USBT Fall 2005 Alumni

• Elvis Roass, U.S. Embassy, Ndjamena, Chad
• Aly Babaly Sy, U.S. Embassy, Nouakchott, Mauritania
• Frank Mok, U.S. Embassy, Beijing, China
• Nurise Widjaya, Fulbright Commission, Jakarta, Indonesia
• Meena Supama Ponnusamy, Fulbright Commission, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Alexandra Enzi, Fulbright Commission, Vienna, Austria
• Snejana Teneva, Fulbright Commission, Sofia, Bulgaria
• Gulsen Oztoprak, Fulbright Commission, Nicosia, Cyprus
• Wesley Teter, REAC, Fulbright Commission, Berlin, Germany
• Nicholas Tourides, Fulbright Commission, Athens, Greece
• Hasmik Harutyunyan, Educational Advising Center, Gyumri, Armenia
• Tatiana Rudnitskaya, American Ed. Information Center, Rostov-on- Don, Russia
• Hala Abdel Mohsen Al-Hawary, AMIDEAST, Cairo, Egypt
• Gaurav Katwal, Fulbright Commission, Kathmandu, Nepal
• Shamsah Valli Mohammed, World Educational Services, Karachi, Pakistan
• Ann’Andreza Martins, Fulbright Commission, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Rosa Rodriguez, Instituto Cultural Dominico Americano (ICDA), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• Maria Mercedes Salmon, Fulbright Commission, Quito, Ecuador
• Silvia Perez, IIE, Mexico City, Mexico
• Fanny del Rio, Fulbright Commission, Montevideo, Uruguay

Click here for the USBT Fall 2005 Alumn i group photo

This frequently asked question (FAQ) sheet answers some basic questions about the Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®) vendor transition to Pearson VUE and ACT, Inc. If you have additional questions—or if you want more detailed information—please send an e-mail to gmattransition@gmac.com. A member of the GMAT® transition team will be pleased to respond. In addition, stay tuned to www.gmac.com for more information about the transition as it becomes available.

Why change vendors?
Although we've enjoyed a long, successful partnership with Educational Testing Service® (ETS®), the Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®) Board of Directors determined that the investment priorities, strategic direction, and capabilities of ETS® were no longer consistent with the Council's goals for the future of the GMAT® program. Starting January 1, 2006, ACT will develop the GMAT®, and Pearson VUE will deliver the exam.

Who are Pearson VUE and ACT, and why are they good partners for GMAC®?
Pearson VUE and its sister organizations deliver 40 million exams and score 80 million essays a year in 145 countries worldwide. Pearson VUE is a leader in global computer-based test administration. The company's technology investments ensure leading-edge security while providing new services to test takers and business schools.

Pearson, the parent company of Pearson VUE, is the world's largest publisher of education materials, through such brands as Prentice Hall, Penguin, and Addison-Wesley, and will provide GMAC® with new opportunities for information services. Pearson has operations in 55 countries and publishes materials in 17 languages.

ACT has a well-established reputation for excellence and integrity in test development. ACT has nearly two decades of experience in computer-based testing and has delivered 4.2 million computer-adaptive tests to 1.2 million students. Currently, 4,500 universities use the company's admission services.

As a result of the partnership with Pearson VUE and ACT, schools and test takers can anticipate a wider array of information and services.

Will the transition affect test takers or schools before January 1, 2006?
If your applicants registered to take the GMAT® exam before January 1, 2006, the test will be delivered by ETS® at an existing Thomson Prometric test center. You will continue to receive score reports and score management reports from ETS® when candidates designate your program as a recipient of their GMAT® scores.

Starting next summer, GMAC® will begin to share the details of the transition with prospective test takers, including information about new test center locations.

Will access to GMAT exams change?
Yes. The GMAT® test will be more accessible than it is today, with additional testing centers outside the United States. In addition, all test takers will have the option registering for the GMAT® test online or by phone.

When can candidates make GMAT test appointments at a Pearson VUE test center?
Registration for GMAT® tests delivered by Pearson VUE will open approximately four months in advance of the transition. We will communicate these dates to prospective test takers as we approach the transition.

Will the GMAT test itself change?
GMAC® has no current plans to change the format of the exam or the types of questions it contains. The GMAT® exam will continue to assess verbal skills with reading comprehension, sentence correction, and critical reasoning questions; quantitative skills with problem solving and data sufficiency questions; and analytical writing abilities with two essays.

The test will still be delivered in the computer-adaptive format, and, starting in January 2006, the Council will offer the GMAT® test exclusively in this format. No more paper-based tests will be given.

The GMAT® will remain as valid and reliable as it is today. The scores on GMAT® exams delivered by Pearson VUE will be comparable to scores on GMAT® exams delivered by ETS®.

Will there be new GMAT test preparation software?
Yes, there will be new GMAT® preparation software. It will have the look and feel of the GMAT® test, which will be updated and modernized slightly. The underlying components of the preparation program will not change significantly.

After the transition, will scores for GMAT tests delivered by ETS still be available?
Yes. You will continue to receive score reports that show the most recent GMAT® scores.

Will candidates continue to be able to access scores more than five years old?
Starting in January 2006, Pearson VUE will be able to provide candidates with scores from tests taken since 1997. GMAC® does not endorse the use of scores older than five years for any admissions or selection purposes. Consistent with our current policy, scores older than five years will arrive with a note explaining our concerns.

Will schools continue to receive the same types of reports?
At a minimum, you will continue to receive from Pearson VUE the information that you currently receive from ETS®; however, the format and delivery mechanism may be enhanced. We are currently surveying a cross-section of schools as we work with Pearson VUE to develop reports that are more responsive to your needs.

What happens if a candidate has problems with a GMAT exam delivered by ETS after the transition?
After the transition, ETS® will continue to provide customer service for all the GMAT® exams they delivered.

01 June 2005
Global Network Providing Resources on Study in United States
EducationUSA advisers promoting opportunities for students from other nations
By Anthony Kujawa
Washington File Staff Writer

Seattle -- Eighty U.S. Department of State-affiliated advisers, part of a global network of more than 450 EducationUSA information centers, are among the more than 6,600 educators, administrators and government officials from 95 countries gathered for a May 31-June 3 conference on international education.
The theme of the NAFSA: Association of International Educators (formerly the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs) 2005 conference, "Opening Minds to the Global Community," also goes to the heart of these advisers' work -- to engage prospective students in 170 countries and provide them with information on opportunities for higher education in the United States. Speaking at the conference's opening session May 31, NAFSA Executive Director Marlene Johnson said those working to ensure study-abroad opportunities are "at the forefront of public diplomacy ensuring the world's capacity to wage peace because our future leaders have studied and lived outside the comfort of their own culture."
At the conference, the advisers not only are developing contacts with higher education admissions officials to promote more effectively the United States as a study-abroad destination, but also are sharing their expertise by leading conference sessions on topics ranging from credential evaluations in the Middle East-North Africa region to addressing how to turn the "brain drain" phenomenon to one of capacity building for developing countries in Africa.
In an interview with the Washington File in Washington the week before the conference, State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Education Information and Resources Branch Chief Phillip Ives said, "We want to reach out to help students in other countries understand that the United States is a very welcoming nation and that the welcome mat is out."
Navigating the diverse array of U.S. higher education opportunities for prospective students overseas can be a "daunting task," Ives said. But he added that EducationUSA advisers are prepared to assist prospective students in making the "right choice."
Ives cited obtaining a visa, the costs of higher education, the extensive application process, and perceptions that the United States no longer is welcoming students from other countries as factors sometimes viewed as "barriers or obstacles" for prospective applicants to U.S. colleges and universities.
In a separate interview in Seattle, Kristen Cammarata, a Morocco-based regional education advising coordinator with the State Department, said that those factors can be "daunting" but prospective students can find support and information at EducationUSA advising centers. Advisers provide guidance on how students can put together a "complete application" that maximizes chances for admission, Cammarata said, and also assist students in overcome "cultural differences."
A prospective student considering study in the United States, Cammarata said, should visit an EducationUSA.

ADVISING CENTERS
The educational advising and information centers, which represent all accredited U.S. higher education institutions, offer information sessions on how to select a college, how to prepare for standardized tests, how to write application essays, and what to expect on U.S. campuses. The centers are located in U.S. embassies, Fulbright Commissions, nonprofit organizations, libraries and universities.
"Quality [of education] is the biggest attraction" U.S. institutes of higher learning hold for prospective students from the Czech Republic, Jakub Tesar, educational adviser at the Fulbright Commission in Prague, Czech Republic, told the Washington File in Seattle. He added that research opportunities, especially at the graduate level, as well as the global, multicultural skills that can be acquired, are "selling points" for studying in the United States.
Tesar said his office provides guidance on selecting schools and information on the application process.
"There is an ocean of information [on studying in the United States] and one can easily get lost in the sea," he said. Tesar urged those interested in studying in the United States to visit a State Department-affiliated advising center.
Tesar added that his office also conducts numerous public outreach activities, including one-hour interactive seminars on study opportunities in the United States and how the higher-education application process there differs from that in the Czech Republic.
Maria Paniakova, a program and student adviser at the Fulbright Commission in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, said the commission's advising centers provide accurate, comprehensive, current and unbiased information. "We [EducationUSA advisers] are there to be helpful, and to do what we can to assist each and every student to progress through the various stages that lead to admission at a U.S. college or university," Ives said.

WEB SITE
The State Department's Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs EducationUSAWeb site also provides useful information and services for prospective students considering study in the United States, according to ECA's Ives.
The site offers a menu of types of programs (undergraduate, graduate, specialized professional study, opportunities for scholars, short-term study) as well as links to predeparture information, materials on living in the United States, and tips on choosing an educational institution. The site also includes a link to a find-a-school search engine developed especially for EducationUSA.
EducationUSA also provides information on standardized tests, the visa process, admissions, financial aid and links both to other U.S. government Web sites and external resources. The site also includes links to publications such as the four-part If You Want to Study in the United States series in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information rograms, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

2005 Professional Advising Leadership (PAL) Fellows
Spring 2005

Folashade Adebayo, U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section, Abuja, Nigeria (USBT Fall 2001)
Rebecca Zeigler Mano, U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section, Harare, Zimbabwe
Ninoslav Scukanec, Student Information Center, Zagreb, Croatia
Gaston Lacombe, EducationUSA Info & Testing Center, Riga, Latvia (USBT Spring 2000)
Tove Knudsen, Fulbright Commission, Oslo, Norway (USBT Spring 2003)
Anthony Nemecek, Fulbright Commission, London, United Kingdom
Bahar Haji-zada, Education Information Center, Baku, Azerbaijan (USBT Spring 2001)
Nino Chinchaladze, ISAC, Open Society Georgia Foundation, Tbilisi, Georgia (USBT Fall 1997)
Talgat Ayapbergenov, Educational Advising Center, Aktobe, Kazakhstan (USBT Fall 2003)
Rekha Kalle, Fulbright Commission, Mumbai, India (USBT Spring 2000)
Ruby Lee Simms, ARICANA Binational Center, Rosario, Argentina (USBT Spring 2002)
Thais Pires, Associacão Alumni, São Paulo, Brasil (USBT 1998)
 

200,000 Foreign Students And Exchange Visitors Expected For Spring Semester

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today issued important reminders to assist the estimated 200,000 foreign students and exchange visitors expected to arrive in the United States for the spring semester.

These reminders for foreign students and exchange visitors registered in the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS) are intended to ensure that legitimate students are quickly processed at ports of entry. A comprehensive list of answers to frequently asked SEVIS questions has also been posted online at www.ice.gov and www.cbp.gov.

The SEVIS system was implemented after the 9/11 terrorist attacks as part of the federal government's effort to restore integrity to the nation's immigration system. SEVIS is a web-based program that maintains information on international students (F/M visas) and exchange visitors (J visas) and their dependents residing in the United States. It is administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVP) and used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers at ports of entry. SEVIS has simplified what was once a manual process, resulting in more accurate and timely data, faster processing and fewer delays.

"The SEVIS program is a successful homeland security initiative due in large part to the cooperation we have received from all of the program's stakeholders," said Michael J. Garcia, DHS Assistant Secretary for ICE. "As the new 2005 semester starts, we encourage all SEVIS participants -- including students, exchange visitors, and school and program administrators -- to review the program requirements and take responsibility for making sure their records are updated and correct. By making these efforts now, our academic and exchange program partners can help to ensure that legitimate students don't experience unnecessary delays when they enter the country."

"We are a welcoming nation, and our doors of opportunity and education are open. We must ensure that those presenting themselves for entry are legitimate. SEVIS is the program that helps U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to quickly verify that students presenting themselves at our borders are actual students and exchange visitors," said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner.

ICE and CBP offer the following recommendations for students and exchange visitors:

Travel Tips for Students and Exchange Visitors

1. Hand carry (do not check) the following documents:
         1. Your passport;
         2. Your SEVIS form I-20 or DS-2019;
         3. Evidence of financial resources;
         4. Evidence of student or exchange visitor status, such as tuition receipts, transcripts or letter of  acceptance;
         5. Paper receipt for the SEVIS fee; and
         6. The name and contact information of your designated school official or sponsor

      Important Note: If you are a new student or a new exchange visitor participant, remember to carry with you the sealed envelope given to you by the U.S. Department of State's Consular
Officer -- attached to your passport. It is important that you do not open this envelope.

2. Inform the CBP Officer at the port of entry as soon as possible that you will be a new or returning student or exchange visitor in the United States.

3. Report to your school or program upon arrival so that your school official can validate your participation in SEVIS.

4. Maintain contact with your designated school or sponsor official throughout your stay to ensure your SEVIS data is updated and accurate.

The Department of Homeland Security also reminds SEVIS registered schools and exchange visitor programs of their responsibility to maintain up-to-date records on all of their foreign students and exchange visitors.

As of December 2004, about 725,000 students and exchange visitors (F-1, M-1 and J-1 visa categories), along with 120,000 dependents, were registered in SEVIS. More than 7,800 schools and 1,400 exchange programs are active in SEVIS. From September 2003, when all foreign students, exchange visitors and their academic or cultural programs were required to register with SEVIS, through September 2004, SEVIS recorded a slight increase in the foreign student (F/M visa) population from approximately 605,000 to 640,000.

To date, ICE's Compliance Enforcement Unit, responsible for identifying individuals who attempt to abuse the student immigration system, has sent 3, 342 investigative leads on potential SEVIS violations to the field, resulting in 558 arrests.