Rensselaer has around 1,200 international students, a population that has been steadily increasing. All of these students are required to check in periodically with the Office of International Services for Students and Scholars periodically. For an already understaffed office with only four full-time staff members, the implementation of new measures required by the federal government will be “truly a challenge,” said Jane Havis, assistant dean of students and international student advisor.
The deadline set by the government for the implementation of a program called the Student and Exchange Visitor Program has been set for January 2003; however both Havis and Dean of Students Mark Smith agree that it will “doubtfully” be met.
“It won’t be in place for some time after the deadline,” said Smith.
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Alien Responsibility Act, passed in 1996, requires colleges and universities to keep better track of their international students and to submit certain information to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This information gathering and exchange policy, SEVP, was to be based on a network and database system that has yet to materialize. “There was a pilot program but it did not work well,” said Havis. Even though the goal seemed clear, she added, the means to implement it eluded the INS.
Then, Hani Hanjour, one of the 19 alleged hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks, used a student visa to enter the United States but never attended class. This revelation has outraged President George W. Bush and Congress.
“If a person applies for a student visa and gets that visa, we are going to make sure that person actually goes to school,” Bush said on October 29.
The attacks prompted renewed discussion among lawmakers on tighter security and new tracking measures for international students residing in America on student visas. While some of these initiatives have been labeled as new, many, if not all of them, were either proposed or partially implemented in 1996. One of the initiatives that has been most controversial is a database that can be accessed and updated by schools and the INS. Key issues included in the debate which “[goes] as far back as 15 years ago,” according to Smith, included funding for the system and division of responsibility between government agencies and universities.
Before September 11, whenever talk of SEVP surfaced, debates arose about who would fund it—the academic institutions or the INS. However, after the terrorist attacks, “the government said it will fund the program,” said Havis. The government funding will be, in part, based on a one-time fee for international students. The fee most probably will be set at $95 according to Havis. The largest part of the funding will come from $36.8 million allocated in October by President Bush specifically for SEVP.
But the question of funding does not end there.
Even with government fully funding the program, many key details still have to be worked out, such as who will collect the student fee. Universities are trying to shift the burden of collecting the fees to the INS to avoid the extra work of filling out papers and collecting fees. “The question of who would collect the fee is very strong, but I believe the INS should be the one to do it,” said Havis.
Much of the information required for the proposed database is the same as that filled out in paperwork by international students, when they apply for admission and visas. Most of it is “basic directory information” said Havis, and includes full-time/part-time status, date of start of studies, credits completed each year, visa classification, and port of entry.
