Editorial Board

Council should look into all aspects of international student life

/ The Daily Orange

It’s hard enough to succeed at college, but to do so with culture shock may require more support than Syracuse University is able to offer.

The university recently launched an internationalization council in response to a significant increase in international student enrollment at SU — 143 percent in the past 10 years. The council is the perfect opportunity for SU to determine how it can improve programs to accommodate the influx of students. Apart from just looking to allocate more funding, SU can examine existing resources and build upon them.

Considering the Slutzker Center for International Services is the main support system for international students on campus, one may initially think to give the center more aid. Director Patricia Burak said that it was stretched thin following the loss of a faculty member from the university-wide buyout in 2015, leaving the center’s current staff total at 14. The Chancellor’s Workgroup on Diversity and Inclusion also recommended that SU fill the position.

Still, there are different offices and centers the council can enhance to thoroughly enrich international student life at SU. For example, international students made up 52 percent of Writing Center appointments during the Spring 2016 semester. By looking at other avenues of student life, like The Writing Center, SU can be efficient and thorough in accommodating international students’ demands.

Because the council is an advisory body, there is no guarantee that any proposals will be implemented, according to political science and council chair Mehrzad Boroujerdi. But to transparently acknowledge these recommendations, the internationalization council can take cues from the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence, updating the campus community through reports and sharing as to what it decides to implement.



The internationalization council was specifically created to solve the gap between international students and the resources available to them on campus, so seriously valuing the council’s input will prove to be worthwhile as the university acclimates students to life in the United States and at SU.






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