International Student Advisor for Admissions, International Students & Scholars Office

Salary Grade: Grade 47
Expected Hiring Range: $53,200.00 – $71,900.00
The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, training, and internal pay comparison.

About the role

The International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) admissions team is responsible for completing immigration processing for approximately 6,000 new international undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree students admitted annually by all BU schools and colleges. The International Student Advisor for Admissions must maintain expertise in F-1 and J-1 nonimmigrant student regulations to ensure institutional compliance and serve as "Designated School Official" and "Alternate Responsible Officer" in the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). Directly reporting to the Assistant Director of Admissions and Student Services, this role performs detailed credential and immigration review, creates new student profiles, issues immigration documents, and advises incoming students to facilitate their arrival in the U.S. in the appropriate immigration status.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree admission materials to determine appropriate immigration sponsorship strategy to facilitate new international student arrival and support enrollment.
• Review immigration and financial documents in Onbase; process complete files and return incomplete files to departments. Coordinate with newly admitted students directly if necessary.
• Create and maintain the initial electronic records for all new international admissions.
• Review SIS data in ISSS and enter required information to batch record to SEVIS to create new immigration records.
• Sign, upload, and notify new admits of immigration documents and instruct them to initiate visa applications.
• Assist the student advising team with immigration record review, I-20 signatures for travel, and other cyclical immigration processing (e.g., RCL, auto-shorten during fall and winter).
• Provide immigration advice, customer service, and assistance to newly admitted students concerning arrival in the U.S., visa application issues, SEVIS transfers, changing programs at Boston University, reinstatement, and related subjects.
• Prepare and disseminate materials to coach new students through their visa application at U.S. DOS consular posts; answer specific questions from newly admitted students.
• Manage student record maintenance and data entry during new student check-in; review immigration documents in ISSS and enter required information to batch registration to SEVIS.
• Follow up with new students to troubleshoot incomplete or missing check-in cases.
• Communicate with undergraduate and graduate admissions offices regarding admission documents and immigration processing requests for new admits.
• Assist with department trainings regarding ISSO processing for newly admitted students; answer questions from university departments about immigration processing for certain newly admitted students.
• Contribute to analysis and development of policies, procedures, and projects assigned to the ISSO admissions team; assist supervisor in projects, training, and overall communication to facilitate immigration processing.
• Serve as International Student Advisor to students enrolled in BU Summer Term; provide immigration advice and assistance to approximately 500 international students enrolled in summer term each year.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required in a field related to intercultural communication, international relations, or cross-cultural advising; graduate degree preferred.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in foreign student or scholar advising.
• Knowledge of SEVIS and student immigration regulations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to manage, analyze, and resolve complicated immigration cases.
• Superior communication skills to educate students, university faculty, and administrators on nonimmigrant regulations and institutional policies.
• Ability to understand, interpret, and follow complex government regulations and institutional policies for non-native English speakers.
• Ability to maintain detailed immigration records, perform intricate immigration processing, and ensure institutional compliance with student immigration regulations.
• Patience, professionalism, and high sensitivity when advising students in crisis.
• Ability to facilitate cross-cultural trainings, deliver effective group presentations, and work effectively in a team setting.
• Adherence to Boston University’s compliance policies and guidelines; sensitivity to highly confidential material.
• This position must clear CORI screening as well as a standard HR background check in accordance with federal regulations.

Schedule

Full-Time/Regular