Download - Bechtel International Center - Stanford University

• Add New Site of Activity
• Delete a Site of Activity
• Update Subject/Field Code Program of Activity
• Change/Extend Program of Activity
• Update Matriculation
• Correct Minor/Technical Infraction of Regulations
• Terminate EV from Program
• Completion of Program of Activity
• Bring Dependent (s) to US
• Dependent (s) Departure
• End Status for Dependent (s)
Whether to use a third party software product or take
advantage of the proposed SEVIS Patch that was being
offered by PeopleSoft. It was decided to use the
PeopleSoft PASS solution (Patriot Act SEVIS Solution).
During the fall of 2002, and indeed throughout the entire
academic year, regular meetings were held with representatives
from the I-Center, ITSS, Registrar’s Office, and
School Officials to develop a working process for
implementing PASS. It was clear in fall of 2002 that
Stanford would not be ready to batch information to
SEVIS by the January 30, 2003 deadline and that RTI
would have to be used for a considerable time after
January 30. This proved to be the case and batch
processing through PASS was not available until the late
summer of 2003.
In addition it soon became clear that PASS was focusing
initially on F-1 students, and leaving the issue of J-1 visa
holders until later. This meant that RTI was the only
practical solution for J-1 visa holders until the academic
year 2003-2004.
Small working groups, within the I-Center, but also
utilizing other office expertise, began meeting to
evaluate the work processes that would need revising
and to tabulate the issues that would arise when we
began using SEVIS on a day-to-day basis. Once the final
SEVIS regulations were published in December of 2002,
this process took on more urgency as it became clear
that 1) some of the regulations were not clear and 2)
some routine work procedures could not be done
through the batch process.
During the summer of 2002 and fall of 2003 the I-Center
requested additional, temporary, staff support in order to
be able to meet the compliance requirements of SEVIS in
the first year of operation. The December 2002 regulations
stated that before August 1, 2003 all continuing F-1
and J-1 visa holders (and their dependents) had to be
entered into PASS. This amounted to nearly 4,000
records, all of which would need to be entered one by
one through RTI. Before this could be done all files
would need to be checked to assure the accuracy of
data, a check that included both paper files and those
residing in PeopleSoft.
Because much of the work of implementing SEVIS was
tied to using the PASS product it was decided, in January
2003, that ITSS would provide funds for two one year
temporary positions. Suffice it to say, that without these
positions, we would not have been able to meet the
August 1 deadline imposed by federal regulation.
On September 18, 2002, INS published an interim final
SEVIS rule requiring certification of all approved schools
by January 30, 2003. The certification involved an on-line
form, followed by a site visit. Schools were also to be recertified
every two years. Stanford completed this
process in the fall of 2002 and was approved as a SEVIS
school in early January 2003.
It was clear that SEVIS would have a major impact on the
way our work was structured. In order to better evaluate
this, the I-Center requested guidance from the Dean of
Students and Vice-Provost for Student Affairs to develop
a long-term strategy for assessing our work procedures
and responsibilities. In July 2003 John Pearson met with
colleagues from University of Pennsylvania, Duke,
Columbia, and Yale to share concerns and advice about
the longer term affects of SEVIS on international offices.
It was also clear that, in order to implement SEVIS we
would also need to inform the campus community of the
details of this new requirement. In order to accomplish
this the I-Center:
• Placed an ad in the Stanford Daily explaining
the details of the system and responsibilities
placed on Stanford
• Offered regular workshops and information
sessions for departmental administrators
• Produced numerous Web based documents that
explained SEVIS and it’s impact on the campus.
These documents can be found on http://
icenter.Stanford.edu
• Provided email and web information for
students on a regular basis
10 Bechtel International Center Annual Report 2002-2003