ISSO Scholar Services Communiqué

Volume 4, Number 1

January 9, 2007

The Communiqué is an on-going series of messages to departments who sponsor international scholars at Boston University. With the Communiqué, we offer information that helps in the processing of scholar immigration-related documents and petitions. We hope you find the Communiqué a useful tool in working with the ISSO and in successfully hiring and sponsoring scholars from around the world. Past Communiqués are archived on our web site. Click here to go to the archive page.

ISSO Welcomes New International Scholar Advisor

The ISSO is pleased to introduce Peter F. O'Meara as our new International Scholar Advisor. Peter joins the ISSO with many years of experience in international education and cross-cultural settings. Peter has been a paralegal specializing in Native American law, an International Scholar Advisor with LASPAU at Harvard University , a high school teacher and a Spanish medical interpreter and translator. He continues to serve as English Language Editor of the journal “Cuadernos de Trabajo Social” published by the Universidad Complutense Madrid . Peter completed high school in Peru , holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs and Spanish from the University of Maine and holds a Master's degree in History from the University of Chicago .

In his new role at Boston University , Peter's principal responsibility will involve oversight of scholars in J-1 immigration classification. He also advises international scholars and university departments on matters related to immigration status, benefits, employment and travel. Peter can be reached at pomeara@bu.edu .

For information about other staff members at the ISSO, check out our staff bios at: http://www.bu.edu/isso/about/staff/index.html

Boston University Continues to See Growth in International Scholar Numbers

During the 2005-2006 academic year, Boston University hosted 1146 international professors, researchers and visitors in the 2005-2006 year, originating from approximately 91 different countries. The largest national representation was China , touting 219 scholars, or 19% of BU's international presence. Other countries in the top ten include India , Canada , Korea , Japan , Italy , Germany , UK , France and Israel . A full 50% of the international scholar population was hosted by Boston University Medical Campus ( MED , SDM, SPH ), with another 23% at the College of Arts and Sciences. While 46% of visiting scholars are affiliated with Boston University in a J-1 immigration category (Research Scholar, Professor, Short-Term Scholar and Specialist), another 34% held H1B immigration status. A more detailed summary of our International Scholar Statistics is posted at: http://www.bu.edu/isso/about/statistics/scholar/2006/summary.html

The number of international scholars at Boston University has increased 37% since the 2000-2001 year, raising our rank to 22 among academic and research institutions hosting international visitors in the U.S.

New Scholar Services Assignments

Effective immediately, we have restructured ISSO scholar staff responsibilities based on the proposed immigration category of the scholar.

• General inquiries about sponsoring an international scholar can be addressed to either Andrea or Peter.
• Any document requests previously submitted will be completed by the ISSO staff member who began processing the request.
• Any new requests for immigration documents submitted to the ISSO will be processed based on the new assignments, as follows:

The staff of the ISSO wishes you a Happy New Year! We look forward to working with you to facilitate the hiring and hosting of international scholars in 2007.

Your ISSO Scholar Services Team

Jeanne E. Kelley
Director
jkelley@bu.edu

M. Andrea Popa
Assistant Director for Scholar Services
apopa@bu.edu

Peter F. O'Meara

International Scholar Advisor

pomeara@bu.edu

ISSO
Boston University
February 28, 2005