Division Roles and Responsibilities
Division Office
- Overall administration of the Division of International Programs.
- Advocate and stimulate the internationalization of the university.
- Oversight of all international programs and activities, to ensure that they are consistent with the mission of the university.
- Development and oversight of all international inter-university linkage agreements.
- Communicate information about international activities and programs to all units, faculty members, and staff members of the university community.
- Assist in fund-raising efforts to strengthen international programs and activities across the campus.
- Approval of all international contracts.
- Serve as the official campus Fulbright Advisor for student and faculty Fulbright programs. Counsel and advise students and faculty members who are considering applying for Fulbright program awards.
- Administer the Fulbright competition for graduate student Fulbright awards on the campus.
- Serve as the NSEP (National Security Educational Program) campus representative for NSEP undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs.
- Represent NIU at appropriate international education organizations at the state, national, and international levels.
International Student and Faculty Office
- Handle all undergraduate admissions to NIU for international students.
- Work with international student sponsors (handle billings for tuition, other study expenses, and at times, living expenses).
- Conduct orientation sessions required for all international students and faculty. Regular orientation sessions are conducted for all incoming international students the week before each semester starts. Other shorter and more informal sessions are organized as needed. Orientation sessions deal with understanding NIU, dealing with social, personal, and cultural adjustments, and dealing with US culture and society.
- Work with NIU faculty members and academic departments who plan to bring visiting international scholars to NIU.
- Issue appropriate immigration forms and documents to enable international visiting scholars to obtain visas for coming to NIU.
- Provide counseling and advice on all matters that pertain to US immigration and naturalization laws, rules, and regulations -- to international students, international visiting scholars, and to NIU foreign-born faculty members.
- Maintain a 'Friends of International Students" program and organization that brings together US families from the local community and international students at NIU -- for mutual cross cultural enrichments purposes and to link the local community with our international student population.
- Provide support to the International Relations student organization, and all nationality student organizations at NIU.
International Training Office
- Develop and conduct training programs for international audiences, especially from the less developed countries, utilizing NIU faculty members and community or regional resource people and organizations
- Market training programs to international organizations that sponsor such training programs
- Work with NIU faculty members and academic units, who want to develop appropriate training programs for international audiences, in planning, organizing, and implementing such programs
- Develop customized training programs for individuals from other countries, utilizing the resources of the university, community, and region
- Develop and maintain contacts with funding organizations (public, private, and non-profit) in Washington, DC and other locations (e.g., US AID, World Bank, AED, etc.) in order to determine training or technical assistance opportunities that NIU faculty members can take advantage of.
Study Abroad Office
- Market NIU-sponsored study abroad programs to all NIU students, and students from colleges and universities all over the US
- Advise and counsel students who are interested in studying abroad: programs, countries, suitability to their majors and progress toward their degree, and financial aid
- Work with academic departments to obtain course equivalencies for courses that are offered through NIU sponsored study abroad programs
- With the help of faculty advisors, assist students in correlating overseas studies with home-campus studies
- Admit students to Study Abroad programs
- Provide information to students about visas, passports, health issues, flights
- Maintain a resource library with information on other study abroad opportunities, work abroad, and international internships.
- Issue American Youth Hostel Cards, International Student & Faculty ID Cards.
- Register all students who study abroad, and collect and record grades for all courses students take abroad.
- Provide orientation materials, information, and meetings on programs, on countries, and on cultures that the students will experience.
- Work with NIU faculty members who want to offer a short term NIU study abroad program -- work with the faculty member in planning, organizing, and marketing the program.
- Work on local in-country logistics and arrangements for NIU short term study abroad programs.
- Administer a peer advising program utilizing NIU students who have studied abroad
- Evaluate all study abroad programs
