{"id":3074,"date":"2026-06-29T16:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T20:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/?page_id=3074"},"modified":"2026-07-27T12:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T16:46:14","slug":"profile-management","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/scholars\/record-expiration\/profile-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile Management for Scholars &#038; Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Immigration regulations require that the ISSO collect data on all international employees and scholars. This data is collected so that we can insure institutional compliance and provide immigration processing and advice as appropriate. Since most the data we require is provided by either the host department or the scholar it is important that you share in the responsibility and provide accurate information and timely updates to the ISSO. While the responsibility to maintain immigration status and employment eligibility falls largely on the foreign national, the ISSO provides\u00a0regular reminders\u00a0based on the data provided. However, we rely on host departments and each scholar to communicate <a href=\"\/isso\/scholars\/maintaining-immigration-status\/#changes-to-program\">updates and changes<\/a> to the ISSO.<\/p>\n<p>Because each BU scholar has unique immigration and employment circumstances, the dates used for ISSO record keeping may differ. The ISSO start date is the first day of the scholar&#8217;s BU activity. The ISSO end date is always the earliest of the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Last day of ISSO immigration sponsorship<\/strong>: If ISSO-sponsored immigration status (such as J-1 or H-1B) is required, the profile end date matches the approved sponsorship period.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Last day of employment authorization<\/strong>: If a scholar&#8217;s Employment Authorization Document (EAD) expires before the BU appointment ends, the profile end date will match the EAD expiration date to prevent unauthorized employment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Last day of BU activity<\/strong>: If the EAD remains valid beyond the intended appointment period, the profile end date will reflect the end of the BU activity or appointment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As a result, the ISSO profile end date may not always match the appointment end date.<\/p>\n<p>It is important for departments and scholars to understand which date the ISSO is using, as ISSO communications are typically based on the applicable profile end date. Contact the ISSO if you have questions or if any of the dates on record are incorrect or change.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">ISSO Definitions<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Scholar\/Employee:<\/strong> A broad term to describe a foreign national who is engaged in academic teaching or research at BU. A scholar may be a paid BU employee or may be in an uncompensated Visiting Researcher position. For ISSO purposes both graded staff and temporary employees who are considered to be scholars. Thus, on our website, the term scholar and employee may be used interchangeably.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Appointment\/Activity\/Employment:<\/strong> The ISSO uses these terms interchangeably to explain the expected BU title, start and end dates, compensation (if applicable) and any other pertinent details associated with a particular foreign national in your department. Academic research and teaching positions that are conferred by the Dean of your school are typically referred to as \u2018appointments\u2019. While staff and temporary employees are not technically \u2018appointed\u2019, the ISSO does use this terminology when requesting confirmation about any job offer at BU. We may also use the word \u2018activity\u2019 to describe or request information about an uncompensated scholar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Employment Authorization:<\/strong> The length of time that a foreign national is eligible to be employed in the United States. Employment authorizations are often limited or restricted and may or may not match the length of the scholar\u2019s immigration status. <a href=\"\/isso\/scholars\/on-boarding-tasks-for-new-scholars-employees\/verifying-authorization-for-bu-employment\/\">Employment authorization<\/a> for foreign nationals must be re-verified periodically. Some prospective employees may already have employment authorization incident to status so they may or may not require immigration sponsorship to support their activities in the host department.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Immigration Sponsorship<\/strong>: A term used when BU assists a foreign national to obtain a particular immigration classification to support their appointment\/activity in your department. BU policy generally limits immigration sponsorship to teaching and research positions as well as qualifying staff positions.<\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The ISSO record keeping system is separate from other BU systems and does not automatically update when changes are made in SAP or elsewhere. Because employment, activity, or sponsorship changes may affect immigration status or work authorization, departments must notify the ISSO of any updates to previously submitted employment, activity, or immigration sponsorship information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Immigration regulations require that the ISSO collect data on all international employees and scholars. This data is collected so that we can insure institutional compliance and provide immigration processing and advice as appropriate. Since most the data we require is provided by either the host department or the scholar it is important that you share [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10133,"featured_media":0,"parent":3072,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3074"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4150,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3074\/revisions\/4150"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/isso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}