From May 27 to May 31, our office will be closed.  May 27, Tulane University is closed in observance of Memorial Day.  May 28- May 31, the entire OISS team will be attending the NAFSA Annual Conference.  As the most important annual event for international educators, this conference will provide our team with vital updates and ideas that will help us to better serve our international community.  As a bonus, we’re using this opportunity to update the carpet at 6901 Willow. 

If you have any timely requests, such as an OPT, CPT, or Academic Training application or a program extension, please be sure to get complete application to your OISS advisor no later than Friday, May 17 to allow for 3 to 5 business days for processing.  If not, we may not be able to complete your request before the conference. 

During this time, we’ll be monitoring our email for true immigration emergencies, but please be sure to expect a delay in our response.  We’ll still be there if you really need us. 

Thank you for your cooperation,

The OISS Team

Satyajit Dattagupta

Vice President for Enrollment Management

Biography

Why do you care about having an international student body on campus?

 

"First it's from my own experience. I saw how I changed the classroom dynamic by being someone that brought a very different set of ideas - and the conversations were transformed because you had someone that thought differently. And I think in today's world where the cliche's becoming flatter every day, if you're not preparing students to deal with people from different cultures, you're not preparing them to be successful in the real world. Because the real world today is one where you're not only dealing with people from different cultures, but almost every job requires you to have an understanding of a global economy. And if you don't understand that you need to adapt to different cultures, you're actually going to fail in becoming a global leader. So I think for a campus to prepare students to be successful in the real world, having exposure to students that come from different religions, different countries, different cultures, is sort of a basic requirement."

 

What have you seen coming from your efforts to develop a more diverse student body?

 

"It's been both enriching and challenging. Enriching because people are learning about India, China, Africa, people that come from different countries and what it must be like. It's also challenging because students that may have been in their comfort zone now aren't so, simple things that they could have said to a group of people that are just like them, they may have to rethink how they state that. And for someone who is not used to being in a room that is diverse, that can sometimes be challenging - in a good way I believe. So I think we have a richer student body, a more diverse student body that welcomes and is more prepared for a world that is increasingly becoming non-homogenous. So I think that our student body is richer but also challenged in how to deal with this growth in international students.

 

"Bringing the students is the first part, right? How do you integrate them? And that's where people like Kristy and her team are making sure that these students are supported, but that they're also told that - and I say this from my own experience - you don't just limit yourself to people like you. Because if we brought say 10 students from India and all they did was hang out with each other, sure that'd be comfortable, but that's not why they're here. I think they're here so they can integrate. So OISS is doing a great job of integrating these students but also providing a home. Because when you're having a bad day, the person you related to the most is someone that you identify the most with. So having that comfort zone is great. I think it's a really good balance."