Admissions at The College of Wooster does an incredible job at recruiting international students despite a trend of decreasing enrollments due to our national immigration climate. This is due to a lot of hard work and intentionality by Reon Sines-Sheaff, the director of international admissions and the many staff and students who assist her. Once students arrive on campus, I believe the College has a responsibility to support them to the best of its ability. The College and campus community have a responsibility to welcome, embrace, learn from, advocate for and support diversity in its myriad of forms. Wooster now boasts an international population of almost 300 international students and over 36 self-identified global nomads (students with American citizenship who have lived overseas for a significant portion of their lives). The International Student Services (ISS) branch of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) is one piece of the support system to the international student, and global nomad population. ISS is passionate about our work and our students. Welcoming them to Wooster, listening to their stories, passions and goals and helping them achieve success is what brings us joy. We take our responsibility to advocate and support students very seriously. But to do that well, it’s imperative to keep a pulse on what specific issues and concerns face them. This has become increasingly difficult with the growing numbers of students. ISS relies on numerous people and offices on campus to assist in our work. I would certainly miss someone if I listed them all, but even with our connections, we’re always looking for ways to listen and connect more deeply.
It was during a conversation with Dr. Margaret Ng last spring, a faculty member and previous international student herself that the idea for an international student support committee came up. I had already been bouncing the idea around in my head, but after talking to Dr Ng, it started to take shape. The idea was supported by the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Scott Brown, so I began to recruit faculty, staff I knew had a passion for international students and students who were in leadership positions who had applied or been nominated by others to serve. Hence, the International Student Advisory Committee (ISAC) was born.
Our mission is to advocate for and addresses student concerns. ISAC serves as a resource to the campus and acts strategically regarding institutional priorities that impact the international student and global nomad populations. ISAC desires to serve as a resource to all members of the community who are aware of concerns and/or issues facing international students and global nomads. The committee also hopes to offer an international lens as strategic priorities are being established and decisions being made which impact The College of Wooster community. It was intentional to have a diverse and well-rounded group including faculty, staff and students. Not only do you need people with agency to address different areas of concern (i.e. classroom issues by faculty, student life issues by student life staff, etc.), but a well-rounded committee is important in being able to lend a variety of perspectives to assisting the College in serving the international population on campus to the best of its ability. The committee meets on the second Thursday of each month and is open to suggestions and/or feedback for how it can best serve the international students and global nomads. ISS hopes to soon have a link on our website for issues, concerns and feedback to be submitted.
Jill Munro, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at JMunro@wooster.edu.