As Assistant Director of International Student Initiatives, Sheila Hernandez counsels and supports international students and is responsible for several initiatives aimed at helping international students navigate their experiences at BU. She works closely with student support offices on all BU campuses to develop opportunities for greater interaction and connections among international and domestic students. Sheila also acts as a lead cultural mentor on campus and works with the various advising offices to facilitate cultural sensitivity and cultural mentoring, among other responsibilities.

Prior to serving as the Assistant Director of International Student Initiatives, Sheila worked in BU Study Abroad as an Academic Program Administrator and supported the Study Abroad Office’s academic programming in various ways.

Before joining BU, Sheila worked as an ESL Teacher at EF Education First Language School in Brighton, MA. She graduated from Smith College with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, and tutored students in both Spanish and Arabic during her time as an undergraduate. Sheila enjoys language learning and teaching and is a polyglot who speaks English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Moroccan Arabic. She has studied abroad in both France and Morocco.