COUNCIL
Year-end Committee Report on the April
28 Agenda
Committee on International Programs
The
Committee on International Programs of the University
Council was
given the following charges by the Steering Committee of
the Council:
1.
Continue exploring ways in which the Penn environment
can be made
more inviting for the international visitors, in particular
visiting scholars, post-doctoral fellows, etc.
2.
Evaluate the impact of Homeland Security policies on
prospective
versus current international students and exchange visitors,
and explore steps the University might take to ameliorate
negative effects.
3.
Gather more information and conduct further discussion
of the
issues surrounding the integrity of student applications,
especially from certain parts of the world to ensure (a)
that we have reliable data and (b) that we avoid stereotyping
applicants from certain countries.
4.
Examine and advise the University Council on ways the
University
can coordinate and expand its international endeavors at
Penn and its global presence beyond the campus.
The
Committee, so far, has met six times during the academic
year 2003-2004
and will attempt one more meeting. The following individuals
appeared as guests of the Committee at its meetings: Dr.
Shalini Dev Bhutani, Director, International Student and
Scholar Services , OIP; Dr. Peter Conn, Deputy Provost;
Mr. Omar Blaik, Senior Vice President for Facilities and
Real Estate Services.
Charge 1
The
Committee chose to continue its deliberation of the previous
years
on the need for short-term, affordable housing for international
scholars. At the request of the Committee, Dr. Randolph
supplied us with the results of a survey titled "Short
Term Housing for Visiting International Scholars," which
was completed in 2001. The survey, that included both public
and private universities and those from different parts
of the U.S., was extensively discussed. We also shared
our interest with Dr. Conn when he appeared as a guest
of the committee. The conclusion of the Committee was that
none of these schools has successfully solved this problem
for lack of willingness to devote the necessary resources
that it requires. In our interim report to the University
Council, we suggested that the University Administration
might want to set an example for the nation by devoting
the necessary resources to address this need. President
Rodin suggested that the Committee should meet with Mr.
Omar Blaik, Senior Vice President for Facilities and Real
Estate. We had an exceedingly fruitful meeting with Mr.
Blaik, in which he presented several possible models for
addressing the housing needs of the international visitors.
On April 14, 2004, the current Chair of the Committee,
Dr. Randolph and Mr. Blaik met with Dr. Conn to plan the
next step.
Recommendations for Action: The
Committee recommends that the President and the Provost
place the objective of providing short-term, affordable
housing for visiting international scholars high in the
priority list of the University, and provide the necessary
resources to implement one of the options presented to
the Committee.
Recommendations
for action by next year's
Committee: The Committee recommends that the initiative
started this year be vigorously followed to completion.
Charge 2
As part
of our deliberations on this issue, Dr. Shalini Dev Bhutani,
Director, International Student and Scholar Services of
OIP, gave the Committee a report on Penn's compliance with
the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
Each international student and J-1 scholar, including his
or her dependents, should now have a SEVIS issued immigration
document. However, the SEVIS system is flawed, and there
are no clear guidelines for some SEVIS processing requirements.
The
University of Pennsylvania had 1074 incoming international
students
enrolled this fall, compared to 863 in fall 2002. Despite
these figures, there was much anecdotal information provided
by the Committee members regarding delays in obtaining
visas by these individuals. Some students who faced visa
delays and denials have decided to defer their admission
to Penn until spring 2004 or fall 2004 or chose to study
elsewhere. As in previous years, most students facing visa
denials were from China.
Visa delays
arose largely due to heightened security concerns. In addition
to the regular security screening, some students were also
delayed because of the extra security screening required
by the Technology Alert List (TAL). Individuals can
be affected if their fields of study appear on a "critical
fields list," or if they are nationals of those countries,
that the Department of State has listed as a State Sponsor
of Terrorism. In addition, the new requirement for face-to-face
interviews for non-immigrant visa applications has resulted
in backlog delays that have affected some students.
The
Association of American Universities (AAU), the National
Association
of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC)
and the National Association of International Educators
(NAIE) are conducting a survey on international enrollments
and visa trends.
Ms. Simi
Wilhelm informed the Committee that GAPSA and the UA have
arranged a meeting with the representatives of the Office
of Government, Community and Public Affairs, the President's
Office and OIP to discuss international student issues.
Some of the agenda items are: Homeland Security, the USA "Uniting
and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools
Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" Patriot Act
and Penn advocacy.
Recommendations for Action: The
Committee urges the University Administration to be actively
involved with the outside organizations listed above in
developing a common position for minimizing the adverse
effects of these policies on the legitimate global role
of Penn.
Recommendations
for action by next year's
Committee: The Committee should continue following
developments in this area.
Charge 3
The Committee
heard from its members and received confirmation from Dr.
Conn that there is an indeterminate but presumably significant
level of fraudulent material being submitted with applications,
largely from the People's Republic of China. The response
within Penn as well as nationally has been varied. Certain
departments have added specific warnings to their application
materials, indicating penalties for falsification of records.
Penn's Nursing School conducts telephone interviews, and
Wharton School is now conducting face-to-face interviews
between school representatives and applicants.
In
January 2004, the School of Engineering and Applied Science
organized
Internet2 pilot interviews with students who had applied
to graduate programs from certain Chinese institutions.
Two members of our committee attended these interviews.
While these interviews do not address the integrity of
all materials submitted, never the less, we received a
very positive report on this pilot project.
Recommendations
for action by next year's
Committee: The Committee should continue the discussion
of this issue.
Charge 4
During the
discussion of this charge, it became clear that specific
collaborations exit between Penn, or some of its academic
or research units and certain institutions all over the
globe. To give just two examples, one can point to that
between Penn and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and that
between SEAS interaction with Université de Technologie
de Compiègne. Never-the-less, there is no central coordinating
entity for these programs, across the University.
The
Committee endorsed the following recommendation to the
Administration: Each
school should designate an individual to supervise its
international affairs. The designated individuals should
meet regularly as a group and would report to the Provost.
A representative of the group should be named as ex officio
member of the International Programs Committee.
In the meeting
with Deputy Provost Conn, we discovered that he has independently
arrived at a similar decision and that a "Provost's International
Roundtable" has been formed, chaired by Dr. Conn, and with
a representative from each school within Penn. This Group
also includes Dr. Randolph. The group will meet regularly
with the Deputy Provost.
Recommendations for Action: The
Committee recommends that the "Provost's International
Roundtable" go beyond simply discussing general policy
issues, and assume an executive function in coordinating
the various international programs across the campus. It
further recommends that incoming President Gutmann rededicate
Penn to playing a major role in global education and research.
Recommendations
for action by next year's
Committee: The Committee should maintain close connections
with Provost's International Roundtable to ensure that
it functions in the manner envisioned by this year's
IPC.
2003-2004
Committee Members
Chair: Sohrab
Rabii, Electrical and Systems Engineering; Faculty: Abass Alavi, Nuclear
Medicine and Radiology, Medicine, Carlos Alonso, Romance
Languages, Paul J. DeWeer, Physiology, Medicine , Steve
Kobrin, Management, Kim Lane Scheppele, Law, Norma Lang,
Nursing, Jerry Wind, Marketing; Graduate/professional
students: Mete Civelek, Engineering, Simi Wilhelm,
Education; Undergraduate students: Ian Lin, Wharton,
Jennifer Kessler, Arts and Sciences, Benjamin Ochieng,
Nursing; PPSA: Kristine Billmyer, English Language
Programs; WPSA: Suzanne Oh, Education; Ex officio: Joyce
M. Randolph, International Programs; Staff: Elva
E. Power, International Programs.