Feedback guides International Center service changes

Updated 10:00 AM Sept. 25, 2006

Feedback guides International Center service changes

By Victoria Green
Office of the Dean of Students

The International Center (IC) will nearly double the amount of information provided to students, faculty and staff through its Web site, and will consolidate a number of its services into one office, in response to feedback from those it serves.

The Web site, scheduled to launch next week, was redesigned with new content added in direct response to requests for improvements in usability and for additional information, particularly in the areas of immigration, U.S. taxes and Social Security, and international student and scholar health insurance.

"The International Center's Web site is one of the more heavily hit Web sites at the University, so improving the online information available to U-M students, faculty, and staff was a major initiative for the International Center Improvement Project," says Frances Mueller, project senior manager and interim center director.

The International Center Improvement Project, which began in response to the 2005 report of the Faculty and Staff Immigration Task Force as well as internal reviews, exists due to support from executive officers. The project's charge is to ensure that the center is positioned to meet the changing demands in U.S. immigration regulations, is responsive to increased campus demand for services, and operates as efficiently as possible, Mueller says.

To further provide more efficient service, as recommended in the project assessment, the International Center has announced that it is centralizing international student and scholar services entirely at its Central Campus office, adjacent to the Michigan Union.

The services include immigration advising, processing immigration request forms, validating immigration status and employment eligibility, administering an international student and scholar health insurance plan, and signing travel forms to allow re-entry into the United States. after trips abroad. Previously, these services were based at the Central Campus location with limited services available on North Campus.

"Not being able to offer all of the services needed on North Campus frustrated many of our international students and scholars and meant they often were redirected to our Central Campus office," says International Student and Scholar Services Manager Linda Huff-Brinkman.

Mueller says the center's assessment showed that international students and scholars could best be served from one location, particularly since nearly 80 percent of international students and scholars visit the Central Campus office.

"We certainly understand that some of our international students and scholars liked the convenience of even limited services at our North Campus location," Mueller says, "but centralizing our services at our Central Campus office means that we'll be able to operate more efficiently and provide better service to them in the long run."

The center will continue to provide programs and workshops for international students and scholars on North Campus, and its Faculty and Staff Immigration Services will remain in that location.

The International Center also announced recent changes in leadership. In August Mueller was named interim director of the International Center and Tracy Schauff recently was hired as the center's Faculty and Staff Immigration Services manager.

Feedback guides International Center service changes

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