November 6, 2009 by Jordan Wait
By Danny O’Neill
Danny O’Neill is Bean Baron – and president/owner – of The Roasterie in Kansas City, MO. Last month he participated in a roundtable hosted by NAFSA and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Global Workforce Development: Connecting Business and Education to Compete in the International Marketplace, which brought business and higher education leaders together to share their predictions about the vital skills of the global manager of the future and how our campuses can prepare competitive graduates. Every year NAFSA hosts the largest conference in international education which attracts thousands of international educators from more than 100 countries – NAFSA’s 2010 Annual Conference & Expo will take place in Kansas City, May 30-June 4, 2010.
Last night I attended an opening of Office Port-River Market. The owner, Shaul Jolles, is a good friend of mine and an immigrant from Israel. After a while we were having a conversation and in a fairly small circle, there were folks from Lebanon, Colombia, Israel, USA and frankly, I’m not sure where else. We didn’t mention it or talk about it…I just reflected on it while driving home.
It reminded me of a NAFSA panel that I was on last month at the Kauffman Foundation here in Kansas City. We spoke about the value of having international experience in today’s world; and in fact, how one might even be handicapped without it.
I was lucky and fortunate enough to spend a year in Costa Rica as a high school foreign exchange student. While I had no idea at the time that it was going to change the course of my life forever, it remains the defining life-changing experience in my life. Today, I have a Lebanese wife and friends all over the world. Our staff is made up of folks from many different countries and in 16 years of business, our company has yet to have a meeting on ‘diversity’; our staff would find it amusing, I’m sure. We live it…take it for granted…and it would be redundant to have a meeting to talk about it.
There are times when this diversity, especially with languages, causes us to move more slowly at first; it can be less efficient. But wow, the outcome is so worth it. The ideas generated…the diversity of opinions and different ways of looking at things are invaluable. I’ve often said that we are so much better and more capable as a result of the international experience that we have on staff.
As a result, today we seek out both international folks as well as those with international experience. The creativity it brings to the party is invaluable. And it makes us a significantly more formidable company.
Interested in writing a guest blog? E-mail us your ideas.
Posted in Guest Post, Study Abroad | Tagged educational exchanges, global workforce development, Kansas City, Study Abroad, The Roasterie | Leave a Comment »
October 29, 2009 by Victor C Johnson
Lamar Alexander gets real with U.S. higher education in last week’s Newsweek cover article, “The Three-Year Solution,” calling for a more nimble and innovative approach to educating American college students and warning that without significant change, the world’s best and most respected system of higher education could go the way of the Big Three automakers, stuck in a rut while the world changes around it.
Alexander focuses much of the article on the question of whether three-year degrees are, in part, the way of the future in U.S. higher education. Notwithstanding the understandable concerns about shortening students’ academic careers in a country where the leisurely, winding road of a college education is a long-standing tradition, the reality is that the question of whether or not this makes sense may have already been made for us by the Bologna process, which has been moving toward mainstreaming and standardizing three-year degrees across the European Union and beyond (46 countries are participating) for some time now. This is yet another competitive advantage for the many excellent higher education institutions in Europe – it is undoubtedly appealing to many prospective foreign students, especially those contemplating graduate degrees or concerned about financing more years of an education than is absolutely necessary, to have the option to finish their undergraduate degrees in less time.
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Posted in Global Leadership, Study Abroad | Tagged Bologna Process, Immigration Policy, NAFSA, Study Abroad, Three-Year Degree | 2 Comments »
October 28, 2009 by Andy Amsler
On Tuesday, NAFSA was pleased to host Dr. Allison Stanger for the latest installment of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group author series. Stanger, who is Director of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs at Middlebury College, discussed her new book One Nation under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy.
Stanger touched on the main theme of One Nation Under Contract and described how “Democrats and Republicans alike embrace the outsourcing of government to the private sector whenever possible” and how the contractors they employ have come to “dominate our foreign policy.” She also said “outsourcing done right” can fuel innovation and expand “opportunities for individuals to make a difference,” especially in the developing world.
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Posted in Events, NAFSA | Tagged Allison Stanger, NAFSA, Women’s Foreign Policy Group | Leave a Comment »
October 22, 2009 by Victor C Johnson
UN Ambassador Susan Rice, in remarks to the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem yesterday, urged the international community to embrace a common responsibility to rise to today’s challenges and opportunities. Most of the coverage of her speech will likely focus on the portion devoted specifically to advancing peace in the Middle East, but her remarks about the interconnectedness of the world we live in are, I think, of equal if not greater merit.
Her words further articulate this administration’s conviction that the United States can no longer operate in isolation – that our problems are the world’s and theirs are ours, and that, as Rice noted, “we must tackle the great problems that we face together.” As she says, “more and more, our fates are bound closer together. More and more, we live in a world where we rise and fall together…”
But perhaps the most encouraging moment of Rice’s speech was when she said:
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Posted in Foreign Policy, Global Leadership | Tagged Foreign Policy, Global Leadership, International Education, Israeli Presidential Conference | Leave a Comment »
October 19, 2009 by Ursula Oaks
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New York Times columnist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof will speak at NAFSA’s 2010 Annual Conference & Expo in Kansas City next year. Kristof will address conference attendees on Wednesday, June 2, at the Kansas City Convention Center. This will be a very unique opportunity for international educators to hear from an extraordinary thought leader and human rights activist.
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 If you want to save the world, you first must understand it. So, embed yourself deep within a developing country for a summer or a year.
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Last month, Kristof and his wife, former New York Times writer Sheryl WuDunn, published a book about what they have called “the cause of our century.” Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide has been hailed as a moving and action-inspiring account of the plight of women in many parts of the world. The Washington Post called the book “a call to arms, a call for help, a call for contributions, but also a call for volunteers. It asks us to open our eyes to this enormous humanitarian issue.”
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Posted in Annual Conference, NAFSA | Tagged human rights, International Education, NAFSA | Leave a Comment »
October 13, 2009 by nafsa
NAFSA released this statement today:
NAFSA congratulates President Obama on the occasion of his being named this year’s recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. As the President has said, this honor is not just a recognition of him, but even more a recognition of American leadership “on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.” In our statement, Renewing America’s Global Leadership, released earlier this year, we associate ourselves with this approach. We believe now is the time for America to re-engage the world and reaffirm our commitment to extending a hand of friendship and understanding to the global community. On this occasion of hope for the future of peace in the world, we renew our commitment to supporting constructive global engagement by the United States and to working collaboratively with other countries to meet our shared challenges and opportunities.
Posted in Foreign Policy, Global Leadership, NAFSA | Tagged Foreign Policy, Global Leadership, International Education, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, Nobel Prize, Obama, Public Diplomacy | Leave a Comment »
October 8, 2009 by Heather Stewart
In his pitch to the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen last week, President Obama spoke about what he sees as the enduring value of the Olympic competition: “It brings us together, if only for a few weeks, face to face. It helps us understand one another just a little bit better. It reminds us that no matter how or where we differ, we all seek our own measure of happiness, and fulfillment, and pride in what we do. That’s a very powerful starting point for progress.”
Unfortunately, the Chicago bid raised questions about whether visitors might find it too difficult to enter the United States for the Olympic Games. According to a recent report by the New York Times’ Michelle Higgins, “Syed Shahid Ali, an [International Olympic Committee] member from Pakistan, in the question-and-answer session following Chicago’s official presentation, pointed out that entering the United States can be ‘a rather harrowing experience.’” This comment speaks to the reality that the level of indignities facing some visitors at our borders continues to negatively impact America’s reputation around the world as a welcoming destination.
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Posted in NAFSA, Visa Policy | Tagged borders, immigration, Obama, Olympics, visa | 3 Comments »
October 2, 2009 by Victor C Johnson
It’s good to see the news media set the record straight on the details of the case of Hosam Smadi, the Jordanian national accused of attempting to blow up a Dallas office tower and originally reported to have been in the United States on a student visa. Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that, in fact, he was in the country on a tourist visa.
The Dallas Morning News made the correction only in a brief mention as part of a news round-up; to its credit, though, the paper took note of the importance of the distinction: “The difference is crucial: For foreign students, dropping out of school triggers a report to a central database and, often, a follow-up by immigration authorities. For those who arrive as tourists or workers, it’s almost certain authorities won’t take notice unless they apply for a driver’s license, get pulled over or arrested or call attention to themselves.”
Unfortunately this information didn’t come in time to prevent the usual misplaced outrage from anti-immigration pundits equating the highly regulated student visa system with a lax process that is easy to exploit. What’s clear is this: Any person using any type of visa to enter the United States to do harm to Americans should be prosecuted. As far as the student visa itself goes, it is not easy to obtain, and student visa holders are exhaustively tracked. The reality is that visa status will never be able to tell us much about a person’s intentions. Only good intelligence and investigation can do that.
*Update* On October 6, NAFSA sent the following letter on this subject. The Center for Immigration Studies has since corrected its error in an Author’s note.
Ms. Jessica Vaughan
Director of Policy Studies
Center for Immigration Studies
Dear Ms. Vaughan,
I am writing to request that you update your blog post on the Center for Immigration Studies Web site, titled “The Case of Hosam Maher Husein Smadi: Déjà Vu All Over Again,” to reflect the updated facts of this case, which are that Smadi did not use a student visa to enter the United States. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on September 30 that in fact he was in the country on a tourist visa. Corrections have appeared in a number of subsequent news articles that have been published about the case. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Ursula Oaks
Media Relations Director
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
Posted in NAFSA, Visa Policy | Tagged Dallas Morning News, homeland security, immigration, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, student, visa | 1 Comment »
September 30, 2009 by Heather Stewart
In a recent FOX Business interview, Vivek Wadhwa, an entrepreneur turned academic (he’s a senior research associate at Harvard Law School, a visiting scholar at UC-Berkeley, and executive in residence with Duke University), explains how the broken U.S. immigration system is pushing skilled and talented immigrants – valuable resources for promoting economic recovery – to leave the United States.
This quote during the interview is particularly striking:
This is the first time in American history that we’ve had skilled people leaving our country. So far they’ve come on one way tickets, whether it be on the Mayflower or Air India. They’ve always come here one way to stay. They’ve never had other options before. The world has changed right now.
Wadhwa’s interview captures – in a record five minutes – how the immigration system has failed to keep pace with the demands of the highly skilled sectors of the U.S. economy and how India and China will benefit from this shortsightedness.
You can watch the full interview here.
Posted in Immigration Policy, NAFSA | Tagged economy, immigration law, skilled immigrants, vivek wadhwa | 4 Comments »
September 29, 2009 by Rachel Banks
Since 9/11, international students and scholars in the sciences have had to jump through major hurdles to get the visas they need to come to the United States – a six-month wait is all too familiar for some.
But, as two recent articles in the scientific journal Nature point out, this is about more than just “inconveniencing a few researchers and students seeking to work or study temporarily in the country.” In US visa nightmares, members of Nature’s Editorial Board write that “Over the years, the United States has benefited enormously from its ability to attract the most creative scientific minds from around the globe.” Since the clampdown on visas, they write, the United States’ innovative edge has been harmed.
The U.S. State Department, to its credit, has done a great deal to address visa concerns, and the situation is much improved. Still, the Nature article points out that in some cases, students and scholars are still getting caught in a lengthy process that leaves them thinking twice before seeking to come to the United States in the future.
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Posted in NAFSA, Visa Policy | Tagged 9/11, innovation, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, Nature, student visas, U.S. State Department | Leave a Comment »
