International Education Advisory Committee Meeting
June 30, 2016
International Education Advisory Committee
Minutes/Meeting Notes for Monday, November 26, 2007
Present: Tom Blair, Sheryl Blumenthal, Ann Fontanella, Xue (Sue) Lian,
Yi Liang, Louise Louie, Joanne Low, Natasha Maresca, Mikiko
Matsumura, Lindy McKnight, (VC) Alice Murillo (visitor), Leslie Pahl,
Joan Vitorelo, Paul Wong, Michele Zimmerman
The meeting was commenced at 2:10 by the chair, Leslie Pahl.
1. The Chair welcomed, on behalf of the committee, Vice Chancellor Alice
Murillo, to the meeting. Leslie Pahl then reminded the committee that,
for faculty to be voting members, they have to be 1) in a department, and
2) appointed by the Academic Senate. Those not organized in a
department may be appointed as “resource” members and also
participate in debate, but they may not vote. She also reiterated the
message from a previous e-mail that the TOEFL score required for
admission to the credit program is 473, not 475, as the latter score is no
longer used.
2. Dean Joanne Low presented an International Education reorganization
update. She noted that the position of Admissions Coordinator
(classified 1488-1 FTE) was filled over the summer, as that was when the
position had finally been posted, after having been approved by the VRC
a year ago. The new Admissions Coordinator is Cecilia Chan. The
position of Immigration/SEVIS Specialist has just been forwarded to civil
service, so that position will be coming up, probably in Spring 08, as
certification generally takes about three months. Copies of the revised
org chart were distributed to the committee.
Dean Low went on to note that the full reorganization plan is on the table
at the Vice Chancellor’s level for discussion. Tom Blair asked which of
the two jobs (Admissions Coordinator and Immigration Specialist) had
the highest priority; Dean Low thinks that both are vital in helping
international students through the admissions process: the Admissions
Coordinator improves services and the Immigration Specialist facilities
the I-20 visa granting process.
Joan Vitorelo asked what impact the new organization chart has on
people in Registration and Records. As it is difficult to anticipate what
changes reorganization will create, Dean McKnight added to the debate
that there are unanswered questions regarding 1) facilities, and 2)
organization. What we do know is that these issues are currently on the
table for discussion at the VC and Chancellor level.
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International Education Advisory Committee Meeting
June 30, 2016
Dean Low added that the position of Associate Dean, indicated on the
chart, would be critical, but that it is not currently in the processing
pipeline. She explained that the PDSO (Primary designated school
officer, currently Dean Leyba-Frank of R&R) was to have been the
associate dean, who would supervise the current 10 or so DSO’s
(designated school officer). After examining the chart, Michele
Zimmerman (International Students Program/IIS) asked about the 1.2
FTE designation for International Student Programs Coordinator. Dean
Low replied that that was to designate her and Natasha Maresca’s .60
(each) category positions. The goal was to bring both job descriptions in
alignment, so they could do each other’s jobs. This may be problematic
to implement, however, as Michele’s position is with the Institute and she
works with the non-credit students and reports to Louise Louie. Natasha
works with credit, matriculated students and reports directly to Joanne
Low. Joan Vitorelo emphasized that many of the positions on the
reorganization chart have to do with admissions and records activities
that currently are in Student Development and that by their nature and
function should stay in Student Development. She also noted that the
same applies to the International Student Program Coordinator
positions: they perform job functions that by their very nature are
Student Development functions and should be under Student
Development.
3. Louise Louie, coordinator of International Education Programs (IIS),
then gave an update. The statistics for Fall 07 are robust, with the 18week course having 111 enrolled students, and the 9-week course having
57 students (49 and 12, respectively, of these were enrolled with
conditional admission). She contrasted this with Fall 06 enrollments of
83 for the 18-week course and 31 for the 9 week course. The students
hailed from 30 different countries, primarily Asian ones, with students
from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam representing the largest
numbers. There has been only a trickle of students from other countries.
Dean Low mentioned that a Board of Trustee member, Rodell Rodis, has
noted that recruitment needs a budget. To this end, Tom Blair put
forward a resolution be made by the committee to send to the Academic
Policy committee to show support for allocating a portion of international
student revenues for international student recruitment. The resolution
was seconded with a vote of 9 in favor, 0 opposed. It reads:
“Be it resolved that a portion of the revenues from international student
tuition and fees be devoted to international student recruitment.” The
Chair will forward the recommendation to the Academic Policy
Committee. The purpose of this was, at the very least, to start a debate
about how to increase international student enrollment and secure the
necessary funding.
Louise Louie continued with her report: new for this semester was that
CCSF and the Institute hosted a group of 19 high school and middle
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International Education Advisory Committee Meeting
June 30, 2016
school ESL teachers from Zhongshan, in China’s Guangdong province for
a month in Sept-Oct. The instructors visited various SF high schools
such as Lowell and Galileo, and the Presidio Middle School. Additionally,
the Kyoto Tachibana University has expressed renewed interest in CCSF
after a series of unfortunate, urban-type events last year sent the next
group of students this year to UC Davis. She also gave updates and
statistics of the TOEFL tests that had so far been administered.
Michele Zimmerman announced that the International Fair was a
resounding success, with a very good turnout. She videotaped the events
and they are posted on YouTube, just search for: InstituteCCSF.
4. Paul Wong, Chair of the International Counselors’ Department, then
gave an update: He noted that, for Spring 08, 216 international students
applied for the credit program but R&R only issued 145 I-20’s; that is, 71
students were not issued I-20’s. Paul expressed that he was troubled by
this statistic, as only 80% of the 216 are likely to attend, bringing the
enrollments figures down further. He contrasted this with 305 I-20’s
issued for Fall 2007 and 232 new students enrolled. He brought this
concern to the committee in the hopes that members might have some
ideas as to why these I-20’s are not being issued, what can be done to
help A&R, and what, long-term, can be done to increase international
student numbers. Natasha Maresca suggested that TOEFL scores might
not be in the students’ folders, whereby Dean Low asked if the online
results are being consulted by R&R, as this would speed up the time
frame for completing the folders. Dean Low said she would contact Dean
MaryLou Leyba-Frank with this information, as this is a relatively new
access point for TOEFL scores. Tom Blair suggested expanding materials
available on the website and said he would take this up at the next
Communications Committee meeting. The Foreign Language
Department could provide translated materials in additional foreign
languages (such as French, German, Italian) to post on the IIS web page.
With the dollar down against the Euro, international students from
Europe might be more enticed to come to CCSF. In sum: enhanced
website materials and representation at recruitment fairs were two
options given as starters for increased international student enrollment.
Tom Blair thought that expanding the absolute numbers would be a good
strategy, as there is always a drop-off between students who express
interest in enrolling and those who actually register and attend CCSF.
Additionally, Michele Zimmerman says that this problem goes beyond
students’ having incomplete folders, noting that people are frustrated by
the interface between the various departments: R&R, international
counseling and student support services in general, IIS, and School of
International Education. Tom Blair suggested inviting the following
people to the next meeting to contribute to this debate: MaryLou LeybaFrank, Cecilia Chan, Ron Brovelli, and Kim Chen. The Chair came away
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June 30, 2016
with a sense that some of this may stem from a lack of integration at the
facilities level, i.e. various departments spread out in several buildings
and campuses.
5. In accordance with Academic Senate rules, an election for the
committee chair was held. Tom Blair nominated the current chair, Leslie
Pahl, which was seconded by Joan Vitorelo. A vote was held with 9 ayes
and 0 nays.
6. The Chair set the next meeting for Monday, February 25, 2008 at
2:00-3:30 in Cloud 268. There being no further business the meeting
was adjourned at 3:25.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Leslie A. Pahl, Chair
December 7, 2007
(Note: the minutes have been circulated via e-mail to all committee
members with a one-week comment period before being submitted in
their final form.)
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