Professional Advising Leadership (PAL) Fellows Training Program: Unique and self-directed professional development opportunity that no OSEA should miss out!
A Report from PAL Fellow:
Vijaya Khandavilli
Educational Adviser
U.S. Educational Foundation in India (USEFI)
New Delhi 110001
India
PAL Year: 2003
I participated in the PAL Fellows Training Program from October 8, 2003 to October 25, 2003. The PAL program offers training cum research opportunity for senior-level advisers and is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. Department of State (DOS) and administered by the College Board. The 2003 program is the pioneer program of a long-term endeavor of DOS, USG. I was one of the eleven advisors selected for this year's program and my PALmates were from ten other countries: Argentina; Bahamas; Belarus; Bolivia; Colombia; Costa Rica; Egypt; Philippines; Romania; and Ukraine.
My PAL Fellowship Training Program had four main segments. The Washington segment from October 8 to 10; research and training at the World Educational Services (WES), New York was from October 13 to 17; Campus visits in Oregon on October 20 & 21; and finally the NAFSA Region I conference from October 22 - 25. Janine Farhat, College Board was the designated PAL Project Manager and our contact person at The College Board.
The Washington Segment: October 8-10
It began with a briefing from Mr. Martin Tatuch, Deputy Chief, Office of Post Liaison, Office of Visa Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Mr. Tatuch described his position as the conduit between the consular section and the rest of the department of state. In his overview of student visa issuance, he spoke about the frequency of name checks and security checks and briefly mentioned the 'technology alert list (TAL)’. He went on to describe the currently enforced National Security Entry Exit Registration System (NSEERS) for men and the proposed U.S. Visit program, to be rolled out by October 2004. He described the biometric recognition under this program, the data sharing between INS and DOS, the working of the SEVIS Response Team in Kansas City to assist the DHS at Port of Entry (POE) and of the SEVIS help desk's manual entry of SEVIS data whenever the entered data is unavailable to the consular. Looking in to the future, he alluded to the SEVIS fee at $100 to be paid prior to visa application. According to him, although the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agreed to collect the fee, the mode of collection is not worked out yet. He did not foresee any changes in the standards of visa issuance but mentioned the addition of about 80 new consular positions for the extra workload. He talked about the recently signed MOU between DHS and the Department of State (DOS) for improved communication on policy issues and guidelines. According to him, this will not in any way impact the visa issuance and there is not much for the OSEAS to be concerned about.
All the PAL Fellows except I completed their PAL projects by the time we met in Washington. Accounts of their experiences along with tips on how to get the best out of the program proved very valuable to me. Some of their tips were:
1. Don't assume the people you meet know about your program. Give them a background of the PAL program. State your objectives clearly.
2. Create a general and specific set of questions for the people you meet with.
3. Allot a daily personal time for introspection and processing of the collected information.
4. Understand the logistics clearly and work them out before the activity.
5. Ensure a two-way flow of information to make the interviews and meetings interesting for everyone.
Debbie Hefferon, Consultant, College Board conducted the two-day PAL Fellows Leadership Training workshop on October 9 & 10. Debbie, an expert communicator, effortlessly walked us through all aspects of leadership development. The unique features of her training method were the innumerable handouts and interesting hands-on exercises to learn about oneself as a leader. Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) exercise was particularly revealing for me about myself. Overall, the workshop encouraged communication among the PAL trainees enabling us to learn about and bond with each other.
On October 9, the PAL Fellows were received at the Department of State. Mary Ashley, Office Director, OFFICE OF GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS (ECA/A/S) and Phillip Ives, Branch Chief, ECA/A/S/A welcomed the PAL pioneers and Dorothy Mora, Program Officer, Europe, East Asia/Pacific, ECA/A/S/A briefed about the program. The PAL Fellows recounted their individual PAL experiences. In my case it was what I proposed to do.
Credential Evaluation Training at the World Educational Services (WES), New York
After the Washington meet, I embarked on Credential Evaluation, my PAL project research and training program. My objective was to develop an understanding of credential evaluation by a non-university, professional credential evaluator agency and how the information can be used in advising Indian students and US Universities. Before I started the actual training, I met with Ms, Mariam Aseefa, Executive Director, WES and Ms. Margarita Sianou, Deputy Director, Evaluations, WES and gave them a briefing on USEFI, its Educational Advising Services and the PAL Program. My contact coordinator for the PAL project at WES was Ms. Sonja Bhan. Through regular communication with me in advance of the PAL program, Sonja worked out a packed training schedule with adequate time for reviewing as we went ahead. Ariel Mihael, Manager-Training Policy gave me an introductory overview of WES and its resources; and Samir Dave, Group Manager - Information processing, and his team explained to me the use of research tools and imaging systems in the credential evaluations. Sonja Bhan with specific credentials as examples explained to me the review of files; assigning WES equivalencies; course by course evaluations; % marks /credit / Grade conversions. We discussed in detail the evaluation methodology for documents and syllabi from different secondary boards and boards of polytechnic education. She also showed me the evaluation methodology for undergraduate degrees, diplomas from professional associations and post graduate diplomas from non-university associations.
I joined the India Cluster in its weekly meeting and made a presentation on current trends in Indian Higher Education which was followed by a discussion on how these changes would impact credential evaluations. Later I met with Robert Sedgwick, Editor and Nick Clark, Assistant Editor, World Education News and Reviews (WENR). Based on my inputs in these meetings, WENR inquired if I could write an article for WENR.
Sonja Bhan and I discussed and agreed on the need for a publication that would highlight the differences among the different secondary and higher secondary boards, national and state-level, in India. We decided to further probe in to this matter and consult Leo Sweeney and Ravi Kallur, the two U.S. based India experts.
Just before I set out for the PAL project, I was informed by the 2004 NAFSA Conference Planning Committee that my proposal for a workshop on Indian Graduate and Undergraduate applications was approved. Since Sonja Bhan is one of the panelists for this workshop, I utilized my stay at WES to chalk out a tentative workshop plan. This workshop, we hope, would be a helpful advising tool especially for the ADSEC purpose.
In my wrap-up meeting with Margarita Sianou and Sonja Bhan, we discussed the need for a re-look into the equivalency of Indian three-year degrees with the four-year US degrees. Margarita requested me to connect WES with advisers at the British Council and others.
PAL project continued in Oregon: October 20-25, 2003
After the WES training, I set out to Oregon but on the way had a campus tour to the Rutgers University from an Indian student who also briefed me about the Rutger’s MBA program.
After landing in Portland, OR, I traveled to Corvallis for a campus visit to Oregon State University (OSU) on October 20, 2003. During a day-long, once again packed visit, I met with admissions officers, deans, foreign student advisers, and Indian students. I shared my experience at WES and received a briefing on Indian credential evaluation at OSU. One of the Indian students had unique experiences with consular office as well as DHS offices at POE. All the three students offered to write down their experiences for the benefit of next group of students. Dr. Bill Smart coordinated my visit and meetings.
On October 21, 2003, I visited Oregon Graduate Institute (OGI), which recently merged with Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). Here again I met with admissions officers, foreign student adviser, professors at the biomedical engineering and other departments. OGI arranged a luncheon meeting with three Indian students and as in the case of OSU, this meeting proved most valuable. We talked about the departments, facilities, on-campus jobs, off-campus housing, etc. Out of the three students I met, only one knew about USEFI (a member of USEFI Chennai) thereby suggesting the need for extensive USEFI outreach.
My meetings with admissions officials at the above campuses suggested that the issue of equivalency between the three-year Indian degree program and the four-year U.S. degree program deserved a further probe. Similarly the difference between various state boards of secondary education is an issue with UG admissions officers.
After the two campus visits, I moved to Portland to participate in the NAFSA Region I conference. The theme of this conference was: “From Crisis to Opportunity”. I chaired and presented two sessions here, one on 'Indian education system and current trends,' and the other on 'Using Education USA centers and US University Fairs for foreign student recruitment’. In the latter, Rita Moriconi, overseas advisor from Brazil and Bill Smart, OSU were my co-panelists. During the conference, I also met with Natanya Desai from OSU. Natanya Desai is involved in Study Abroad programs at OSU and is interested in developing a program in India for OSU students.
The campus visits were very productive for me as I could share my training experience at WES with admissions officials at OSU and OGU and obtain the US universities' perspectives on Indian credentials.
Icing on the Cake
E-Learning opportunities from Harvard University are bonus to the PAL Pioneers.
In Hindsight
When the ECA cable announcing the first PAL Fellowship Training Program and requesting for applications arrived, I did not initially give it a serious thought. But when I realized there was going to be no application from South Asia, I decided to throw my hat in the ring. After all, how can a region with a top-sending country of international students to the U.S. go unrepresented in the pioneer program?! Starting barely four days to the deadline, I managed to get the application through and it would not have been possible but for the guidance from our patient and ever-accommodating REAC! I am happy I did that as the PAL experience turned out to be a not-to-be-missed opportunity. My sincere thanks to the Indian Program Officer, USEFI for forwarding my application, Executive Director, USEFI for nominating me, Chair, USEFI Board for supporting my nomination and ECA/A/S/A for giving me this opportunity!
Sidelights: Some worth remembering; a couple worth forgetting!
The panic I went through when I realized I forgot my handbag with all the valuables at WES and everyone left for the day is indescribable. All my efforts to locate my coordinator, Sonja Bhan failed as her cell phone was down. The security in the building did not have the alarm code to WES. I had no option left except to wait for the janitors, who I was told, could come anytime before midnight and imagine the timid Vijaya waiting in a downtown Manhattan office until midnight! Thanks to the help of a WES staff, I managed to locate Sonja in a farewell party in a nearby bar, regretfully dragged her out to retrieve my bag. Still unsettled with that experience I reached my hotel and turned on the TV only to view the breaking news of the unfortunate Staten Island ferry disaster. The thought that I was on the same ferry just a couple of days ago sent shivers down my spine! That is one evening I would not like to relive!
From the impersonal and humdrum life of NYC subways, I was elated with the warm reception I received in Oregon. The shuttle driver (Anthony’s airporter), not only offered to call for a taxi to take me to my hotel from the shuttle stop but also waited till the taxi arrived. Similarly, the taxi driver on reaching my destination waited till the courtyard inn manager came out to receive me. It was 10pm and Corvallis is a small town. Oregon scored high points from me for such warm hospitality!
When I received the NAFSA conference file designated as a VIP file from Region I organizers, I took it to be for my being vegetarian, a la airlines! It was only at the time of the Awards luncheon when I was escorted to the head table on the dais that I understood the significance of the VIP badge. Thank you NAFSA Region I for this special recognition to Rita Moriconi (OSEA from Brazil) and me! There are several such gestures from my hosts and coordinators in DC, NYC, Corvallis and Portland that made this PAL sojourn a memorable experience! Thanks to all who contributed to it!
Vijaya Khandavilli
USEFI, New Delhi, India
November 10, 2003