OPINION & EDITORIAL
A block at the gate
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Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:
- A security fee-for-all (December 11, 2007)
- Farewell, Chancellor (December 10, 2007)
- $$FC (December 6, 2007)
- In a bind (December 5, 2007)
- Entitlement Town (December 4, 2007)
Related Stories:
- SEVIS not over the line (September 11, 2003)
- Sevis a burden, not a solution (April 24, 2003)
- Price of security (September 22, 2004)
- Foreign student drop dangerous (November 10, 2004)
- Landlord registration database needed (October 16, 2003)
by Badger Herald Editorial Board
Friday, August 29, 2003
On a campus full of acronyms, “SEVIS” has been the hottest since last May. And we anticipate it may stay that way.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System is a processing and record-keeping database that tracks changes in visa status for international students and visiting faculty and staff. Though much of the information has been required for years, enforcement was not taken seriously.
Even prior to Sept. 11, 2001, legislation implementing a more rigorous monitoring system was in the works, but following Sept. 11, the PATRIOT Act demanded stricter security levels and provided increased funding for an effective program of scrutinizing those entering the country. Now, the university is required to collect information on international students, compile it into an electronic database, and submit it to the Justice Department. While the PATRIOT Act provided funding to federal agencies mandated to carry out the program, no money was given to the various educational institutions that must carry out the legwork.
Last spring, Chancellor Wiley announced a fee of $50 per semester to international students to cover the estimated $330,000 annual cost of implementing and sustaining the new mandate. He quickly backed down from this stance when political pressure by a group of students mounted. This year, private donations will cover a portion of the SEVIS expense, but Wiley now admits seeking solely outside sources of income is an unrealistic long-term solution.
Rumors circulated throughout the summer that the administration would use segregated fees to cover the cost, or perhaps return to the original plan of simply charging the international students. Last week, Wiley took the politically advantageous step of deciding on neither of these two dicey scenarios.
Students will not have to pay for SEVIS with even higher segregated fees on top of a double-digit percentage hike in tuition, nor will the many researchers, teaching assistants and scholars from other countries be forced to pay for the system. Instead, Wiley has accepted the recommendation of an ad hoc committee that SEVIS be funded “by the usual sources of funding for administrative costs.” Translation: it will either come from general budget cuts, tuition increases or both.
What will this mean for students’ tuition bills in the future or for cuts to the university? We still do not know. Vice Chancellor Paul Barrows was tapped by Wiley to answer these outstanding questions, and we eagerly await his response. In any event, the administration already dodged a potentially explosive issue by ensuring segregated fees and costs for international students remain stable. We are left to hope this will not ultimately result in higher tuition bills or cuts in services. Only time and Vice Chancellor Paul Barrows will tell.
As if all of this is not enough for students to digest, the State Department announced in late June that all international students will be required to undergo interviews at American consulates before receiving permission to enter the country. As a result of the sheer number of international students arriving each year, UW has been notified that many students will likely not arrive until after Sept. 2, the first day of classes.
The exact number of delayed students is unknown. But with 4,300 foreign students and scholars enrolled or employed by UW, fallout could be significant. As of Aug. 19, approximately 30 UW students had notified the university they were being held up or were denied entry outright. According to Wiley, however, delays have not been overwhelming.
Yet the potential for significant problems is very real. Under SEVIS requirements, UW must notify the Immigration and Naturalization Service if a foreign student has not shown up within 30 days of the start of classes. According to UW, 471 of the 1,730 teaching assistants — 27 percent of all TAs — are international students. Additionally, 918 of the 2,236 research assistants (41 percent) are international. If the State Department receives a large influx of students attempting to enter the country at one time, as it likely will, long delays could result in semester-long losses of vital teachers and researchers for the university.
Then UW is forced to deal with the cost of these delays, the cost and magnitude of which Bascom has no way of projecting. If the State Department is efficient, costs for UW should be slim. But if many international students are forced to wait more than four weeks for their interview, or if many are denied entry, this university will face a major crisis — TAs missing, with faculty spread thin to “cover for a semester,” and researchers absent as well, resulting in permanently lost grants.
The UW community is now bracing for the impact. It should.
