FNL
HomePage
Editorial Board
E-mail FNL
FNL Archives
MIT HomePage

What Faculty Can and Should Do
to Help Anxious International Students

Isaac M. Colbert

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, our international students and visitors have felt tremendous pressures and growing anxiety. It is useful to highlight some of the circumstances since then that have added to these pressures. Among them have been:

In light of all this, students may be looking to faculty for advice and counsel about complex visa matters or about their personal anxieties. Although you are not expected to have all the answers, you can be helpful by pointing students towards a number of available resources not yet widely known and by taking advantage of them yourself. These include Websites and briefings for up-to-date information, as well as the Institute's compliance with new visa regulations.

 

Websites

Several websites publish information of relevance for the entire MIT community.

International Students Office web.mit.edu/iso/www/
The site publishes up-to-date information about visa regulations and requirements, as well as FAQs in response to questions already raised by international students.

International Scholars Office web.mit.edu/scholars/
The site posts up-to-date information for scholars about visa regulations and requirements.

Committee on Community web.mit.edu/community/
Giving broad consideration to institutional and individual responsibilities during times of crisis, the site makes specific recommendations and identifies resources for the MIT community.

 

Briefings

For information on student- and scholar-focused briefings on visa requirements (sponsored by the Chancellor, Provost, and Vice President for Research, and Dean for Graduate Students), check the related Websites or the Graduate Student News (both print and online versions) for schedules.

For briefings on community expectations sponsored by the Committee on Community, refer to the committee's Website, or Tech Talk (print and online) for schedule information.

 

New Regulations

Faculty can also be helpful by being aware of a few essential facts about ongoing compliance with the new visa regulations:

Our international students are a vital part of the MIT family, and we all share responsibility to support them through these difficult times.

FNL
HomePage
Editorial Board
E-mail FNL
FNL Archives
MIT HomePage