New ICE Guidelines: Supporting Our International Students

submitted by hermansb@augsburg.edu

International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) is aware of the SEVP/ICE Announcement released Monday, regarding restrictions on online course delivery for international students on F-1 visas. We knew there was a real possibility that SEVP/ICE would revert to its standard online course delivery restrictions. And that is unfortunately what happened.

It’s important to note that Augsburg University does not plan to teach fully online/remote in the fall. We will have courses available in several hybrid models that include face-to-face instruction, as well as some fully in-person courses that should keep our international students in compliance.

Now that we have the official announcement—as well as the university’s course delivery plans—we, together with the Deans, Registrar, and Advising, will seek to develop course delivery options for all international students, undergraduate and graduate.

Individualized approaches will be sought as we look at each international student’s degree plan and course registration. These plans will look different for those who are currently in the U.S. versus those who are currently in their home countries.

All of our international students have been informed in more detail, but we want the broader campus community to be aware of these considerations as well.

Bettine Hoff Hermanson and the ISSS team are available to support our students and answer questions ( hermansb@augsburg.edu).

Jonas Poulsen, ISSS program Assistant shared with us a circulating petition to put pressure on Congress to revert the decision. Please follow the link below if you are interested in adding your name (130,000 have signed this so far).

https://www.change.org/p/united-states-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-allow-f-1-and-m-1-students-with-valid-visas-to-stay-in-the-united-states?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_23302904_en-US%3A3

SEVP/ICE Announcement