2011/12 - Bechtel International Center - Stanford University

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Services to International Families In today’s world, the individuals who come to Stanford as dependents of international graduate students, post-docs and visiting scholars often have equivalent educational backgrounds to that of the person they are accompanying. Regardless of gender, these spouses all face a serious challenge in deciding to join their partner at Stanford. In most cases, they are forced to abandon or postpone their own professional development in order to keep the couple or family together. Reactions to this challenge vary widely, from acceptance to frustration and resentment at being cut off from one’s career, family and friends. This situation can be a major source of stress. The goal of our office is to create programs and services that will provide support and assistance to these individuals in their varying situations, and to build a supportive international community that will enable them to create a positive and constructive experience at Stanford. This is accomplished by combining individual advising (in which the Adviser’s role is supplemented by peer advising in various languages through the members of the Spouse Welcome Committee and advisers in the Resource Center for International Families) and with program opportunities (to develop classes that use their skills and/or attend classes and programs that offer stimulation and new perspectives). Through this process, as spouses become involved in the I-Center’s programs, their basic needs are addressed. They are introduced to the resources of their new surroundings, build on their skills or learn new ones, and develop a feeling of community with others in a similar situation. ADVISING & SERVICES Coordinator for Classes and Programs for Stanford Spouses, Partners & Families The program coordinator is responsible for organizing and running spouse programs, producing the weekly newsletter, contacting and recruiting new volunteers. She also plans the Welcome Reception to welcome and orient newcomers to Stanford. Susanne Maas has worked as the coordinator since November 2009. Friday Morning Coffee Coordinator and Welcome Receptions Friday Morning Coffee continues to be extremely popular and attracts large numbers of attendees, including young children. In June 2012, Akiko Knott took over from Hyeyon Moon who held this position since November 2009. Welcome Committee Since the most effective way to assist newcomers in adapting is to put them in touch with someone who speaks their language and has gone through a similar experience, we recruited and trained a group of volunteers from many different countries to be our Welcome Committee for International Families. Committee members met during spring and summer and organized a major Welcome Reception for International Spouses. Email Service We provide an email service where new and returning spouses can ask questions: stanfordfamilies@gmail.com. Resource Center The Resource Center for International Families (RC) is a comprehensive combination of information and peer advising that enables spouses and family members to build a stimulating and worthwhile experience for themselves while they are accompanying a student, postdoc, visiting scholar or faculty member at Stanford. The community volunteer, Mary Schuelke, is responsible for the project. She continually adds new material, which she organizes and updates. She also coordinates the scheduling and training of the volunteer advisers who staff the Center. The RC advisers provided a warm welcome and encouragement to newly-arrived internationals. They also provided information on car purchases, driver licenses, health insurance, educational pursuits, volunteering, work authorization, schools and activities for kids, and recreational opportunities. Visitors took advantage of our lending library, with books in Japanese, Korean and several other languages as well as English. The advisers helped visitors to the Center during open hours spread over 3 days per week and were fluent in English, French, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. Detailed information on the Resources Center’s activities, can be found on page 28. Handbook for International Spouses, Partners and Families Every year the International Families Office designs, edits and produces a publication which serves as a handbook for international families. The Handbook, “2011-2012 at Stanford”, includes extensive information on community resources of special interest to this population and provides answers to their most frequently asked questions. 23
PROGRAMS We work with family members to turn their knowledge, expertise or avocation into a class that will be stimulating for them and beneficial to those who attend the program. Each program serves multiple purposes simultaneously, providing a channel for the teacher or leader to develop her/his expertise, valuable learning experience for the students, and an opportunity for spouses to form friendships with others in a similar situation. We offered 139 different courses, classes, workshops and events this year. These included orientation programs, Friday morning coffee, the Welcome Reception, campus tours, art expeditions, a book club, career workshops, computer programming, interview coaching, hiking expeditions and yoga classes, knitting and sewing classes, many cooking and language classes and events especially tailored for those with young children. Some of our most popular programs included Friday Morning Coffee which saw about 60 visitors and 30 children each week, yoga classes, Chinese and Japanese language classes and cooking classes. Interview coaching and life coaching classes were also in great demand. The different perspectives and experiences of the participants helped make the classes and events successful. Beside these programs, we offered special events, usually during or after Friday Morning Coffee – a Halloween party, a presentation about Thanksgiving, Christmas cookie decoration, Easter egg coloring and a celebration of International Women’s Day. The Halloween party and the International Women’s Day event attracted more than 100 attendees. Collaboration with the CCIS We collaborated closely with the Community Committee for International Students (CCIS). Ten CCIS volunteers helped at each Friday Morning Coffee. The CCIS Spouse Education Fund offered financial assistance for spouses/ partners to pursue their career and academic interests while in the Stanford area. In addition, the Professional Liaison Program for International Spouses coordinated meetings between an international spouse and a local professional in the same field. Collaboration with others at Stanford We also collaborated with other Stanford offices to offer programs. These included the Spouse/Partner Welcome in September with the Graduate Life and Work/Life Offices and a winter workshop with the Career Development Center. We also worked closely with the Escondido Village Community Advisers. 24 Bechtel International Center Annual Report 2011/12
Page 2 and 3: Contents Overview of 2011/12 7 Staf
Page 4 and 5: T The Bechtel International Center
Page 6 and 7: Office/Building Manager Wendy Carda
Page 8 and 9: Overview of 2011/12 7
Page 10 and 11: Staffing There continued to be staf
Page 12 and 13: Medical Records, Required Innoculat
Page 14 and 15: • • Member: Bay Pier National B
Page 16 and 17: SEVIS & Immigration Update Key chan
Page 18 and 19: visiting the employee’s departmen
Page 20 and 21: Services & Programs 19
Page 22 and 23: Community Committee For Internation
Page 26 and 27: LIST OF ALL CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS I
Page 28 and 29: Name of class or workshop Fall 2011
Page 30 and 31: Spouse & Family Programs 29
Page 32 and 33: Faculty and staff members on the St
Page 34 and 35: • • • • • • • • •
Page 36 and 37: Scholarships Mentor Match • •
Page 38 and 39: • 3 outreach fairs (Away from Sta
Page 40 and 41: the e Overseas Resource Cen Center
Page 42 and 43: PROGRAMS 2011/12 Programs and Event
Page 44 and 45: • Meeting with Helene Conway, Fre
Page 46 and 47: • • • Stanford Japanese Assoc
Page 48 and 49: Statistics 47
Page 50 and 51: Student Statistics: Unless otherwis
Page 52 and 53: The non-immigrant student populatio
Page 54 and 55: Matriculated international students
Page 56 and 57: Top 10 departments of matriculated
Page 58 and 59: 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2500
Page 60 and 61: School enrollment of matriculated i
Page 62 and 63: Stanford international students on
Page 64 and 65: EURO 2012 AT BECHTEL June 8-‐Ju
Page 66 and 67: G. TOP FIELDS OF STUDY of Internati
Page 68 and 69: Scholar Statistics: Unless otherwis
Page 70 and 71: 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 1807 Isra
Page 72 and 73: Visiting Scholars and Postdoctoral
Page 74 and 75:
Visiting Scholars and Postdoctoral
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
H-1 Employees by Country of citizen
Page 82 and 83:
H-1 Employees by Stanford Departmen
Page 84 and 85:
Bechtel International Center Statis
Page 86 and 87:
Ivy League and Other Institutions
Page 88 and 89:
International Student Enrollment at
Page 90 and 91:
Brown Columbia Cornell Dartmouth Ha
Page 92 and 93:
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