URBANA — Nearly 2,000 international students have already checked in on the University of Illinois campus.
That’s right on pace with what the UI’s International Student and Scholar Services office expects a week before a typical fall semester, Director Martin McFarlane said, after the pandemic threw “typical” out the window.
“Neither last year or the year before are good for drawing any comparisons,” he said Monday.
Every new international student who comes to campus has to check in with the UI office, which verifies the student’s arrival and documents for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
It’s a critical step: If the campus can’t confirm an international student’s arrival by the 10th day of classes, the student’s immigration status is terminated.
In fall 2020, only 659 new international students arrived on the UI campus, McFarlane said, while 7,674 enrolled overall.
General uncertainty over the fall semester, plus a Trump administration proposal to only allow student visas for those who registered for an in-person class, prompted plenty of foreign students to stay put.
“A lot of students didn’t know what they would be allowed to do and decided to wait for a year until it was clearer,” McFarlane said. The Department of Homeland Security proposal wasn’t dropped until mid-July 2020.
Some international students deferred their enrollment at the UI, while an estimated 3,000 started their semesters online.
Then, in fall 2021, 4,708 new international students arrived on the UI campus of 9,841 enrolled overall: “All the students who didn’t come the previous year also came,” McFarlane said.
By Monday morning, 1,775 international students had reported for check-in, McFarlane said. The UI estimates 3,000 new foreign students will arrive in Champaign-Urbana this year.
Though the number of new arrivals seems to have normalized, the check-in process for international students has changed dramatically since the pandemic started.
Like many other colleges and universities, check-in is now completely virtual.
Pre-pandemic, international students had to wait in line at the Student and Scholar Services building to have their documents manually verified.
“Now they upload everything online and indicate whether they want to speak to an adviser or not,” McFarlane said. “If they don’t want to talk anyone, we just make sure the documents are accurate and contact them afterwards.
“The vast majority of students are very tech-savvy, they know what they need to provide to us, and it’s going quite smoothly.”
About 10,500 international students from 110 to 120 different countries come to the UI campus in a typical year. Much of Student and Scholar Services’ yearly programming is dedicated to helping students acclimate to Illinois and the U.S. at large.
“One of the things we’ve lost with going remote check-in — though we’ve gained a lot in efficiency and customer satisfaction — we haven’t got that face-to-face to welcome, so we do have a lot of orientation and social programs to make sure we’re giving them that welcome,” McFarlane said.
This week, Student and Scholar Services will bring international students to a campus recreation open house, Illini Union get-together and “Friday Night Live” in downtown Champaign.
Previous events have included trips to Amish country, Halloween and Thanksgiving events and “Football 101” with the help of the athletic department.
“We want students to have a fully rounded international education experience, and that involves immersing themselves in the culture of central Illinois, culture of the University of Illinois and culture of the U.S.,” McFarlane said. “We talk about what is different and what is unique.”
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August 16, 2022 at 07:00PM
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Back on track: UI international student return going smooth after two odd years - News-Gazette
"smooth" - Google News
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