Never, ever, ever even think of giving up...

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

Your Five Step to US Study- ESL Students

Courtesy:  Education USA

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(c) 2009-2012

The #1 Career Mistake Capable People Make

By :  Greg McKeown

I recently reviewed a resume from a talented individual. She had terrific experience. And yet, there was a problem: she had done so many good things in so many different fields it was hard to know what was distinctive about her. I know her pretty well and am determined to be useful to her. Yet, based only on her resume it was unclear who in my network to recommend her to.

As we talked through this it became clear the resume was a symptom of a deeper sense she had of being pulled into projects and opportunities that don’t feel like the very best use of her talents. I see this problem frequently where people end up being both overworked and underutilized. It is easy to see how people unintentionally end up in this situation:

Step 1: Capable people are driven to achieve.

Step 2: Other people see they are capable and give them assignments.

Step 3: Capable people gain a reputation as "go to" people. They become "good old [insert name] who is always there when you need him." There is lots right with this, unless or until...

Step 4: We end up doing lots of projects well but are distracted from what would otherwise be our highest point of contribution (see more on this in the Harvard Business Review article The Disciplined Pursuit of Less). Then, both the company and the employee lose out.

Some of the responsibility for this lies with out-of-touch managers but I also think we need to be more deliberate and discerning in navigating our own careers. In the conversation I mentioned above, we took the time to develop a strategy based more closely with my colleague's Highest Point of Contribution.

Using a camping metaphor, there is sometimes a tendency for capable people to add additional poles of the same height to the tent. We end up with 10, 20 or 30 poles of the same height, somehow hoping the tent will go higher. I don't just mean higher on the career ladder either. I mean higher in terms of our ability to contribute.

The slightly painful truth is, at any one time there is only one piece of real estate we can "own" in another person’s mind. People can't think of us as a project manager, professor, attorney, insurance agent, editor and entrepreneur all at exactly the same time. They may all be true about us but people can only think of us as one thing first. At any one time there is only one phrase that can follow our name. Might we be better served by asking, at least occasionally, whether the various commitments and projects we have add up to a longer pole?

I saw this illustrated recently in one of the more distinctive resumes I had seen in a while. It belonged to a Stanford Law School Professor [there it is: the single phrase that follows his name, the longest pole in his career tent]. His resume was clean and concise. For each entry there was one, impressive title/role/company and a single line description of what he had achieved. Each one sentence said more than ten bullet points in many resumes I have seen. When he was at university his single line described how he had been the student body president, under "teaching" he was teacher of the year and so on.

The point here is not primarily about resumes. The point is we can benefit from evaluating career opportunities through the lens of the question, "Will this become the longest pole in the tent?" If the answer is ‘no’ we may well still choose to do it. But at least we do it with greater awareness.

There is always a tension between specialization and generalization and I am not suggesting we should shift entirely to one side or the other. Being able to do many things is important in many jobs today. Broad understanding also is a must. But developing greater discernment about what is distinctive about us can be a great advantage. Instead of simply doing more things we need to find our highest point of contribution. Failure to be conscientious about this represents the #1 mistake, in frequency, I see capable people make in their careers.

How do we know when too many good things are getting in the way of achieving something truly great in our careers?

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

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

Saudi- on campus residency requirement/funding

Recently, I was asked the suggested best practice in supporting Saudi Arabian Culture Mission (SACM) scholarship students who recently arrived at a prestigious American university steep in tradition. Duke University has a three-year on campus residency requirement for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. The current issue is that the international scholars aren't allowed to live off campus and are resisting the schools requirements citing limited funds from their scholarship and monthly stipend. Please see below:

I wish that I could say that pulling the student’s I-20 that is on file and referring to the financial information on Page 1 would cure everything, but in the case of Saudis, discussing the matter is the suggested best practice. First, the pricing of on-campus housing and your school’s policy on residency requirements are not negotiable which is the root of the problem in the eyes of the Saudi students, so, why bother in opening the matter to discussion? The students want to have their voice heard. Having said this, it is suggested to have a monthly focus group meeting open to all international students or all resident students allowing the students a chance to voice their concerns.

In my experiences with Saudi students, they are only interested in on-campus housing for a few months then want to move off campus. Same goes if your program has a homestay program. Having said this, if it is possible to adjust the residency requirements for international students, it would prevent this culture conflict. The conflict being on what is viewed as a commitment. However, any adjustments could lead to a slippery slope with everything being kept track of by the students.

Also, any discussions my lead a Saudi student to believe that there is any chance to have their request met. Having said this, preface the conversation from the very beginning that under no circumstances that their request will be met if the likeliness to satisfying the request is the equivalent of moving heaven and earth. Explain that the information gathered at the meeting will be provided to the key members of the school so that maybe in the future the needs of international students will be met.

In terms of threatening to leave, the best way to stay ahead of this is to connect with the student’s advisor at (SACM). These advisors are listed on the student’s Financial Guarantee Letter and are usually in touch with the schools requesting transcripts, etc. The advisor can be used as a go-between to reason with the student to see things your way. Furthermore, if a student is at an institution such as Duke, the likeliness to simply leave and go to another school is not so easy.

If at a language school, the issue to leave is much easier. This is because the student may leave because they have obtained an acceptable TOEFL or IELTS score.

Daniel Stone has established two new schools for international students in South Carolina and Ohio, from fulfillment to investors to delivery of services to stakeholders. In overseeing aspects of these operations from hiring to training staff and from managing financials and day-to-day operations, under Daniel's direction, ELS/Columbus on the campus of Ohio Dominican University successfully received the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET) accreditation upon its initial inspection and successfully rolled out one-of-a-kind standardized testing center in Central Ohio, International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

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(C) 2009-12