Letter to the editor: response to “Changes ahead for foreign exchange program”

Submitted by Kelly Pilleux

As the International Student Advisor and Responsible Officer (RO) on campus for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, I felt it appropriate to respond to the AP article, "Changes Ahead For Foreign Exchange Program" (2/3/2012).

Including this article in North Central College’s student newspaper implies that the issue is somehow connected to the College and its students.

It is true that the U.S. State Department’s J-1 Summer Work Travel program is in need of review.

However, the article used in the Chronicle completely ignores the positive aspects that J-1 visa holding students bring to our campus and relates J-1 visas to the sex-industry.

Our J-1 visa holders come to North Central through two different routes; exchange and Department of State sponsored programs.

We work with 16 different overseas institutions, exchanging students for the purpose of study.

Due to GPA requirements these students must already be academically strong in order to apply.

We are proud of our history of academic exchange and value our relationships with our partners abroad.

More recently we have welcomed students from the Global UGRAD program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

Through this program we have been fortunate to welcome students from countries such as Pakistan, Haiti, Venezuela, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan among others.

These students arrive with exceptional academic and English levels and have participated in scientific research on our campus, and complete a mandated amount of service.

You may remember Edvard Joseph (’11), recipient of the UGRAD scholarship, from Haiti, who presented his research at our research conference while serving as SGA student comptroller.

He was also awarded Multicultural Student of the Year. Edvard studied Economics and German and speaks Creole, French, Spanish and English.

Arturo Perez from Venezuela just completed his business internship for the 16th annual International Festival which raised $4000 for the International Scholarship Fund.

These students represent J-1 visa holders at North Central.

A relevant place to find information about our current J-1 exchange and sponsored students and how they impact our campus and the U.S. economy is www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors. Readers can get an accurate idea of who is in the U.S. on visas, what they study, and should understand that all 723,277 student visa holders who were studying in the U.S. in 2011, unless they hold scholarships, pay cash for their education into the U.S. economy.