International Student and Scholar Services is committed to providing culturally sensitive services of the highest quality to both our international population of 15,000 students, faculty, staff, and scholars, and to our campus units and partners. We do this through advising, immigration services, programming, advocacy, and outreach to create an environment that is conducive to a successful international education experience.
International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) welcomed 3,336 new international students from 78 different countries to campus in Fall 2017, which included a new single day record of 719 on August 21, 2017. Our sizeable international population continue to visit our office with a variety of needs, and in 2017-18, ISSS saw over 7,000 student appointments with advisors.
Launching ISSSTRAINS
In 2017-18, ISSS launched ISSSTRAINS, a series of intercultural communication and immigration related training sessions that seeks to equip the faculty and staff of the University of Illinois with critical skills to help serve our international population. Since its inception, 50 ISSSTRAINS certifications have been handed out to faculty and staff members interested in generating a culturally inclusive environment on campus. ISSSTRAINS also complements ISSS35, the series of programming that provides 35 events over 35 weeks to our international faculty, staff, and scholars and sees approximately 2,500 students and scholars participate every year.