Wednesday, March 4, 2015

PIER Newsletter : March 4, 2015

Welcome PIER members and the PIER team. Going forward PIER will mail out information in the form of a bi-monthly newsletter to all PIER members. In the future, this letter will be posted to the PIER website.  http://sdpiergroup.blogspot.com/

If you would like to announce a job or submit a resource or event for the PIER Newsletter, please email to piergroupsd@gmail.com for consideration. The PIER Board will take all submissions under consideration for posting in the PIER Newsletter.

Thank you,

The PIER Board

In This Issue:
Announcements
PIER Chair Announcements
PIER Vice-Chair Announcement
PIER Announcements
New Professionals Workshop

PIER Chair Announcements
The year is moving along quickly and spring is almost here. If you are new or returning to international F student advising, we invite you to attend the PIER New Professionals Workshop. In one day, you will return to work with valuable information from interpreting some F regulations, to knowing what to do in some tricky advising situations. Although this workshop focuses on F schools, I will be there to answer M questions.

Work Authorization for Certain H4 Nonimmigrants
Here is the final rule, effective May 26, allowing work authorization for certain H4s in the Federal Register http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-02-25/pdf/2015-04042.pdf

SACM Resources
At our February PIER meeting, there was a discussion regarding SACM students and resources. Michael Dietz would like to share this information from NAFSA .

Meet America from Global Ties
Have you heard of Meet America or have international student from your campus participated in their events? You can learn more at http://www.globaltiesus.org/Events/meet-america.html This is the information from the Global Ties website:
Meet America prepares international students for the global job market. During this alternative break, you will engage in targeted career development activities, tailored to your needs and interests. Meet America will help you to build your professional profile, ensuring that you understand how you can leverage your international background and experience best. In order to facilitate intercultural learning, and to foster connections between international students and Americans, you will also engage with the community in your host city.

PIER Member Best Practices and Resources
We would like to hear from our PIER Members about their best practices and resources. Did you present at a regional or national conference? Do you want to share this presentation with the members at a PIER meeting? Do you have resources you would like to share with other PIER members? Our members work with all aspects of the international student experience. Please email piergroupsd@gmail.com.

PIER Vice-Chair Announcement
Advisors Tip: Have your students been to DMV lately to apply for a driver’s license? Have you had students coming to your office telling you that they have to “update” their I-94? I have had a couple of students with this situation over the last two weeks. What do they need to do? Refer students to the USCBP Deferred Inspections office located at: 610W. Ash Street, Suite 1018, San Diego, CA 92101. Office hours: 12:00pm to 3:30pm Monday through Friday. They should bring their passport & I-94 arrival record print out. Telephone: 619.685.4336

PIER Announcements
PIER New Professionals Workshop
Please invite your colleagues to attend the PIER New Professionals Workshop on Friday, March 20, 2015. In this one-day workshop you will take away valuable information you can utilize in your office. A few topics we will cover:
 Maintaining F-1 Full Course of Study
 Creating SEVIS I-20
 SEVIS Events & Reporting
 Status Updates
 F-1 Employment

The deadline to register for the upcoming New Professional’s Workshop was, Monday, March 2nd. However, we’ve decided to extend the deadline to Thursday, March 5th by 4:00pm.

Workshop Schedule
9:00am – 9:30am Check-In & On-site Registration (Room 118)
9:30am – 9:45am Yasue O’Neill, PIER Chair-Elect
9:45am – 10:00am The Role of the International Student Advisor/DSO
10:00am – 10:15am BREAK
10:15am – 11:45am Basic F-1 Procedures – Part I (Basic Terms & Concepts, Overview of Regulation and SEVIS Reporting)
11:45am to 12:45pm Lunch on your own
12:45pm – 3:00pm Basic F-1 Procedures – Part II (SEVIS Events, Status Updates, and Reduced Course Load, Status Updates and Employment)
3:00pm – 3:15pm Break
3:15pm – 4:00pm Q&A, Best Practices

Please register for the New Professionals Workshop at: http://www.piergroup.org/.
Date: Friday, March 20, 2015
Location: National University, La Mesa campus (7787 Alvarado Road, La Mesa CA 91941).
Time: 9:00 am to 4:15 pm
Member Fee: $30.00
Non-Member Fee: $35.00
Payment Due Date: March 5, 2015
Late Fee/On site Fee: $5.00
Price includes breakfast, full workshop and workshop materials booklet. Detailed information is posted on http://www.piergroup.org/

PIER 2014 - 2015 Meeting Dates
All Meeting Times are at 2:00 pm with the exception of the PIER Workshop
March 20, 9am-4:15pm - PIER New Professionals Workshop – Location: National University La Mesa Campus
April 15 – Location: Grossmont College
June 17 – Location: USD
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PIER Board
Chair - Kasey McCarthy, Gemological Institute of America Kasey.McCarthy@gia.edu
Vice - Chair - Yasue O'Neill, Palomar College Yoneill@palomar.edu
Treasurer - Martha Delgadillo, EC San Diego MarthaDelgadillo@ecenglish.com
Membership Coordinator - LyKai Johnson, EC San Diego lykaijohnson@ecenglish.com
Secretary - Eric Abutin, National University eabutin@nu.edu
Web Coordinator - Cadence Ellis, National University cellis@nu.edu