UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 2, Page 3
September 8, 1994
Since 1969; Susan Lee helps foreign students fulfill goals

     A student planning to visit Europe needs to know whether to have
a separate visa for each country she will visit.
     Another student asks if his working papers are filled out
properly.
     A Fulbright scholar needs information on how to obtain an I.D.
card.
     And a reporter waits to ask Susan Lee, foreign student and
scholar adviser since 1991, to describe what goes on at the Foreign
Student and Scholars Office of International Program and Special
Sessions.
     Lee is the immigration and personal adviser of the more than
2,000 foreign students and visiting scholars at the University. It's
busy, demanding work, but rewarding as well, she said. After
graduating from Widener University in 1969, she was hired as the
foreign student office's only secretary. Back then, there were 183
foreign students and one visiting scholar.
     "No two days are the same here. I've been here 25 years and I'm
still learning." she said."That's what keeps my job so interesting."
     In September, approximately 200 new foreign students will arrive
on campus, she said. To ease their transition into American university
life, she planned a day of orientation.
     "There are so many different things that apply to foreign
students that are not covered at the regular new student orientation,"
she said. "They need to know about such things as Social Security
Numbers, public safety, health insurance. For example, many foreign
students don't realize you cannot drive a car without auto insurance."
     Lee communicates throughout the summer with newly admitted
students, hoping to make their trips to the United States as worry
free as possible. After receiving academic and personal information on
a new student, Lee and her staff decide what kind of visa he or she
will need and forwards visa application forms that the student must
take to the American embassy in their country.
     New foreign students also receive information about American
culture and university life.
     "They need to know what kind of weather we have in Delaware, what
kinds of clothes to bring, what most American students wear to class,"
Lee said. "In many countries, students are expected to wear dresses or
a dress shirt and tie. Many foreign students are amazed to see
American students attending class in a T-shirt and shorts and
barefeet."
     Finding transportation from their port of entry to Newark is one
of the more difficult tasks faced by new students.
     "About four years ago, a visiting scholar had not received travel
information from us before arriving in the U.S. When he got to New
York, a taxi driver at JFK told him the only way to get to Delaware
was by taxi. The student used a MAC machine to obtain the fare-$695.
     "Fortunately, the student's host family was able to intervene
with the cab company and the New York police, because the driver gave
him a receipt. The student was able to get some of his money back."
     Much of Lee's work is what she calls immigration counseling-
supplying information on visas and other documentation. For example,
she advises students on how to bring a spouse or children to the
United States and how to enroll them in school.
     "We translate immunization records so that the children can
enroll," she said."We also work with principals and guidance
counselors on ways of helping the new students, many of whom do not
speak English."
     Along with the serious issues, there are a number of minor
cultural differences that Lee has come to anticipate.
     "They're not only adjusting to a new culture, but a new
educational system. For example, we show them how to register. Many
have not seen one of those grid forms or are aware that pencils come
in different numbers."
     And then, there's the luggage. "Most foreign students don't know
where they're going to live, and so they forward their luggage to us.
My old office in Hullihen Hall was stacked with luggage by the end of
the summer. Right now, our basement [at 4 Kent Way] is filled with
luggage."
     The office's function, Lee stated, is to act as a "home away from
home." Many students who have gone on to other universities still come
back to Delaware to thank Lee and others in the office for the
personal attention they received.
     An essential ingredient in creating this atmosphere, according to
Lee, is the Cosmopolitan Club, which has welcomed students from abroad
since 1969. Students volunteer their time to arrange social functions
and help new students get settled.
     Lee stresses the benefits of the Cosmopolitan Club for both
foreign students and the American students who volunteer their time
and service. To Lee, diversity is not a new concept, she said her
office has been promoting it for 25 years.
     "I've known members of the club who have grown up in Delaware,
studied in Delaware, work in Delaware and may spend the rest of their
lives here," Lee said. "So, this is often the only chance they get to
meet students from another culture. Many build lasting friendships."
     Lee describes a foreign student adviser as someone who knows
something about every department and office at the University, and, as
a result, can answer most questions or direct students where to find
answers.
     "I want to make their stay in Delaware and the U.S. as easy and
as pleasant as possible," she said, "so that they can fulfill their
goals-getting a degree and using it to help the people in their own
countries."
                                                      -Chris Keirstead