The Office of International Students and Scholars, in collaboration with Quinnipiac University students, recently launched the International Student Advisory Board (ISAB) — whose mission is to provide international students at Quinnipiac a platform to share their experiences and advocate for themselves.
The board consists of a group of international students who “are expected to think critically, ask difficult questions, perform research and analysis, engage in dialogue, work with a myriad of cultures and promote advocacy,” wrote Sarah Driscoll, director of international student services, in an email to The Chronicle.
The ISAB itself contains 10 board members from different countries and academic programs. Half are graduate students while the other half are undergraduate. It contains an NCAA athlete representative, a student representative from India, a first-year student and a representative for first generation immigrants.
Some international students felt that they were not well represented by the Quinnipiac Student Advisory Board, according to ISAB co-chair graduate student Zolta Sitkei.
(Photo Courtesy of Sarah Driscoll)
The ISAB wishes to bring attention to international student’s needs.
“So we are trying to give more life to the international student committee, like the community, and try to give a few like ideas, some like issues that the international students have, and just try to give attention to them and let the university know about these kind(s) of stuff,” Sitkei said.
The ISAB aids in international students’ needs at both the academic and social level.
“ISAB will advocate for the international student experience at Quinnipiac and will work continuously to educate the campus about issues related to international students,” Driscoll wrote.
Forming connections between international students and domestic students is also one of the main goals of the ISAB, according to Driscoll.
“We’re also trying to help connect international students better to America,” said ISAB co-chair sophomore biomedical science major Laura Lima. “Although we have a lot of international students who have already lived in America for a while, this is for them as well, but also for international students that are coming to America for the first time, and kind of like targeting what they might want to know about America.”
Building cross-cultural relationships between students and in the Quinnipiac community is also one of the ISAB’s goals.
“For example, if we have someone from Europe coming to America, they know that the winter is going to be cold, so trying to show them and teach them about other things that they might not know about the U. S. that isn’t similar in Europe,” Lima said.
The ISAB wishes to act as a sounding board for international students, gathering their feedback and using it along with research to improve programs that serve international students, according to Driscoll.
“The board strives to enrich campus experiences through reviewing and providing feedback to support services, discussing ways to increase opportunities for meaningful engagement with U.S students, and exploring strategies to increase the sense of belonging at the University,” Driscoll wrote.
The ISAB is looking for ideas and input from the Quinnipiac community and are in the process of putting their ideas in place to set up for the future.
“We are currently in the phase of setting these goals up,” Sitkei said. “Some of these longer term projects that we want to do, maybe in the course of one year … we have an email address that they can template their concerns from ideas that they might have.”
Students are invited to contact the ISAB with their recommendations and concerns, and they can do so at [email protected].
