March 2013, Academic Issue II

I N S I D E :

BRIDGE Turns 10!

Online Course Limitations for International Students

International Student Experience

Reduced Course Loads

Connections Between UW & UN

MDGAP in the Community

ISS Compass The ISS Compass is a biannual e-newsletter from International Student Services designed to provide information to all faculty and staff about student services and resources for the campus in relation to serving international students.

The BRIDGE (Building Relationships in Diverse Global Environments) Interna-tional Friendship program is 10 years old! BRIDGE is a high impact program at ISS that pairs new international students to U.S. students helping to integrate the new students to the UW in addition to teaching U.S. students about other coun-tries and cultures. The program was recently awarded MIU funding to add a staff member and expand.

One of the new initiatives include working

with faculty and staff to volunteer and

become a BRIDGE Mentor for a smaller

group of students in the program. The

small teams are arranged by majors,

hobbies & interests, or living areas. The

hope is to have each team be mentored by

a faculty/staff who will check in with the

students throughout the semester and act

as a resource person to the team of about

16 students.

For more information, please contact,

Jessica Harmatys, BRIDGE Field Coordina-

tor at jharmatys@studentlife.wisc.edu.

Help BRIDGE introduce the world to

campus!

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF BRIDGE!

SUMMER term is even more challenging

if it is the student’s final semester. All F-

1 and J-1 visa holders must be enrolled

and participating in class ON CAMPUS at

the institution listed on their immigra-

tion paperwork in their final term. If

summer is the student’s final term of

study, they may not enroll for online

courses only. If they will continue to

study in the Fall term, then an online

course alone in summer would be

allowed. Additionally, on-campus enroll-

ment is a requirement of all F-1 and J-1

students who wish to remain in the US

for post-graduation work permission

(Optional Practical Training or Academic

Training).

Photo by University Communications

Online learning has become a great

resource for helping many students

balance their requirements. Inter-

national students, however, face

additional difficulty in utilizing this

option due to F-1 and J-1 visa regu-

lations. Currently, the rules are not

flexible on distance learning. Inter-

national students have restrictions

on the number of online credits

they may take per semester that

will count toward full-time enroll-

ment, as well as very specific rules

about enrolling on campus in their

final term.

US F-1 and J-1 student visa regula-

tions state that in SPRING & FALL

terms, a student may enroll for up to

3 Credits of Online Coursework that

may count toward full-time enroll-

ment requirements. Therefore, grad-

uate full-time enrollment must be 8

credits (3 Credits online included)

and undergraduate full-time enroll-

ment must be 12 credits (3 credits

online included). More than 3 Cred-

its of online courses will not count

toward enrollment requirements.

Students may enroll for more online

courses but they will still need to

take on-Campus courses equal to 5

credits for graduate students or 9

credits for undergraduate students

to be considered full time.

ONLINE COURSE OPTIONS ARE LIMITED FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FIRST-YEAR SURVEY

Top 4 Transition Issues for International Students

Housing (off campus)

Language (writing)

Winter Weather

Meeting American students

*Based on the ISS annual First-Year Survey for International Students 2012

Page 2

Each year ISS sends a survey to international students who have been in attendance for one to two semesters, encouraging them to reflect on their arrival to Madison and to answer a series of questions about their “First Year Experience”. The survey seeks information about how to make the transition to UW-Madison and the United States a bit easier for interna-tional students.

A variety of transitional issues have been named by international students as playing a major role in their first year experience at UW-Madison. Many of these issues would resonate with our US student population as well, but considering the distance many of our international students travel and the language barrier for something as complicated as renting an apart-ment, these issues can be magnified.

ISS works closely with Visitor and Information Programs, which offers valuable resources in seeking campus area housing and with the Tenant Resource Center which provides housing and tenant resources for students who may be unfamiliar with securing off-campus housing.

If you encounter international students having trouble adjusting to UW-Madison , please feel free to point them to campus resources such as VIP, GUTS, the Writing Center, UHS Counseling and Consultation Services, or the Center for Leadership and Involve-ment for student organization information and ISS.

Photo by University Communications

Photo by James Ewing

Photo by James Ewing

REDUCED COURSE LOADS International students who come to UW-Madison on either an F-1 or J-1 student visa need to enroll in a minimum number of credits each fall & spring semester to maintain their visa status:

Undergraduates: 12 credits

Graduates & Professionals: 8 credits

6 credits for graduates with a 33.3% Teaching Assistantship / Project Assistantship

4 credits for graduates with a 50% Teaching Assistantship / Project Assistantship

Dissertators: 3 credits

There are very few acceptable reasons that international students may be authorized to enroll below full time. In order to maintain their legal status, the students must first obtain approval from ISS before they reduce their course load. As part of the approval process, students need to fill out an application with their academic advisor, who should confirm the reason for the student’s need to drop below full time. If you have any questions about re-duced course loads , please feel free to contact ISS.

mote gender equality, and to improve maternal health so that women and children have a better chance of living healthy lives.

Since its inception, MDGAP has provided presentations on the Goals, held an annu-al forum bringing together faculty presenters, student organizations, and commu-nity agencies working in MDG areas, and has linked students with relevant pro-fessional and skill-building opportunities, including internships, volunteer op-portunities, community services projects, confer-ences, and workshops.

The project hosts an in-formative website at http://www.iss.wisc.edu/mdgap/ and recently began edu-

The ISS - Millennium Devel-opment Goals Awareness Project (MDGAP) was intro-duced in the spring of 2009 to help establish a connec-tion between the University and the United Nations and to open new career fron-tiers related to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for students.

The eight MDGs work to address the world’s most urgent global challenges by calling on member nations to take aggressive action to halve extreme poverty, re-duce child mortality, halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, and reverse environmental deg-radation. The Goals also obligate members to work toward universal education at the primary level, to pro-

cating about the goals by utilizing social media heavily. The project Facebook account (Mdgap Uw) is constantly advancing new information and opportunities for engagement and use of Twitter (MDGAP_UW) is under experimentation.

In 2010, the project began leading study tours to the UN in New

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FORGING CONNECTION BETWEEN THE UW AND THE UN

Page 3

MDGAP, holds one community service event each semester. These day-long projects have focused on different Millennium

Development Goals. This Fall, a group of 17 international students from 7 different countries and three ISS staff members went to

Second Harvest Foodbank to help sort and package 15,643 pounds of donated food, equivalent to 13,036 meals. The food was

then distributed to 300 food pantries throughout the SouthernWisconsin region by Second Harvest Foodbank staff. This particular

project’s focus was on MDG 1 to eradicate hunger.

Other community service projects have included trips to Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, Growing Power in Milwaukee,

Community Action Coalition, Habitat for Humanity,

Fitchburg Fields, Porchlight, and The Ronald McDonald

House. The day begins with a presentation on the

MDG’s focus and how the organization is working to

combat the goal locally and/or globally. It ends with a

debrief including the students’ perspectives of the day

and how the experience in Madison relates to similar

experiences in their home countries. The debrief al-

lows the students to unpack what they have learned

and see similarities and differences between the U.S.

and their home countries which perhaps they did not

recognize before. To learn more about the goals and

community service projects, visit

http://www.iss.wisc.edu/mdgap/.

MDGAP IN THE COMMUNITY

An International Student at UN Headquarters in New York City

Page 4

CHECK OUT THE INTERNAT IONAL STUDENT GUIDE

If you have not yet

discovered the ISS

website, please visit

www.iss.wisc.edu.

You will find a wealth of

information and re-

sources for new and

current international

students.

If you work with new

international students

please refer them to

the Students link and

make sure they are

aware of the infor-

mation available under

Arrival and Orientation.

We highly recommend

viewing the Interna-

tional Student Guide,

an interactive E-tutorial

funded through an MIU

(Madison Initiative for

Undergraduates) grant.

This is a popular way our

new and prospective stu-

dents learn about UW-

Madison and prepare for

their arrival here.

http://iss.wisc.edu/

Tutorial/index.htm

York so that students could learn more about the Goals first-hand by meeting and interview-ing representatives of UN programs, funds & special agencies tasked with implementing MDG projects. Thus far, the project has led three tours and is planning a fourth over spring break 2013.

The study tours inspired invitations to UN staff to speak at UW-Madison. Balasubramaniam Murali, Programme Advisor for Afghanistan & Iran in the UN Development Programme’s Re-gional Bureau for Asia & the Pacific, was the project’s first speaker in 2011. World Food Programme Spokeperson and UW-Madison Alumna, Bettina Luescher followed this past spring. The project is set to host Shams Banihani from UNDP on March 7-8, 2013. Fac-ulty wishing to give extra credit to students for attending Ms. Banihani’s presentations are welcome to do so.

MDGAP works with many dedicated campus partners to achieve its goals, including Global Studies, Global Health Institute, CALS-International Programs, WUD – Global Con-nections, SOB-International Programs, WAA, and numerous student organizations.

The project may be reached at mdgap@studentlife.wisc.edu.

FORGING CONNECTION BETWEEN THE

UW AND THE UN (Continued from page 3)

ONLINE COURSE OPTIONS ARE LIMITED FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

MDGAP Study Group students on New York UN trip

716 Langdon St. Rm. 217

Madison, WI 53706

Phone: 608-262-2044

Fax: 608-262-2838

E-mail: iss@studentlife.wisc.edu

Web: www.iss.wisc.edu

FRIEND, L IKE, OR FOL LOW ISS!

If they only enroll in online credits

in the US or abroad, they will lose

any work permission opportunities

in the US.

These rules are very different for

US students so it is important that

international students are made

aware of the requirements

through advising with academic

advisors and ISS advisors. Please

send any students with questions

to ISS and feel free to contact our

office with questions:

ISS@studentlife.wisc.edu or

608.262.2044.

If you are interested in the actual Fed-

eral Regulations notation, it can be

found here under: 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(f)

(6)(i)(G)

http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/

SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-11261/0

-0-0-17197/0-0-0-17636.html

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