Student Exchange and Visitor Program reveals new visa and vacation policies

International students studying at an Intensive English Program(IEP) in the US must now study a minimum of 26 consecutive weeks before taking annual vacation, the federal government’s Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced last month. While longer, this federal mandate is consistent with many IEPs which usually require students to study 16 consecutive weeks, the equivalent of a traditional semester. Vacation is interpreted by IEPs as spending approximately 30 days in the US not attending classes. Usually, this time is spent studying for GMAT exams for example, or visiting and applying at universities for conditional admission. Temporary absence on the other hand is when the student leaves the US and can be away for a maximum of five months as long as they have provided the IEP a plane ticket showing their departure from the US and have the 3rd page of their I-20 signed by the IEP's Designated School Official.

 Universities were also told that they would no longer be able to issue I-20 visas for degree-seeking students on condition of a student improving their English level in the IEP; a move which will have serious repercussions on admissions procedures.

International educators learned of the unpopular changes at the fifth annual American Association of Intensive English Programs (AAIEP) advocacy day. During the meeting, educators learned that SEVP will start enforcing federal regulation which doesn’t allow conditional admission for university, common practice in the US, usually in the form of an I-20 being issued contingent on the student completing an IEP or obtaining a minimum IELTS score.

Recently, Education USA announced that for 2012, China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, & Canada were the top five countries sending students to US. For Chinese students, the I-20 to an IEP is contingent if the student has an conditional letter of admission to a university. In the case for these students, the change is highly problematic. Furthermore, in general, Chinese students typically place in the intermediate and advanced proficiency bands at IEPs meaning that they will have completed an IEP or obtained an acceptable IELTS/TOEFL score before the 26 consecutive weeks minimum. This means that the student will spend their time and money idle at the IEP. With no motivation to study at the IEP, only the student's integrity will keep the student attending classes at the IEP. An IEP is force to shorten the student's visa to their last day of attendance allowing the student 60 days from that day to find another school to be transferred to another school if a minimum of 18 hours per week is not logged at the IEP in accordance with SEVP. Saudi students may have a problem with this depending on if the start of their studies is 26 weeks prior to the month-long Ramadan holiday. While it is possible for students to study and partake in the fasting during Ramadan, it is common for students to return home for Ramadan, use their annual vacation, or not maintain their status with poor attendance. Furthermore, many Saudi students spend more than 26 consecutive weeks in an IEP. Lastly, unlike fellow Asian country, China, South Korean students do not need a conditional letter of admission as a prerequisite for F-1 visa to attend an IEP in the US. Like Japan, South Korea has relaxed visa conditions for being in the US. For example, Japanese and South Korean passport holders can be in the US on a 90-day visa waiver as long as they do not engage in employment. On the other hand, Chinese that don't receive a F visa are not eligible for the visa waiver but can be in the US on a B visa.

In layman’s terms, an international student on an F-1 visa who is enrolled at an IEP must complete the IEP or obtain a minimum IELTS/ TOEFL score. Once this has happened, the student has 60-days to leave the US. The new enforcement of old regulation means that once a student finishes their English course; they will have to apply for another I-20 for university. When they return to their home country after completion of the IEP or obtaining the IELTS/TOEFL score, the university that the student applied for will start the admission process and if accepted, the student will receive their initial I-20 at their permanent address in their home country. This I-20 will be taken by the student to the student’s nearest US embassy or consulate where their student visa will be issued/denied. While cumbersome, the new SEVP ruling requires students to do this at least twice since the student had to do this previously for their I-20 to the IEP. It remains to be seen if students that struggle to complete an IEP or obtain an acceptable IELTS/TOEFL score while studying in the US will be affected in obtaining their initial I-20 from the university. Students that return to their home country after brushing up on their English in the US ensuring success due to the rigors at the university will be charged extra fees and required to resubmit financial documents. Bank statements older than six months are invalid.

Previously, the student had 60-days to enroll in the program that they were conditionally admitted to or leave the US within 60 days of completion of the IEP. If the student’s program began within five months of their last day at the IEP, their I-20 could be transferred from the IEP to the university in which the student was conditionally admitted to. The student was to provide the IEP an admission letter issued by the university.

On the other hand, universities that facilitate their own IEPs have been in the practice of issuinf two admissions - the first for our intensive English program with an I-20, and the second for the academic program (admission letter only) for the following term. This has not been an issue with visa applications as long as the applicant can present the academic admission letter as well as the ESL I-20. Once they meet the English proficiency requirement, the international office issues a Change of Level I-20. The only problem we've had is once students meet the English requirement, they want to stop going to ESL classes, even if it is in the middle of the term. International offices are continuously having to educate students on the regulations so that they don't end up out of status for nonattendance. 

It remains to be seen if this practice will suffice as the new federal mandate is mandated. 

AAIEP opposes SEVP’s decision. They believe that SEVP does not acknowledge their advice in the policies that they make and are in shock of the new vacation and conditional letter policy changes.

SEVP says it does communicate guidance and ask for feedback on new policies through the Study in the States portal, its Facebook page and Twitter account.  It is presumed that SEVP will probably post the draft guidance on the “Study in the States” website, and NAFSA has asked them to notify all SEVIS users through a SEVIS broadcast message that the draft guidance has been posted.   NAFSA will also post the draft guidance on its website and send out a notification over ISTA. 

The picture above was taken at an IEP on a campus in the US. Four of these students went on to matriculate to universities because they had conditional letters of admission. One other student was in need of a conditional letter of admission and was making use of their vacation periods and grace periods in order to obtain those letters as well as preparing for IELTS and GMAT exams. The four remaining students pictured were either business professionals who intended on using their English back in their home countries, a spouse of a F-1 student who was studying English for recreational reasons, or a high school student that was going to matriculate to an international high school in the US. While the IEP industry is shocked and disappointed, it is important to point out that IEPs on college campuses are not just for college-bound students. Lastly, while the picture of nine students is an ideal depiction of IEPs in the 2010s, more and more IEPs are heavily saturated with Saudi and Chinese students with a 70-30 ratio, all intending to move on to a university.

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-12

Six Sigma- The Quality Initiative Above the Rest

     The six sigma, founded by Mikel Harry with Motorola Corporation in the late 1970s came into being to measure quality by reducing variation, increasing improvements, and saving costs in the areas of products and services provided by an organization.  This methodology is implemented by using a set of statistics and management tools geared towards improvement. For six sigma to take place, it must be implemented in the initial stages of a project format and key members need to be dedicated to performing various roles and various times.  Six sigma has an international interpretation known as ‘lean six sigma’ (Dedhia, 2005).   

In implementing the six sigma methodology, it is suggested that it is carried out in project form and in the research and design stages.  Since this methodology is customer-centered, the focus is around variance reduction.  With total commitment starting with senior management toward six sigma, with continuous improvement as the goal coupled by accountability at the individual level, six sigma will yield success.  In problem solving, the following actions are carried out:  Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (Dedhia, 2005).    

     For six sigma to take place, the environment needs to consist of team members that are involved in committing resources known as the ‘Executive’, training and coaching known as the ‘Master Black Belt’ (MBB), leading improvements on projects known as the ‘Black Belt’ (BB), supporting and running projects known as ‘Green Belts’ (GB), and being involved in supporting the project known as champions.  The direction of this is top-down with the MBBs training the Black and Green Belts. Various belt holders are fully committed to the project and dedicated training is provided over a certain time period (Dedhia, 2005).        

            Another key concepts of the article is lean six sigma developed by Toyota Corporation.  As six sigma was being rolled out at Motorola, the Japanese were already controlling quality.  In the lean version of six sigma, barriers are eliminated to allow continuous improvement to take place.  Lean six sigma focuses on increasing productivity, asset utilization and quality by going beyond Just-In-Time (Dedhia, 2005).    

           To conclude, six sigma is an American concept founded by Motorola Corporation in the late 1970s.  In Japan, Toyota Corporation developed lean manufacturing which reduces waste and improves efficiency of a process.  For the best results, six sigma is implemented in the initial stages of a project format and is carried out by quality professionals known as executive, master black belts, black belts, green belts, and champions.  Problems are solved by carrying out the steps of define, measure, analyze, improve, and control.  These steps loosely follow the steps found in the quantitative analysis approach. A lack of commitment and inconsistency on total buy-in can undo all of the benefits that six sigma brings therefore, the key people mentioned and the support of the entire organization are paramount to the success of six sigma (Dedhia, 2005).               

            In reflecting on the reading, General Electric’s approach to six sigma by not approving promotions unless there was active participation in the six sigma methodology is an effective way in introducing a high maintenance and labor intensive program.  However, the extra time and effort is worth it since operations run more smoothly, production is increased, customer satisfaction is increased, inventory levels are better maintained, and work centers run more efficiently, and forecasting is more manageable since jobs are done within a prescribed time (Dedhia, 2005). 

     To substantiate my perspective with situations I have experienced in past work situations, I have spent seven years in work situations that were managed by Japanese organizations.  Three of those years were in a public school system and like American government organizations, were in dire need of quality management.  The private enterprise counterparts were managed more effectively with a version of delivery by doing the following:  Plan, Do, Check and Action.  The planning process in the Japanese organization was much more time consuming due to the culture of building group consensus.  As a result, the expectation was to do less with more which made committing to a continuous improvement approach challenging.  It would be interesting to see how former Japanese organizations that I was employed with are doing presently with technology that was untapped when I was employed at their organization (Franz and Liker, 2011). 

In closing, the continuous improvement approach is of great interest to me as a director of a department that is in dire need of support of the other departments of the organization.  In asking the question, “If I were guaranteed not to fail, what could I do differently to garner support from the organization?”  The answer could be cultivating a relationship with the senior management and sell the importance of our department and how it helps the organization as a whole (Maurer, 2004).           

 References

Dedhia, N. (2005).  Six Sigma Basics.  Total Quality Management, Vol. 16, No. 5, 567-574.

 Franz, J. and Liker, J. (2011).  The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement:  Linking Strategy

and Operational Excellence to Achieve Superior Performance. 

Maurer, R. (2004).   One Small Step Can Change Your Life:  The Kaizen Way. 

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-12

Proudly Served...

(San Diego, CA-  February 1997-  My dad and I on Tiger Cruise from Hawaii back to homeport.)

 

 

 



 



(USS Independence (CV-62)-  My first ship and home as a member of ship's company from 1993-95.)

http://daniel-j-stone.blogspot.com (C) 2009-12