International Center

International student services fee - progress and plans

Feb. 16, 2012

With the summer 2011 semester, the University of Missouri began charging a new international student services fee each semester to all students on F-1 and J-1 visas enrolled in one credit or more. The purpose of the fee was to allow the International Center to meet the needs of MU’s rapidly growing international student population, particularly in light of upcoming changes to the federal government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).

MU's international student enrollment reached an all-time high of 2,196 in fall 2011, a 33% increase over the past five years and a 13% increase in the last year alone. The record number of applications already received for fall 2012 indicates this growth will only continue. The new fee allows the center to keep pace, and to continue providing excellent support services for the university's international students as their numbers increase.

When launched, the next phase of SEVIS, SEVIS II, will bring significant changes for both students and staff as it moves immigration services to a more paperless system and provides students with more direct, real-time access to their immigration records. The transition to the new system is expected to be particularly labor intensive for the International Center in the areas of data migration, advising, and communications. Over the past six months the student services fee has allowed the center to begin preparing for this transition in all three areas, while simultaneously offering immediate enhancements in service to current international students.

Advising – more staff, more hours, more personal attention

One of the first priorities following the implementation of the new fee was to increase the International Center’s advising capacity. The addition of two new international student advisers last summer allowed the center almost immediately to double the number of walk-in advising hours available to international students each week. At the same time, the center was able to cut the time required for processing document requests in half, from 10 to 5 days.

In November, the center also changed how advisers are assigned to students. Previously, advisers met with students on a rather ad hoc basis, depending primarily on availability. International students are now assigned to an adviser based on their last (family) names. This allows students to work with just one adviser throughout their MU career, and will help each adviser get to know their students better and become familiar with their unique cases.

Technology – adding efficiency, reducing paper

In January, the International Center implemented the first phase of its new digital record system during international student orientation. Using the university’s ImageNow software, documents required for the student check-in process were scanned and stored securely online, initiating electronic files for this cohort of students which will contain all of their future immigration-related documents. Moving forward, advisers will increasingly store and access student immigration records through ImageNow for all students, reducing paper use and eventually replacing the center’s hard-copy filing system altogether.

In spring 2012 the center will further launch a completely revised online document request system for international students. Document requests cover a variety of needs for internationals such as employment authorization, letters verifying enrollment, and updated immigration documents. In the past year, the center processed over 3,000 such documents for international students and scholars. The new system will be tied to the university’s student information system and to campus authentication, offering efficiencies for both students and staff. Students will be able to log in with their PawPrints to monitor the status of their requests, and advisers will be able to generate many documents with the click of a button. A longer-term goal is to allow users to upload and retrieve documents online.

Communications – getting the word out

While advising and technology have been the primary areas of focus for enhancing international student services since last summer, the International Center has also devoted increased time and resources to improving how we communicate with and about Mizzou’s international student community. One example is a new series of video profiles highlighting the diversity of experiences and backgrounds that international students bring to our campus. A rapidly growing photo collection further captures the variety of international student activities and events on campus. These projects not only tell a more complete story of the Mizzou experience for internationals, they lay the groundwork for future multimedia projects. In upcoming months the center will begin identifying additional opportunities for improving its use of video, social media, e-learning modules, and other communication tools to deliver critical information to international students in a more timely and engaging manner.