PAL year: Fall 2004

In Fall 2004, I enjoyed the great opportunity to participate in the Professional Advising Leadership (PAL) Fellows Program for overseas advisers from the US. Department of State affiliated advising centers, called EducationUSA. This program is very special and valuable from different perspectives. First of all, advisers may (or must) propose their own research topic. On the other hand, this is sort of challenging as there is such a large scope of topics of interest. I understand that the main outcome of the PAL program should be a group of experienced advisers (so called leadership group), who will serve as source of reference for other advisers worldwide.
Therefore, big stress is given to the fact that there should be no repeatedly investigated areas and each program participant has to focus on a specific and new area, not yet explored by another PAL fellow. In my case, I had also to narrow down my originally proposed field of interest to a more specific one. Finally, I focused on graduate admission procedures in the fields of psychology, anthropology and English language (partially due to availability of these departments at the respective universities, and also due to the fact that there are many students in my home country interested in pursuing their studies in the United States in these areas).
Another important part of this program is participation in regional NAFSA conference or other type of professional advisers' conference in the US. I comment on my experience from this event in separate part.
My program was a little bit specific due to two facts: for the Fall term, there were only two of us participating (Judy Freudenberger from Canberra, Australia and me). My program was shorter than her. Therefore, we had no initial meeting in Washington DC at the beginning of the program as is the usual case for the participants to get acquainted with each other and to specify their objectives.

My activities can be divided into three parts:

Part 1: Visits to different campuses and respective departments and/or admission offices.

• Hands-on experience within graduate admissions at university, comparison of admission process at small and large, public and private schools.
• Meetings and discussions with individual department representatives on departmental decision-making process, revision of applications, tips for perspective international students.
• Meetings with international student centers, observation of SEVIS process. Within this part of the program, I visited the following schools: University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, Harvard and Northeastern universities in Boston.

At the University of Tennessee, I had the opportunity to work very closely with the Graduate Admissions Office and to observe the procedures connected with admission process. I was able to "follow" the application from its submission up to its denial or acceptance. I appreciated the opportunity to gain this hands-on experience and to be able to talk to all employees responsible for evaluation, recording and completion of individual parts of application. Also, I was able to compare these complex procedures with a completely different process while visiting smaller college. It was also very important to talk to representatives of respective departments and learn about their priorities when evaluating an application. Naturally, I was interested especially in foreign students, their chances, advantages and disadvantages in the competition. I will summarize the most important observations at the end of this report.

Part 2: Participation in the Region XI NAFSA Conference in Boston, MA

This conference celebrated the 50th anniversary and it certainly belonged to one of the most successful events of this kind I have ever visited. It was extremely well organized and conducted. From the beginning, all representatives welcomed me as well as the two USBT participants from overseas participating in the same conference (Rasha Rayes from Syria and Mila Tan from Philippines). All the sessions were very well attended and the participants had enough space for discussions and networking.
Within the conference I gave a presentation on Students mobility after implementation of Bologna process principles within the European higher education area. I was overwhelmed with the number of participants and their interest in this topic. At the same time, I was impressed by their knowledge about the Bologna process, its principles and possible impacts on students' mobility. We discussed possible changes in the European higher education area, student flows and attractiveness of the American higher education to European students in the future.
Besides giving presentations, my two USBT colleagues and I had a very interesting meeting with Parker Emerson from International Office at Harvard University and his class of students interested in intercultural relations. The students were interested in promotion of international education, impact of the new visa fees and procedures on international student flows, role of overseas educational advising centers, etc.
Dr. Emerson invited me to visit the International Office at Harvard University (where I had meeting with Graduate Program Administrator at the Department of Anthropology and Department of Linguistics). Of course, I have used this opportunity to visit the office and observe its operations.

Part 3: Washington, DC - debriefing

The third and final parts of my program were mostly meetings connected with PAL program debriefing held in Washington, DC. It included meetings with College Board representatives, briefing at State Department ECA staff meeting, discussions on PAL Fellow Leadership Development and meeting with former president of the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals (NAGAP) and current Director of Graduate Student Enrollment Management at George Washington University, Kristin S. Williams. Due to her extensive knowledge and expertise in the field, she was able to give me an excellent summary of what I learned about graduate admission procedures.
All of these discussions were very worthful. As mentioned above, there was no meeting in Washington at the beginning of the program. But we had a very vivid correspondence with Debbie Hefferon who provided us with Self-directed orientation, comprised of 4 modules, each containing two challenges or topics connected with the U.S. research phase of our projects. This preparation and elaboration of individual modules proved to be extremely useful for successful planning, definition of goals and objectives, preparing for presentations, etc. In addition to the challenges prior to my visit, College Board enabled all PAL fellows free access to series of courses on internet from November through December 2004. As I have already mentioned to Janine Farhat, these courses were a very good choice and I wish I could have access to them constantly (as there was no chance to go through all of them due to time pressure).
During the final debriefing, we went back to the modules and reviewed the goals and objectives. We discussed the concept of leadership. We had the opportunity to take the psychological test called Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. We also discussed some tips for future PAL participants together with Janine Farhat and Dorothy Mora. As already mentioned, the concept of the PAL program is that its alumni serve as a source of information and potential leaders. It is understood that they will not only write a detailed report to be submitted to the newsletter but they will assist future PAL fellows and all advisers needing their expertise.

SUMMARY:

As there were many PAL fellows with similar topic, I will mention only some specific observations from the three main fields of my interests - what happens with the application at graduate admission office, what happens once it has arrived at the respective department and what are experiences of international offices with the SEVIS system.

Graduate Admission Offices

• though there is a big difference in the number of employees at large and small universities, the concept of review process is very similar;
• graduate admission offices send the completed application to respective department;
• incomplete applications are being denied straight away;
• some offices would deny also application with low TOEFL score (below 213 or 550);
• generally, it is advised to send the application in one package instead of sending it in parts;
• the application needs to be complete - meaning all items need to be answered;
• application fee needs to be paid;
• majority of graduate admission offices in the U.S. perform their foreign credential evaluation. They contact a professional agency only in case of suspicious documents;
• each university would probably have its own criteria for credential evaluation;
• validity of a foreign document is being verified by different means - also through government or university worldwide web pages;
• automated translators can also be used for translating foreign credentials;
• evidence of all applications occurs electronically and is being updated on a daily basis;
• for the next year, some large universities are going to introduce new scanning system; it means that within respective university, all applications will be handled only in electronic version;
• spelling errors are not acceptable and are a disqualifying factor;
• it is necessary to be careful with spelling of own name - always the same way as it appears on passport;
• always provide valid and accurate email address;
• international students need to have satisfactory financial evidence or somebody to prove it;
• it is important to give the appropriate code of the school for the test results to be sent there directly.

Departmental Decisions (Psychology, Anthropology, English language)

Individual departments would slightly differ in their evaluations especially in what is the most important aspect for the respective field of study. Below, I list the most important notes I consider necessary for a prospective applicant to know

• there are also departmental deadlines for admissions;
• some sort of financial support is often available at graduate level;
• the admission requirements are equal for national and international students;
• if any part of the requirements does not fit, the application is usually denied;
• departments sometimes also do their own credential evaluation;
• each department has its own admission committee - number of faculty depends on the size of the respective department , 4-5 members, they usually rotate in a 3-year term;
• GPA is not as important as statement of purpose and letters of recommendation;
• results of standardized tests are important - the higher the score the better;
• letters of recommendation are much more important than a foreign student might be aware of;
• it is advised to have letters of recommendation from people known to the respective faculty;
• it is necessary for the perspective students to know about the programs and faculty as much as possible;
• highly selective programs have the same requirements for domestic and foreign students;
• writing samples are usually required and are very important (up to three pages).

Within the statement of purpose, the applicants should :

• keep the word limit (concise statement of purpose is almost always more powerful);
• explain, why they apply to the school, department, program;
• provide brief history of what they have already done in the respective field;
• outline realistic research plan;
• demonstrate their commitment;
• provide a realistic research plan;
• demonstrate likelihood that they succeed;
• mention how they have heard of the school (e.g. personal contacts with former graduates);
• explain why they want to earn a Master's degree;
• mention whether they have "American culture" experience;
• demonstrate their contribution to class;
• what kind of difference could they bring to the class.

Within the application process, the students should never:

• apply to a program they are not absolutely sure is the right one for them;
• send the same statement of purpose to different schools;
• ask the faculty about the admission procedures (instead, they should ask the graduate admissions office);
• contact directly individual faculty members unless they have very clear and specific topic interesting for them;
• try to send very personal emails and make appointments with professors;
• propose to work with a professor who is going to retire;
• fake any of the documents submitted.

International Offices

The International offices usually organize different types of activities for international students, such as orientation programs, outreach activities, Study Abroad programs, advisory services for international students, etc. Usually, these offices, or houses or centers (or however they are being called) also back up the visa. I was interested especially in their experiences with visa processing. The biographical data are necessary to be entered into the SEVIS system and therefore, they are being required only after the student has been admitted.
I have visited these centers at UTK, Vanderbilt University and Harvard University. None of them experienced any major problems with the system.

Crucial advice for students is:

• provide the school with accurate data;
• always spell their name in the same way (as it appears in passport);
• provide all information required;
• in case of dependents, the same rules apply;

THANK YOU notes

I would like to thank the U.S. State Department and the College Board for giving me this excellent training opportunity. I would also like to thank the Fulbright Commission for contributing to my trip to the U.S. My special thanks go to those helping organize my schedule so that it would be lifelong learning experiences - Janine Farhat (College Board) and Diana Lopez (University of Tennessee) - I think they have succeeded.

Below, there is a list of all people I would like to thank for their contribution, time and advice (in chronological order of our meetings):

Tennessee (Knoxville, Nashville, Jefferson City)

Diana Lopez, Director, Systems and Procedures, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK)
Rose Ann Trantham, Director of Graduate and International Admissions, UTK
Michael Itzkowitz, Assistant Director, Graduate and International Admissions, UTK
Joann Ng Hartmann, Assistant Director for International Student Services, Center for International Education, UTK
Dave Lawson, Associate Director of the Center for International Education, UTK
Lee Rhea, Coordinator of the International House, UTK
Andrew Kramer, Head, Department of Anthropology, UTK
Anne Mayhew, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean for Graduate Studies, UTK
Mary Papke, Associate Dean for Graduate Student Services, UTK
Kay Reed, Director of Graduate Student Services, UTK
Linda Painter, Associate Provost for Special Projects, UTK
James Lawler, Head, Department of Psychology, UTK
Connie Ogle, Graduate Programs Coordinator, Department of Psychology, UTK
Deb Baldwin, Bob Wahler, Fred Leong, directors of various programs at the Department of Psychology, UTK
Misty Anderson, Director of Graduate Programs, Department of English, UTK
Ilona Leki, Director of Linguistics Graduate Certificate Program, Department of English, UTK
Steven Smartt, Assistant Provost for Graduate Education and Research, Vanderbilt University
Judith Pennywell, Director of International Student and Scholar Services, Vanderbilt University
Rick Lane, Coordinator of International Student Enrollment, Carson-Newman College
Jane McGill, Adviser, Graduate Admissions, Carson-Newman College
Tom Huebner, Dean of Admissions, Carson-Newman College
Danny W. Hinson, TESL, Acting Director, Center for Global Education Carson-Newman College
Mark Brock, Director of ESL, Carson-Newman College

Boston:

Tracey Reza, ADSEC Representative, Region XI NAFSA
Donnamarie Kelly Pignone, Past Chair, Region XI NAFSA
Amy C. Daly, Chair, Region XI. NAFSA
Parker Emerson, Foreign Students and Scholars Advisor, Harvard International Office
Maria L. Hernandez, International Student Advisor, Harvard International Office
Mary M. Tinkham, Assistant Director, Harvard International Office
Kim Schader, Graduate Programs Administrator, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University
Cedric Boeckx, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Harvard University
Courtney Cotta, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Northeastern University

Washington, DC

Janine Farhat, Special Projects Manager, International Education Office, The College Board
Theresa Carroll Schweser, Director, International Education Office, The College Board
Dorothy Mora, Program Officer for East Asia/Pacific, Eurasia, Educational Information and Resources Branch of the U.S. Department of State Deborah Hefferon, Facilitator/trainer, the PAL Program
Philip Ives, Chief, Educational Information and Resources Branch of the U.S. Department of State
Rachel Waldstein, Educational Information and Resources Branch, Office of Global Educational Programs, the U.S. Department of State
Kristin S. Williams, Director, Graduate Student Enrollment Management, George Washington University