ISSS News 04 May 2009

An electronic news service for international students and scholars, owned by the Office of International Student and Scholar Services at Binghamton University, State University of New York

Editor’s Note: Today begins the last week of classes. Best wishes to our student subscribers as they work to complete projects, papers, and examinations!

Change in Walk-In Hours for Employment for This Week
Due to staff schedules, walk-in hours for employment, which normally are held on Tuesday afternoons, are changed for this week only to Thursday, May 7 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.

ISSS Staff Not Available Thursday, May 7 from 11:45am to 1:30pm.
ISSS staff will not be available on Thursday, May 7 from 11:45am to 1:30pm while they attend a recognition event.

Traveling soon? All BU international students are reminded to check their most recent SEVIS I-20 or SEVIS DS-2019 to be sure they have an updated travel signature from the ISSS. If the travel signature (on the bottom of Page 3 of the I-20, or in the lower right hand section of Page 1 of the DS-2019) will be more than 12 months old when you return to the United States to resume classes in the Fall, come to the ISSS for an updated signature BEFORE you travel. Students who will also be applying for a new US student visa abroad this summer and who have requested the required new I-20 from the ISSS will receive an updated I-20 as part of that process.

Departing Binghamton at the end of the semester and not returning? BU students who will not be returning to the University for the Fall 2009 semester are reminded to fulfill their federal SEVIS responsibilities by completing the ISSS departure form on line at the following web link:
http://isss.binghamton.edu/forms/depForm.html

Students in F-1 status who are graduating and are not going to pursue Optional Practical Training (OPT) or transferring to a new U.S. school or beginning a new degree program in the United States are required to depart the United States within 60 days of their degree completion date. Students in J-1 status are required to depart the United States within 30 days of their degree completion date, or the end of their programs.

2. Event Honoring the Victims of the American Civic Association on Friday, May 8

A lecture by Professor John McNulty from the Department of Political Science will be held Friday May 8th at 8:00pm in Lecture Hall 8 in memory of the victims of the American Civic Association tragedy. Professor McNulty will speak on the possible reasons for increased cases of gun violence in the United States. Parts from the documentaries “Bowling for Columbine” and “Iraq in Fragments” will be shown to raise issues of gun violence and immigration.

There will also be a fundraiser to support the families of the victims. Donations to help the families of the victims of the tragedy will be distributed through Catholic Charities. The event is open to the public and is sponsored by the Middle Eastern Cultural Association (MECA) and BU Turkish Student Association (BUTSA).

We are delighted that so many international exchange students and graduating students have informed the ISSS that they will be attending the 23rd Annual International Student Graduation Reception in the University Union Mandela Room, Friday, May 15 at 7:00pm. Invitations were sent by email approximately two weeks ago.

If you are completing your program or are graduating, and have not yet responded to our invitation, please do so soon by using our on-line response form:
http://isss.binghamton.edu/prog/GradRec/gradRecInvite.htm Please note that the response form requires you to use your Binghamton.edu email address.

Students who graduated in December 2008 or who will graduate in Summer 2009 and would like to participate in the International Student Graduation Reception should also use the invitation link, above.

Each student will receive a certificate from the ISSS, in recognition of your achievements. If you will be graduating, or completing your exchange program this month, come join the ISSS staff and your fellow students for good food, short speech making, (only three!), and lots of photo opportunities!

Please note that the International Student Graduation Reception is separate from the University’s official Commencement ceremonies, which will be held on Saturday, May 16 for graduate students and Sunday, May 17 for undergraduate students. For more information on the Commencement ceremonies, visit:
http://commencement.binghamton.edu/

We’ve been sharing our “smart moves in a tough economy” suggestions throughout this semester and wanted everyone to know that making those “smart moves” really does pay off!

About Andrea!
Andrea is a sophomore English major whose “smart moves” really paid off when she was offered a fall internship in government & politics that she identified through CDC’s Academic Internship Program. Congratulations Andrea!

How did she do it? Andrea used multiple smart-moves strategies to achieve success. Beginning in her freshman year Andrea began increasing her knowledge and building skills by attending a variety CDC programs on topics ranging from cover letters to etiquette, to interviewing. She also met with CDC staff to discuss her personal goals. After attending an academic internship advising session, she met with career counselors to review her resume and work on interviewing skills, then applied those skills in a mock interview she scheduled through the XCel Center. “Through the whole process I remained tenacious, determined and persistent. I realized the internship would be a great resume booster and remained relentless in my pursuit.” Way To Go Andrea!

What advice does Andrea have for other students? “Start the job/internship-search process early! If there is something you really want to do, always give your best, stick with it and pursue it aggressively.”

Have your own Smart Moves success story to share? Let us know! Visit CDC during Counselor-on-Call hours to tell us what smart moves YOU’RE making!

Become A Mentor! Applications Being Accepted For Fall 2009 Jc Mentor Program

The Johnson City Mentor Program is a partnership between Binghamton University and the Johnson City School District. The program's primary objective is to provide Johnson City School District students with role models and extra academic support. BU students encourage mentees to develop their organizational, planning and social skills while serving their community. Since its inception in spring of 1997 over 500 BU students have successfully participated in the program. Visit the JC Mentor website for additional information and application procedures.

Please note, eRecruiting accounts for graduating students will expire on June 30, 2009. If you wish to extend your eRecruiting access, there is a $10 per year charge for alumni. Please stop by Career Development Center in LSG 500 to pay for the extra service and to activate your alumni account.

New Weekly eRecruiting Announcement – Nearly 300 Positions With Low Applications

Employers Are Still Hiring!! Apply Today! The Career Development Center has hundreds of positions listed on eRecruiting, and new opportunities are posted daily! As we work together to combat this competitive job market, we have some very valuable resources to share with students. Each week, from April 13th until May 22nd, we will be using eRecruiting to send out a list of opportunities including:

1. Jobs and internships from the CDC that have zero to low number of applicants and
2. Jobs and internships from Experience (eRecruiting) that are targeted to Binghamton University.

All positions are currently accepting applications; you will be surprised by both the quantity (this week’s count is NEARLY 300!) and the variety of the opportunities within the list. Students must have an updated eRecruiting profile and resume to apply!

International students in F-1 or J-1 status are reminded that all off-campus employment must be authorized! This includes summer internships and other forms of off-campus employment. Do not jeopardize your non-immigrant status through unauthorized employment. If you have any questions, please come to the ISSS or visit the employment section of the ISSS website at:
http://isss.binghamton.edu/emp/index.html

6. Accessing Health Services, Library Services and Off Campus Bus Services During the Summer

BU students remaining in the Binghamton area for the summer (but who are not registered for Summer Session) frequently ask the ISSS about their ability to utilize services during the summer months, such as the Library, University Health Service, and Bus Services.

Any BU student can continue to use the library and bus services in the summer with their BU ID. A student wishing to visit University Health Service in the summer, but who is not registered for the Summer Session, will be asked to pay a one-time fee of $25 per Summer term at the Office of Student Accounts.

CINTAX, the income tax preparation software used by international students and scholars, will remove all 2006 income tax records from their server on June 16, 2009. So, be sure you have kept printed copies of your income tax forms. If you have not yet printed an extra copy from the CINTAX web site, now is the time to do so.

The Office of International Student and Scholar Services would like to remind international students of a potential problem for those in F-1 or J-1 status who do not complete in a timely manner the required work for a course for which they have been issued an "Incomplete" grade. For example, a student who receives a grade of "incomplete" in a graduate or undergraduate course for the Fall 2008 semester has until the end of the Spring 2009 semester to turn in the required work so that the professor can issue the appropriate final grade. However, if the Fall 2008 course work is not completed, or if the professor does not submit a grade change form, the Incomplete will change to "W" or withdrawn for graduate students, and to "F" or failure for undergraduate students following the Spring 2009 semester.

Now that the Spring 2009 semester is about to end, international students in F-1 and J-1 status who received one or more grades of Incomplete in Fall 2008 are urged to check their Fall 2008 grades in BU brain; http://bubrain.binghamton.edu

A grade change to "W" is very detrimental to any F-1 or J-1 student, because if the course was being counted towards a full-time course load, the W grade means that the course was not completed successfully, dropping the student from full-time to part-time. Often, we find that the student has made arrangements with the faculty member to complete the work. In such cases, we strongly advise the student to check with the faculty member to see if the grade was submitted, or if necessary, extend the deadline for the incomplete and have the grade changed back to "I."

A grade that remains "W," if it drops the student below a full time course load, may mean that the F-1 or J-1 student is in violation of U.S. immigration requirements. Thus, some international students could suddenly find themselves in violation of their F-1 status based on a course taken as long as two semesters ago. Students who find themselves in this situation should contact the ISSS to set up an appointment with Ellen Badger.

Some students have already completed early registration for Fall 2009, others may delay signing up for courses until the regular registration period that begins August 28, 2009. Since all continuing F-1 students must comply with federal SEVIS regulations, we are reminding students of the rules governing taking less than a full-time course load.

U.S. Federal regulations governing F-1 status require that students pursue "a full course of study" that leads to the attainment of a specific educational or professional objective. For undergraduate students, a full course of study is defined as at least 12 semester credits per semester. For graduate students, Federal regulations defer to the school's definition of a full course of study. See http://isss.binghamton.edu/imm/RuleFTload.htm for a summary of what constitutes full-time study at Binghamton University.

SEVIS regulations require that F-1 students obtain permission from the Office of International Student and Scholar Services before dropping below a full-time course load. A F-1 student who drops below a full course of study without the prior approval of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services will be considered out of status.

One of the most common requests for a reduced course load is when a student is in their final semester of study, but needs less than a full time course load to graduate. The ISSS may authorize a reduced course load for this reason. If the reduction is authorized, the student must then be registered for those credits needed to complete the course of study.

The student must first obtain permission from the ISSS before dropping below a full-time course load. A special form, which can be obtained from the ISSS or downloaded at:
http://isss.binghamton.edu/forms/study_comp.pdf must be completed by both the student and department advisor, and then approved by the ISSS before any courses can be dropped. In addition, the student must also have filed a "certification of candidacy form" (for graduate students) or an "application for undergraduate degree" (for undergraduate students), verifying the student's intention to graduate in that semester. These forms are available in BU Brain.

A note of warning: Students should be absolutely certain that they will be graduating in the current semester before choosing to register for less than a full-time course load. Failure to graduate after dropping below a full-time course load may result in the student being out-of-status, and the loss of F-1 benefits, unless it can be shown that the student is still making satisfactory progress towards their degree.

Graduate students who have completed their course requirements and register for thesis, pre-dissertation research, dissertation, project, or other course rubrics that are eligible to be certified as full-time even though the number of credits will be below the normal full-time course load are not required to seek advance permission from the ISSS, and need NOT be concerned that they will violate their F-1 status if they do not graduate. However, such students who will register for less than 9 credits must submit the Graduate School's "Full-Time Certification" form each semester to their department for filing with the Graduate School. There are two forms, one for funded students and one for non-funded students.

USCIS reports that approximately 45,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

USCIS will provide regular updates on the processing of FY2010 H-1B petitions. The updates can be found on the USCIS’ Web site at www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count

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Country	Date
Marshall Islands	1-May
Poland	3-May
Israel	12-May
Paraguay	15-May
Norway	17-May
Turkey	19-May
Cameroon	20-May
Yemen, Republic of	22-May
Eritrea	24-May
Argentina	25-May
Jordan	25-May
Georgia	26-May
Azerbaijan	28-May
Ethiopia	28-May
Croatia	30-May
South Africa	31-May