Happy Tuesday everyone! In this episode of Grad Pod, Haya sits down with Dr. Jill Blondin, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at Virginia Commonwealth University, to explore the unique challenges and opportunities regarding immigration faced by international students . From navigating complex systems and cultural transitions to building community and accessing support resources, this episode offers a compassionate and comprehensive look at what it really means to study far from home.
HAYA: For a lot of international students, just getting here meant navigating a mountain of paperwork, embassy visits, visa interviews, and a whole lot of uncertainty. And once you arrive, you're hit with culture shock, housing stress, academic pressure, and still expected to perform like it's no big deal. We've heard this before on the pod from our global education specialist, Kelly Richard over at GEO.
You might have a personal experience with this or have heard bits and pieces from your peers who are international students. This episode of Grad Pod is all about peeling back the layers of what it means to be an international grad student. From immigration rules to support systems and the reality of trying to plan a future when maintaining your status is of the utmost importance.
We are addressing the things that we feel, but don't always say out loud, that may be concerning to incoming international students, but we're also gonna be talking about empowerment, about resources, strategies, and people at VCU who are actually here to help. So, if you are an international student thinking about becoming one or just want to be a better ally to your peers, this episode is for you!
HAYA:Virginia Commonwealth University is committed to welcoming international students, scholars, and staff to the university, the various ways that the university strives to provide connections and opportunities to the international community continue to offer hope for positive global engagement and experiences as they study or work at VCU.
I'm your host, Haya Hamid, and on this episode of Grad Pod, Dr. Jill Blondin, the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives in the VCU's Global Education Office, will be joining us and discuss the ways VCU welcomes and supports our international students, scholars, and faculty.
Dr. Blondin will share recommendations for ways that the VCU community can provide support to the international community through programs and activities offered right here on campus.
Dr. Blondin, welcome to the grad pod.
DR. BLONDIN:Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to share and talk today about opportunities for international students and the way that we support international students.
HAYA: Likewise. And I have the first question for you. For students who began their studies at VCU in the fall, are there specific ways that they will be supported by the community?
DR. BLONDIN: Yes, absolutely. First thing I wanna say is how welcoming of an environment VCU is for international students. And when students come to VCU in the fall or the spring semester, we hold an international student orientation before the semester begins. Students have the opportunity to meet with global education office staff personally.
They introduce them to the various resources available for them at VCU. And, the purpose of the orientation is really to help the students be successful in their endeavors and their studies while they're at VCU. So resources are provided, on the campus and off, in a very welcoming environment in the effort to make students familiar with everything that we offer.
There's also a week of activities in the fall in which students are welcome to participate. This is called Weeks of Welcome. It's open to all VCU students. And one thing I always try to remind people is that international students at VCU are VCU students. So, we wanna make sure that everybody has access to the opportunities and to meeting new friends and colleagues that will help their time at VCU.
And, that's exactly what Weeks of Welcome helps to foster, learning more about organizations, activities and resources that are available to them. In addition, our office has also created many ways that students can become involved and the community in activities. For instance, we have a great program called Family Cultural Exchange, which allows local volunteer families to support our students throughout the year.
This means they can take them on outings, have them over for dinner, and spend time with them during the holidays. For instance, Thanksgiving dinner, having an international student have that experience, which is uniquely American, is really a wonderful opportunity to get to know a family and feel part of the community.
The volunteers can sign up at the beginning of the semester on our website.
HAYA: Thank you for sharing all of those opportunities and it seems like there's a lot of great group opportunities. Does the Global Education Office have a way for international students to get to know one another, on a one-on-one level or sort of, form affinity groups so their cultures can be explored and potentially even explore other cultures?
DR. BLONDIN: Absolutely, yes. We facilitate, the Global Buddies Program, which provides international students and English speaking volunteers. The opportunity to learn about each other's places and cultures and to make friends with people from around the world.
Students are matched with each other and spend time together learning about each other's food, cultures, you know, we always connect over food. So I always think that's such a great opportunity and people love talking about their backgrounds and their experiences, especially when you're abroad. I think of examples, you know, I was an international student, so I understand the need to try to find connections both with people where you are studying, but also talk about your home culture.
Oftentimes students are missing those experiences. And, their families, and this is a really great way to share, and the international students have more of an opportunity to learn about Richmond and the United States as well. I'll also say that we've had a lot of success matching our international and domestic students.
We've created so many friendships and offered ways for our international students to feel welcome. On campus and in the community.
I've been at VCU for almost 12 years. First, I directed a program called VCU Globe, where we did a lot of this matching between students. And more than a decade on, I still hear from students who, um, have maintained friendships with their international colleagues that they fostered at BCU and that.
Not only gives everyone an opportunity to visit friends and stay connected, but it also expands students networks, which I think is important. I'll also say that in terms of, you know, one-on-one, how do you feel? Welcome while you are, you're at VCU studying here. We have a variety of global learning activities.
We have our global cafes, monthly. These are really fun. We have VCU students, faculty, staff, and community visitors. Everyone's invited each month for socializing and food, refreshments, again, I see my note about gathering and talking around food. It's a time for the campus and community members to meet and to develop friendships.
Everybody is open. We often times have themes. I believe that our last one of the year, we just talked about Taiwanese culture, but there, you know, sometimes there will be themes, sometimes there won't. But it's really an opportunity to learn more, meet people.
I'll give one other example, which is that annually we have a group of students from Shimane University in Japan visit, and they always host a global cafe in which they will do some type of cultural event, usually involved around perhaps, I know this year they did, sushi making. They've made okonomiyaki in the past and. Again, people are gathering around this communal event and really, really connecting. We also every other week, host during the academic year, our ELP Tea Time. This is through our English language program where you can meet and mingle. It's really casual. It's held on the third floor of the Grace Street Center, and students, you know, can share about their cultures, meet new friends and talk.
And anybody from the VCU community who's interested in conversing in helping these students practice their English language skills are welcome to join us!
HAYA: Thank you for sharing all of those GEO resources and, and initiatives. I was wondering if there are any groups who are organizations that students may be able to join to help them feel more welcome at VCU and their peers in the area.
DR. BLONDIN: Absolutely. We have different groups students can join on VCU’s campus, and so I'm going to talk just a little bit about each of them. Students can join the Global Intercultural Association. They can participate in other co-sponsored events to meet with international students, some of which I've already shared, and build community with them on campus, the Global Intercultural Association is a VCU based organization composed of international and domestic students. They can also join the VCU Global Student Engagement RamsConnect group so they can find out more about what's going on campus and how they can support. The other thing international students can do is join what we call is ISAB, which is our International Student Advisory Council that works with the Global Education Office.
And provides really valuable feedback. Our ISAB members also are at International Student Orientation and oftentimes provide examples of the way they've utilized resources. They share their stories throughout the year, which is extraordinarily helpful.
I will also say that we've had a lot of support from VCU leadership who are always interested in hearing from international students and the way that we can improve the international student experience, which is also one of the functions of ISAB.
So, there are ways that anybody can get involved. In terms of groups or organizations in particular, I would outline, Global Intercultural Association, our VCU'S Global Student Engagement RamsConnect page, and our ISAB.
HAYA: Shifting gears a little bit, Dr. Blondin, sometimes, as you may know, there are cultural differences occurring when dealing with faculty or staff that might cause a hindrance in student success. Do you have classes faculty can take to learn more about cultural differences that could help them understand students better?
DR. BLONDIN: Yes, we do! In fact, I think that this is one of the greatest resources that we offer through the Global Education Office to help VCU faculty and staff explore best practices for working with international students in the classroom.
We have the Global Zone training course that will help foster better understanding between students and faculty and provide those students with greater success as they study at VCU. The Global Zone training is available upon request. And, our global education office staff members will come to faculty, schedule at their convenience in order to deliver this training.
We're also really excited because we will be offering Global Zone Training for students beginning in the Fall, and I think this really gives the VCU community, with large, the opportunity to support all students even better. The last thing I would say about cultural differences with, dealing with faculty or staff is I really encourage our international students to talk with their faculty members, to talk with people in the Global Education Office. Because, we can all support them. Sometimes I think students try to do it on their own. It doesn't matter if you're an international student or you're studying in your home country. I think that the key is communication. So I really, really strongly encourage students to reach out. For help. Don't be shy because everyone is here to support them!
I know that when I was an undergraduate and a graduate student, sometimes you felt as though you did have to do it on your own. And, I think one of the most important messages that could come out of this podcast is to share that we are here for the students and to not to be shy, because I'm sure that the faculty member or the staff member in GEO had those same questions themselves.
HAYA: Yes, and we definitely want to shout out the Global Zone Training. Even as someone who's completed most of my schooling outside of the US, I found it to be very helpful. And my favorite part about it is that you can do it in groups because I find that there's a lot of topics for discussion and opportunities to discuss best practices with your colleagues and staff. So I love that you offer it in groups and the fact that you can also take it as an office because we definitely took advantage of that at the Graduate School.
DR. BLONDIN: And I would just like to add, I love hearing that. I think that, you know, Global Zone Training's gonna be different for everybody. You know, you have people with different levels of having worked with international students, staff and faculty. You have people who, you know, obviously people who have this growth mindset and wanna learn more, but it's, it's a really, really an opportunity to focus on student success in a way that's going to really pay off dividends for everybody involved.
So I'm really, really happy to hear that you've had such a good experience yourself with that.
HAYA: Yeah, absolutely. And I don't know if this was mentioned, but you do get a badge at the end of this training. So if you're into professional development badges or CE credit badges, this will fit perfectly in your email signature.
HAYA: Okay. So in light of the immigration changes that have occurred, Dr. Blondin, how is VCU getting the word out about support for the international student community at this time?
DR. BLONDIN:Thank you so much for asking this question. I just wanna say and emphasize again how much we support the international community!
Our students and employees and statements of support for the international community are available online at the University's federal updates website. These messages of support have been sent out also and published by President Rao and other senior leaders, as well as by myself. And, I will also say contained within those messages by President Rao and also by me, are resources and links, to support for our international community and also for the VCU community overall in how they can support the international community. And, this can be found on VCU'S website and also on the Global Education Office website.
HAYA: And for some, uh, more specific support, how can GEO’s Immigration Advisors help with issues that students might have?
DR. BLONDIN:First and foremost, I'd like to say that I'm really proud of the Global Education Offices, immigration Services team. They're wonderful. They are devoted to student success and for helping students navigate what can be tricky, sometimes in terms of trying to understand the regulations and helping them be successful and able to focus on their studies, which is really the purpose of the reasons that the students are here, of course.
GEO’s Immigration advisors, like I said, are a great resource for information about current and recently changed, regulations and or practices for legal reasons GEOs immigration advisors can only provide guidance to individuals on visas sponsored by the university, and if they're unable to assist, they do know where to get the answers to questions and can sirect students to other university resources.
And so I think that that's, what's, again, really important and I think, perhaps a theme that we've discussed throughout this podcast, which is if students have questions, ask the questions and ask the Global Education Office. Even if you don't know the right person, we will direct you!
You can start with the Global Education Office's Immigration Services, which can be contacted at GOIS, that's geois@vcu.edu, and they will respond quickly to your inquiry. Again, very well versed on how to assist not just students, but employees and students, scholars who are studying in the US on J1 Visas, for instance.
We support different types of visas at VCU and are more than happy to help and answer questions that faculty, staff and students may have.
HAYA: Thank you for sharing all of that. I just want to emphasize that not one size fits all, but we're grateful to have, immigration advisors that are available for one-on-one conversations and can, you know, further help you and connect you with the right resources. And, so I really just want to emphasize that point.
DR. BLONDIN: Absolutely, I just cannot emphasize enough how helpful and supportive. And well versed the team is in immigration regulations and how much they can help students. The Global Education Office, it really is solely there to support our students, faculty, and staff, and immigration services is a great place for students to connect when they have questions about their immigration, you know, status. If a student is traveling, you know, ask again. That's the theme. Please ask us.
HAYA: Dr. Blondin, considering there are many changes in the future that will occur, how is GEO staying informed about these immigration changes and how is that going to be communicated to students, staff, faculty, and the general VCU body moving forward?
DR. BLONDIN: That's also a great question. In the global education office, we're closely monitoring official US government announcements to determine how they impact VCU’s international students, scholars, and employees. And, I do wanna be clear that this is something we've always done because there have been changes, you know. Sometimes to the regulations.
I'll give a good example from about, gosh, five years ago when nobody was able to, you know, international students, are required to take most of their credits in-person classes. But, during covid, that was impossible because. Everybody moved online throughout the United States.
It wasn't of course, you know, unique to VCU for instance. And so when that, guidance changed, uh, we had to communicate that too.
So, I just want to sort of put some something in context in terms of the changes. We're aware and we very, very closely monitor US government announcements. So, I want to sort of reassure our international community that we are.
Following those very closely. I sometimes say that international never sleeps, which I think is is true because there is a dynamic nature to all aspects of international education from international students studying abroad to studying abroad outside of the United States. So we're always aware of these changes in the way that they impact to ensure that GEO’s guidance is timely and accurate, we rely, like I said, on us, official government announcements. We do not rely on the media, for instance, in terms of, reporting that I know that that's oftent imes where people first see this information. But there are websites to which we refer, which include. USCIS, which is the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, as well as the Department of Homeland Security.
And we also look for, presidential actions. But we, like I said, are very, very well versed. What we're trying to do, first and foremost, is always to serve the international community and that requires us to stay informed and that's something that we view. It's a very important part of our job, so I appreciate you asking me that.
HAYA: Yes, and thank you for sharing all of those helpful tips and for such a thoughtful response, but I, I think you already touched on this in your last response. Do you plan to continue communicating to the community about any immigration changes? And if so, when and how do you plan to do that?
DR. BLONDIN: Yeah, so we do, this is also something that we have long done in terms of communicating both with our international community who are here on visas as well as the university community at large as well.
But when we do hear of US government, immigration policy announcements that will impact the community, we will communicate with them as soon as possible. We generally post, uh, to our Geo Immigration Services website. We will also occasionally, communicate through community wide emails and you will also see news items in, you know, things like the Telegram or VCU News.
But we will, we always do our best, to communicate particularly with those groups that need to hear that information as soon as possible. International students, they may not know the software that VCU uses necessarily. We use something called synapsis, which we use to send messages out to our students and employees who are visa holders.
HAYA: Awesome, and what GEO Resources are available to help, students, staff, and faculty navigate these immigration changes.
DR. BLONDIN: Our immigration services team is VCU's primary resource for immigration support for individuals whose visas are sponsored by the university. The Geo Immigration Services website contains important information about immigration regulations, and we do recommend checking that website regularly to ensure that you're aware of the latest changes.
Although, as I suggested earlier, we will communicate with the community when there are changes. If you cannot find what you're looking for on the website, you can send an email to geois@vcu.edu. And like I said, we have a very responsive team, in terms of answering those questions quickly.
HAYA: Thank you for sharing that. And last but not least, Dr. Blondin, is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners?
DR. BLONDIN: Yes. Um, well, first of all, I would love to share how much we wanna welcome international students to VCU in the fall. We're really looking forward to you making Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University your home!
So I just wanna say how excited we are and how prepared we are to support you in your academics, personal and professional success. I also want to say that if you wanna find out more about global engagement opportunities, you can also visit the Get Connected webpage on GEO’s website and you can always reach out to the Global Education Office with your questions.
We are here to help. We are the international resource for Virginia Commonwealth University, and we are so happy to serve. Thank you.
HAYA: Thank you, Dr. Blondin, for your time and your thoughtful responses.
If today's episode resonated with you or even made you think a little deeper about what your international peers might be navigating, we encourage you to keep the conversation going.
More information and answers to additional questions can be found on the Global Education Office website in the immigration services section of the website at global.vcu.edu/international-students-faqs. This will also be in the transcript of the episode. To contact the GEO staff. For further questions or information not listed on this podcast, please email GEOIS that's GEOIS@vcu.edu. And if you're not an international student, be the person who listens, includes, and uplifts. Your awareness and allyship can make all the difference. Thank you so much for tuning into Grad Pod and have a wonderful day ahead. Woo-hoo.
CREDITS:
Grad Pod is produced by VCU's Graduate School. Haya Hamid is our host. Our producer and editor is Grace Albirtton. Our theme music was composed, performed, and recorded by Austin Sellek and Claudia Andrade, students of Felipe Leitao, assistant Professor of Composition and Sound Design at VCU School of the Arts.
Do you have a question for us? Email us at grad school@vcu.edu and we may answer your question on an episode!
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