Foreign Student Series #17: Support Services

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Education Report.

This week in our Foreign Student Series, we examine support
services for students who come to the United States to study. We
will use a major university in the Midwest for our example.

More than three thousand foreign students attend the University
of Wisconsin at its campus in Madison. Most are in graduate
programs; twenty-eight percent are undergraduates.

Marilee Sushoreba is the programs coordinator for International
Student Services. She says her office organizes a special meeting
for new students from other countries at the beginning of each
semester.

This meeting provides information about classes, social clubs and
health services. It is also a chance to help students get to know
the city of Madison and the University of Wisconsin.

Students can meet with an adviser anytime during the school year.
The advisers try to help the students feel at ease at the
university. They also explain the rules and laws that govern student
life.

Workers in the International Student Services office organize a
number of programs throughout the school year. These are meant to
help foreign students feel more at home in the United States. For
example, one program links foreign students with American students.
The hope is that they can help each other and also learn about their
different cultures.

Another program sends foreign students to speak in local schools
and at meetings of community organizations. The students talk about
their homeland and discuss other subjects.

Most American colleges and universities have a similar office to
serve students from other nations. These offices can help guide
students through the legal steps to come to the United States.
Later, they can provide support to help the students become involved
in school life and make American friends.

Yet that job is not always easy. Students from one country or
group may want to spend most of their free time with each other. But
Marilee Sushoreba at the University of Wisconsin says she tries to
let students know they have someplace to go if they need help.

Internet users can learn more about American colleges and
universities at educationusa.state.gov. Listen for part eighteen of
our Foreign Student Series next week. Our reports are online at
WWW.testbig.com.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy
Steinbach. I'm Gwen Outen.