2010/11 - Bechtel International Center - Stanford University

• During the year we conducted more outreach and
in different forms. Cooperative information sessions
were held with Haas Center for Public Service, Dean
of the South Row, School of Engineering, Bing
Overseas Studies and the Career Development
Center. In addition, a specialized email outreach was
conducted to faculty in Science and Engineering.
• In order to better assess our services in this area
there was an evaluation of the fall 2010 process
which resulted in a poster presentation at the
annual Student Affairs Assessment Fair.
MAINTAINED FOCUS ON IMMIGRATION
COMPLIANCE ISSUES AND IMPROVED SERVICE
TO STUDENTS, SCHOLARS AND DEPARTMENTS
In addition to providing one-on-one immigration
advising and SEVIS tracking services to international
students and scholars, the student advising staff
welcomed close to 1100 new undergraduate and
graduate international students to campus, and
processed 1440 OPT/CPT applications.
In 2010-11, Stanford hosted 3601 international students,
2013 J-1 Scholars and Postdoctoral fellows, and 735
H-1 employees. Family members accompanied many of
these individuals.
The scholar advising staff produced 1806 DS-2019s
for new and continuing J scholars, processed 1111
arrival confirmations, submitted 347 H-1 petitions, 3
O-1 petitions and 9 permanent residency petitions.
Staff offered bi-monthly J visa orientation meetings to
incoming J scholars, and quarterly outreach and training
meetings to departments.
In 2010-11, the international scholar area introduced
Workflow to the community of H-1 users at Stanford.
Following numerous design and planning meetings,
Bechtel I-Center staff held several outreach sessions with
the departmental user community, to introduce the new
functionality and familiarize users with the operation of
the system.
The new employment visa workflow functionality
complements the existing exchange visitor environment
such that now all nonimmigrant visa classifications are
accessed through the Peoplesoft based system used
by most Stanford departments for other administrative
tasks.
With the addition of employment-based visas to the
Peoplesoft environment, and the move to Bechtel
I-Center of public access records last year, intended
compliance with federal regulations is close to ideal.
12 Bechtel International Center Annual Report 2010/11
Outreach to areas such as the H&S Faculty Affairs group,
Postdoc Affairs and attendance at standing committees
such as the H-1 Postdoc Review Board contributed
toward increased representation of Bechtel across
campus.
We processed 904 F and J SEVIS batches, responded
to 52,818 SEVIS alerts, and our front desk had 18,778
individual interactions with students, scholars,
departments and other visitors.
During the year Stanford was also re-certified for the F-1
Visa Program. This recertification was conducted by the
Department of Homeland Security.
GRADUATE STUDENT AND INTERNATIONAL
FROSH ORIENTATION
As in previous years, two separate orientation programs
were run for new undergraduate and graduate students.
The Undergraduate Program was extended this year to a
four day program, which complimented the Universitywide
New Student Orientation Week. Like previous years,
this year’s program included informational sessions,
“Breakfast at Bechtel,” discussion sections on “Inside the
Stanford Classroom,” a scavenger hunt, a shopping trip, a
barbecue, and the always popular beach trip!
As we have seen in past years, attendance of
international frosh parent events has been growing.
Both the Parents’ Welcome Reception and the Question
and Answer Session were very popular again this year.
Parents appreciated the opportunity to meet and
socialize with other parents as well as with Bechtel
I-Center staff.
The week-long Graduate Orientation, which lasted until
the start date of classes, was attended by over 1000
students and their family members. The Community
Committee for International Students (CCIS) volunteered
their services providing one-on-one advising to new
graduate students and family members.
In addition to 25 “Maintaining Your Legal Status”
sessions offered at Graduate Orientation, we organized
an additional 20 sessions and events that offered
informational and social opportunities. Many events
were very well attended, including nearly 100 students
who attended the “Culture of the U.S. Classroom” which
explained Stanford’s academic system and the Honor
Code. Like the previous year, and due to increased
demand and interest on insurance issues, we included
a session called “Medical Care- Insurance, Entrance
Medical Records, Required Inoculations.” This session
complimented the session “Staying Healthy at Stanford”
which focused on well- being and counseling services.