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With State of the Union Address, President Takes Key Step Toward a National Conversation on Immigration Reform

January 25, 2012 by Victor C Johnson

In November, NAFSA released a statement calling on President Obama to lead a national conversation on immigration reform. The president took an important step in that direction in last night’s State of the Union address.

The President has spent most of his first term responding to the immigration opponents’ position that they will not talk about immigration reform until enforcement is beefed up and the border is secured. He has deported record numbers of illegal immigrants and devoted unprecedented resources to our southwest border. Last night, the President cashed in that investment. He said,

“I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That’s why my administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That’s why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office. The opponents of action are out of excuses. We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now.”

We applaud the President for reminding the nation that this problem isn’t going to fix itself – and we simply must do the hard work of reforming our immigration laws.

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Posted in Advocacy, Immigration Policy, Foreign Students & Scholars | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Rick Steves on Study Abroad: It’s Necessity, Not Luxury

January 19, 2012 by Katie O'Connell

In his opinion article “Study abroad is necessity, not luxury” in today’s USA Today, travel writer and public television host Rick Steves makes a strong case for why study abroad is a critical investment for the United States.

His opening lines:

Even in challenging economic times, making sure that study abroad is part of our college students’ education is a vital investment. If we want a new generation of leaders and innovators who can be effective in an ever more globalized world, sending our students overseas is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.

A poll commissioned by NAFSA backs up this notion: more than half of Americans recognize that study abroad is a vital component of an education that prepares them for success in the global workplace, and nearly three-fourths believe that America’s higher education institutions must do a better job of teaching students about the world if they are to be prepared to compete in the global economy.

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Posted in Advocacy, Study Abroad | Tagged , | 7 Comments »

The Importance of Staffers

January 5, 2012 by Guest Blogger

By Rebecca Bacon
As any professional knows, hard work gets you far, but networking gets you even farther. At a recent visit to the Capitol Building in Atlanta, my colleagues and I had the privilege to meet briefly with the Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, to celebrate the signing of the International Education Week Proclamation in our state. My colleagues and I, who serve on an advocacy subcommittee for the Georgia Association of International Educators, had just spent a jovial hour chatting over coffee and planning our subcommittee duties for the new year before we headed to the Capitol for our photo shoot with the Governor.

Upon entering the receiving room just off the governor’s office, our group continued to joke and chat with the young staffers who were interning at the office, and I would like to think that we made a positive impression.

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Posted in Advocacy, Guest Post | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

Building and Sustaining a Professional Network in the International Education Field

January 5, 2012 by Guest Blogger

Marty TillmanBy Martin Tillman
Is there something unique about a career in our field? What are the qualities that attract a young professional to the kind of jobs that international educators hold on a campus, in a nonprofit or private organization, or in an association or government? Are there different approaches one should take to sustain professional relationships in our field?

Before crafting a networking strategy, we need to apply a working definition: It’s a process of developing professional contacts—or strategic connections—and building relationships for the purpose of obtaining field or sector-specific career advice and identifying related professional contacts. Are there unique strategies that apply to our field? Every profession has its own norms of behavior and patterns of communication and interaction.

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Posted in Careers, Guest Post | Tagged , , | 3 Comments »

Mission Accomplished! A Way Forward on Immigration Reform

December 20, 2011 by Victor C Johnson

In 1966, when America was becoming bogged down in the Vietnam War—a problem seemingly as intractable as the immigration problem seems today—Sen. George Aiken of Vermont proposed a novel solution. He said we should just declare victory and get out.

A similar proposal seems in order with respect to today’s war against illegal immigration from Mexico—and with much better reason. Demographers such as Jeffrey Passel of the Pew Hispanic Center now tell us that “We have reached the point where the balance between Mexicans moving to the United States and those returning to Mexico is essentially zero.” That doesn’t mean that illegal immigration has ceased, nor will it ever. It does mean that there is no net migration from Mexico any longer. There is dispute about the relative weight of the factors that account for this, but there is none about what the main factors are: the economic downturn and stepped up enforcement in the United States, and more opportunity in Mexico. The flow of Central Americans seeking to transit Mexico to enter the United States illegally is also down due to the vastly increased danger from criminal gangs in Mexico that prey on these migrants.

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Posted in Advocacy, Immigration Policy | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

Students Connecting Our World Gains Momentum

December 15, 2011 by Ursula Oaks

“Students Connecting Our World” is wrapping up its first semester, and we’re really excited about the response so far. In case you haven’t heard, “Students Connecting Our World” is the student side of NAFSA’s grassroots advocacy community “Connecting Our World.” It’s a place where college students can find a community of people like them interested in study abroad and learning about the world. We are inviting students to connect with each other online; share stories, tips, and ideas about study abroad; find resources; and discover new ways to support international education.

We’ve met so many amazing students – some of them now former students – over the years, and their commitment to international education inspired this community. Hammad Hammad, one of the early winners of our Student Diplomat contest, went on to found Inspire Dreams and spoke at the NAFSA’s 2011 Annual Conference in Vancouver as part of a plenary panel on social entrepreneurship. Mitch Smith caught up with us in Kansas City, his hometown, after touring Africa with New York Times journalist Nick Kristof as winner of his 2010 Win-A-Trip contest. Last year an entire group of students from Ramapo College joined us for NAFSA’s Advocacy Day and made a big impression on Capitol Hill.

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Posted in Advocacy, Study Abroad | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

Why I Attended Advocacy Day: My Student with One Name

December 14, 2011 by Guest Blogger

Ashley Johnson
I have numerous international students sit across my desk daily–all with different backgrounds and stories to tell. Sometimes, as immigration advisors, we are accused of being too focused on the paperwork, the regulations, and the tiny-to-large fires to put out. I would have to admit that this is true. Most of the time, as hard as we try, it is easy to forget the human, non-paper aspect of what we do. Sound familiar?

But sometimes the day-to-day things connect, in unexpected ways, to the big things. For me, it was a light bulb moment. A student I had worked with over the recent years kept hitting snags in dealing with the U.S. immigration system – months-long, complicated, more-than-the-norm snags. It turned out he had one, seemingly intractable problem: he had just one name. The United States requires every foreign national to list a last name in all immigration systems. But this student had no first and last name—just a single name. This caused him problems throughout his stay in the United States. I hated telling this student, “There’s just not much I can do.” It’s a helpless feeling for an advisor committed to helping students navigate through the broken immigration system. So you could say that it was this small but significant issue that encouraged me to attend NAFSA’s Advocacy Day.

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Posted in Advocacy, Foreign Students & Scholars, Guest Post | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

Always an Advocate: Running into Newt Gingrich in New Hampshire

December 6, 2011 by Guest Blogger

By Vincent C. Schaff
If you have a passion for your work, advocacy becomes second nature. My wife likes to tell the story of my “Cracker Barrel presentation.” We were on vacation sitting next to a large family group of about 12 people having breakfast. In the course of their meal, a conversation started regarding study abroad and Semester at Sea. I went out to my car, grabbed some materials and handed them out to the group and answered their questions. You can’t pass up those opportunities.

On the final day of our Region XI Conference in Manchester, New Hampshire last month, I was at our registration table when one of our team members informed us he had just met Newt Gingrich in the hotel lobby. Curious, I headed down the hallway and found the Gingrich party had set up in one of the rooms we had used for the conference.

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Posted in Advocacy, Guest Post, Regional Conferences | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

New Hampshire: It Isn’t Just for Early Election Results Anymore

November 22, 2011 by Carri Orrison

During the month of November, New Hampshire often receives attention for being one of the first states to hold presidential primaries, but this month international educators focused their attention on the city of Manchester as host to the 2011 Region XI Conference. Boasting more than 530 attendees (one of the largest conferences for the region on record), Manchester welcomed participants to the conference with scintillating sessions, timely training, notable networking, and warm weather.

Exhibitors weren’t deterred by having their tables in a renovated “armory,” and discussions were held over wonderful food and beverage. John Diezel, a 2011 Region XI award winner, along with advocacy-focused colleagues including current Region XI Chair Vince Schaff, presented sessions on region-based advocacy efforts and provided many opportunities for Region XI professionals to learn grassroots skills to take back to their campuses. Region XI’s leadership team has demonstrated a strong commitment to advocacy efforts;  it will be a region to watch as it develops funding models for individuals in the field as well as resources and networks for information sharing. There was also a very well attended session on social media with a “how to” approach. Tweets were tweeted, blogs were written and followed, and “to friend or not to friend” was discussed. Perhaps even I learned a nugget or two about my “social” presence.

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Posted in NAFSA, Regional Conferences | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

Academy for International Education Class 9!

November 21, 2011 by Guest Blogger

Krista McCallum Beatty, Chair, Academy 9
NAFSA is now accepting applications for the Academy for International Education Class 9, which will begin in January 2012. Academy trainees receive coaching from an experienced NAFSAn, training in a variety of areas in international education, a wide range networking opportunities, broadened awareness of professional resources, and increased knowledge of the field of international education. In a way, the Academy serves as a sort of ‘jump start’ for professionals new to the field of international education.

In the four years that I have been involved in the Academy, I have spoken with many supervisors of Academy trainees. These colleagues have consistently commented on the many benefits of Academy participation for their staff member, their office and even their institution. Academy trainees develop the skills and confidence they need to take on additional responsibilities, provide increased leadership, and expand their professional network – all to the benefit of their office and their institution. The many learning opportunities trainees have in the Academy expose trainees to best practices in the field of internationaleducation. Many supervisors have shared with me that their staff member was able to use this information to enhance their work at their institution and to develop new initiatives. Supervisors also report that Academy trainees often demonstrate an increased commitment to the field of international education and an interest in further training and education opportunities.

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Posted in Guest Post, NAFSA Leaders | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

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