Interview with Alzbeta Findlay, Assistant Director for International Student and Scholar Services at CUA

[Ed. Note: While the search is currently underway for a full-time Director for this office, Ms. Findlay has been handling all immigration work related to foreign students on F-1 visas, students and faculty at CUA J-visas as Exchange Visitors, and questions related to H-1B faculty visas and other faculty immigration issues.]

OGC: Alzbeta, could you tell us a bit about what it is that you do in your job on a day-to-day basis as the Assistant Director for International Student and Scholar Services?

AF: My work involves advising and counseling international students, researchers, professors, and their families. They come to see me with a wide range of issues, and therefore every day on the job is different. One student will need an invitation letter for his mother to attend the graduation ceremony, another will come to talk to me about not doing well in classes, and yet another will want to apply to the INS for off-campus employment authorization.

Scholars may come to see me to obtain permission to deliver a lecture at another institution, to ask for a visa document for their spouse, or simply to learn what needs to be done before they make a trip to Canada. Throughout the day I will usually receive several calls from various offices on campus that will need assistance in matters regarding international students and scholars – such as Human Resources, Admissions, Registrar, and individual academic departments. I serve as a primary liaison for University administrators and faculty in matters concerning all F-1 and J-1 students and employees on our campus. In addition, I serve as a University liaison for government offices, such as the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Department of State (DOS), Social Security Administration, etc.

OGC: You clearly have an excellent grasp on international student issues. Where did you work before you came to CUA?

AF: Thank you. I came to CUA from Boston University, which has one of the largest international student bodies in the country. At the time I was part of the BU International Students and Scholars Office, we had about 4,000 international students and 800 scholars. I was able to learn from some of the most experienced international student advisers in the country. It entailed a very heavy workload in a hectic atmosphere, but it was a good experience and I learned a lot.

OGC: The National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA) seems like an excellent professional organization. I know you are a member - what new topics do you hope to learn about at the annual conference in May of this year?

AF: I am most looking forward to presentations on three key issues: (1) the implementation of SEVIS, an automated system for record keeping on foreign students; (2) crisis management – focus on challenges our offices face in times of crisis; and (3) updates on recent changes in INS and DOS immigration regulations.

OGC: You came to work for CUA at a challenging time, just after the “9-11” attack on the United States. What were some of the challenges you met in your first semester on the job?  How do you think the attack will affect the operations of your office/the university?

AF: When I began my work at CUA in the fall of last year, I sensed a lot of anxiety among international students and scholars. So my biggest challenge since the past semester has been communication of all changes to all of our students as quickly as possible. That proved useful especially in the busy time around Christmas when a lot of international students traveled abroad and were concerned about having all the required documentation when returning to the United States. Fortunately, none of the international students that went home in the winter reported any problems – other than delays – when  returning to CUA from their travels.

In the long term, our University will have to comply with more reporting requirements set by the U.S, government, especially under the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act) and IIRAIRA (Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act). Our performance will most likely be evaluated biennially by INS and DOS. If we do not fulfill all the record keeping and reporting requirements, our ability to host F-1 and J-1 programs may be revoked for one year or longer, depending on the nature of the violation. INS and the Department of State have always had the right to conduct reviews of our institution’s compliance, but previously this has not been enforced.

OGC: Can you tell us approximately how many international students CUA currently has enrolled and whether those numbers are expected to change?

AF: Currently we have about 400 international students and 80 scholars. These numbers include only non-immigrant F-1 and J-1 visa holders and full-time students and employees. Further, we have about 50 students who come yearly on exchange programs, or for short periods of non-degree study. We also have international employees who hold different types of visas than those mentioned above. Our campus is proud of its diversity. However, I believe we will need to increase those numbers in order to be competitive with other academic institutions. I hope to see more international students and scholars on our campus in the near future.

OGC: One issue that has been in the news a good deal this year is the switch over to a fully automated student information tracking system for international students, known as SEVIS. Can you tell us a bit about what it is that SEVIS is intended to accomplish, what we will need to do and whether you anticipate many problems at CUA in switching over to this system?

AF: SEVIS stands for “Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.” Its main objective is to transform a manual, paper-based system of data management into a fully automated one. Currently, the educational institutions, INS and DOS collect and store data at various times, in various forms, at various places. Eventually all of the data should be stored in one interactive database.

In order to switch onto this system, the University needs to make sure that staff in all concerned offices, mainly the Office of Admissions, Registrar, and Office of International Student and Scholar Services are well educated and trained to manage data for/from this database and that we have the right technical support. Our University, like many others, faces a tough choice – whether to try to work with our current software and databases or whether to purchase a new product designed in line with SEVIS. We have created a team of administrators who meet on regular basis to ensure that we are making all the necessary preparations. INS will host a SEVIS presentation during the annual NAFSA conference in May and I hope to bring back a lot of useful information.

OGC: The International Student Office will soon be expanding. Can you tell us what major changes that will result as part of the expansion?

AF:  We should soon have a Director of International Student and Scholar Services. The second person in the office will allow us to focus on programming for international students, an area in which we have been lacking due to being understaffed. We hope to initiate programs that would promote cultural exchange – people in the local community could learn about the different cultures represented on our campus directly from our international students. Further, having an additional immigration specialist in our office may allow us to begin processing H1-B visas, which are non-immigrant visas for qualified employees. Our university has previously not offered this service, which might have limited our scope of recruitment of international employees, especially faculty. I hope to see this service boost up our competitiveness with other universities.

OGC: What are your short-term and long-term goals for the international student and scholar program at CUA?

AF:  Short-term goals: to facilitate our institution’s preparedness for implementation of SEVIS. This will include overseeing of data collection and maintenance in several University offices. I would like to launch several events to promote multicultural awareness on our campus.

Long term goals: To create and maintain a well-staffed office with excellent immigration regulations expertise and strong programming services.

OGC: Are there ways that the CUA community could assist you and your office in accomplishing your goals?

AF: Absolutely. In fact without the CUA’s community support I will not be able to accomplish any of the above-mentioned goals. I have had enormous support so far and I have seen extensive support for international population on our campus.