implications, Johnston said. The professional-quality videos cost about $6,000 to make, Smith said, but because of the program’s track record, they were able to get financial support from the university. Still, any college could offer a pared-down version, writing their own scenarios. Arkansas officials have also been exploring ways to copyright In Their Shoes and make the program, including a facilitator’s guide, available to other institutions. After a recent presentation at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference, one audience member came up to Johnston. “If you publish it,” she said, “I’ll buy it.” I’m interested in writing about innovative approaches to common problems in international-student support, study abroad, and other aspects of international education. Know of programs that fit the bill? Email me at [karin.fischer@chronicle.com.](mailto:karin.fischer@chronicle.com) ADVERTISEMENT NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. Amendment would cut funding for educational and cultural exchanges An amendment under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives would eliminate funding for educational- and cultural-exchange programs run by the U.S. Department of State. An amendment to the [State Department appropriations bill]( by Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican, would [zero out]( funding for exchange programming, including the flagship Fulbright program for student and scholar exchanges; the Gilman program, which supports study abroad for low-income and first-generation American students; and programs that bring young leaders from around the world to the United States. The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs also supports EducationUSA, a global network of centers that advise international students about studying at American colleges. The Biden administration had proposed spending $784 million in the 2024 fiscal year on educational and cultural exchanges. The Alliance for International Exchange, a group that represents organizations and providers that run exchanges and support global-education programming, urged its members to [contact]( their congressional representatives to vote against the amendment. Mark Overmann, the alliance’s executive director, noted in an email that the cuts include funding for staffing and operations. Even if the amendment wins House approval, it is likely to be a “non-starter” in the Senate, where Democrats have the majority, Overmann said. Still, it’s notable that the rules committee in the Republican-controlled House allowed the amendment, as exchange programming has traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [College as a Public Good - The Chronicle Store]( [College as a Public Good]( Public confidence in higher education has fallen in recent years, with barely half of Americans seeing it in a positive light. [Order this report today]( to examine the many roles colleges play in their local communities and how institutions are reimagining their outreach to rebuild public trust. Higher-ed groups warn about research-security measures in defense bill Higher-education groups are warning that provisions in a critical defense-policy bill could “create conflicting, unnecessary, and, in some cases, counterproductive new research-security requirements” for scientists and research universities. In a [letter]( to key House and Senate leaders, the Association of American Universities and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities warned that “sweeping” new disclosure requirements could make personal information of American and foreign scientists taking part in Department of Defense-funded programs, including graduate students and visiting scholars, publicly available. Other provisions of the must-pass legislation could duplicate or even undermine other [research-security measures]( recently put in place by science-funding agencies, the letter said. New mandates could create confusion and disrupt the training of faculty and staff members and students on the existing compliance requirements. A [separate letter]( by the American Council on Education, signed by 20 higher-education groups, said they shared the two associations’ concerns. Around the globe The U.S. government will extend emergency relief for international students from [Afghanistan]( through May 2025, allowing them to work more hours and to carry a reduced course load than is typically permitted under student-visa regulations. The Institute of International Education’s emergency-student fund is now accepting [nominations]( to aid international students affected by floods in Libya, earthquakes in Morocco, conflict in Sudan, or war in Ukraine. Some Chinese students who have taken part in pro-democracy activities while in the United States said family members back in China have been [questioned]( by police and state security. The board of the American International Recruitment Council has voted to [change its name]( to AIRC: The Association of International Enrollment Management, which it said better reflects the expanded scope of its work. One of Mexico’s top colleges is looking into allegations of [plagiarism]( in an academic essay written by Xóchitl Gálvez, an opposition presidential candidate, when she was a student. India is the top source of international students to Canada, but that flow could be [disrupted]( due to tensions between the two countries after Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, accused India of being behind the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader. Students from India contribute more to Ontario colleges’ bottom line than they receive in funding from the provincial government, according to [new estimates](. France has suspended the issuance of new visas for students from [Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso]( citing security concerns in the three African countries. Polish scientists are raising alarm over the government’s plan to [shutter]( the country’s main basic-research agency. Rahile Dawut, a prominent Uyghur academic who disappeared six years ago, has reportedly been [sentenced to life in prison]( part of the Chinese government’s crackdown on ethnic and religious minorities in the Xinjiang region. Xi’an Jiaotong University, among China’s top universities, has removed an [English-proficiency requirement]( for graduation. Japan had plans to create a homegrown Ivy League. But a government fund gave a grant to [just one]( university during its first funding round. Stanford University ranked second, behind the University of Oxford, in Times Higher Education’s latest [global ranking](. ADVERTISEMENT And finally … Last week I told you about Jaahnavi Kandula, a graduate student from India at Northeastern University’s campus in Seattle, who was [struck and killed]( by a police car that was speeding to respond to an incident. An investigation has been opened after an officer was caught on a body camera allegedly suggesting that Kandula’s life had “limited value” and the city should “just write a check.” Now a fellow Indian graduate student, and an editorial intern at Ms. magazine, has penned a [furious eulogy]( for Kandula. “I try not to complain about it too loudly, I don’t want to sound ungrateful,” Aastha Jani, a student at the University of Southern California, wrote. The reimbursement the officer suggested would “barely cover tuition at a university like Northeastern (or USC, for me) — let alone the value of a woman who sought to do more for herself and her family.” Thanks for reading. I always welcome your feedback and ideas for future reporting, so drop me a line at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on [X]( or [LinkedIn](. If you like this newsletter, please share it with colleagues and friends. 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