At the recent NAFSA Region VI conference held in Columbus, Ohio I attended a number of interesting and informative sessions. One of the sessions I particularly enjoyed was led by three well-respected and well-versed higher education professionals: Kathy Ice-Wedding (U. of Kentucky), Sandi Lemons (IUPUI) and Daniel Whitmer (Indiana University- Bloomington). Their session titled "Introduction to Working with Sponsored Students" provided a rich array of information that would be helpful to professionals looking to add sponsored students to their international student populations.
Let's start with defining the term "sponsored student." A sponsored student is a student who has received a monetary scholarship from a non-personal entity. Funding comes from the home government, an employer or the United States government. Most sponsored students are required to provide some kind of service to their sponsor upon returning to the home country.
The first step to encouraging sponsored students to attend your campus is to identify all campus offices that will be involved in the process, i.e. ESL, admissions, registrar, housing, international student services, etc. From each of these offices a point person should be identified to work with sponsored students. It is important to educate your colleagues on various sponsoring agencies and to develop a process for receiving applications from sponsored students and then matriculating enrolling students into campus life. Thorough planning prior to working with sponsored students will make for a much more successful program down the road.
Upon identifying sponsoring agencies with whom you'd like to work, it is essential to develop relationships. Identify your contact person and work towards building a relationship. It is helpful to periodically visit your contact people or inviting them to campus to further the burgeoning relationships. That way there will be a better understanding of your institution, you will gain a greater understanding of the sponsoring agency and you can work together with the sponsoring agency representative to best educate and advise students.
There are a variety of sponsoring agencies including:
-foreign governments (Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, etc.)
-the U.S. government (USAID and Fulbright)
-organizations and foundations (IIE, IREX, VEF, World Learning, LASPAU, AMIDEAST)
-private companies
-overseas universities in cooperation with national governments
If you are curious about how to find sponsor agencies and develop relationships, there are a number of resources available.
-the NAFSA website
-the Washington International Education Council
-the NAFSA National Conference
-Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission (SACM) ESL Placement Office (refer to this good article)
-EducationUSA
For further information about the presentation given at the 2012 Region VI NAFSA Conference, refer to: http://tinyurl.com/sponsoredstudentworkshop
