Senior International Student Advisor, International Students & Scholars Office

The Senior International Student Advisor will advise a large and complicated caseload of nonimmigrant international students and their dependent family members in relation to obtaining and maintaining valid immigration status, benefits of certain visa classifications and other regulatory requirements. The Senior International Student Advisor will assist ISSO management with training new employees, drafting team procedures and web content as well as with student and department outreach initiatives. The Senior International Student Advisor will be assigned student processing cases and duties that require substantial expertise with student immigration regulations. The Senior International Student Advisor will serve as liaison to assigned schools and colleges to provide advanced immigration related advice and assistance to faculty and administrators regarding international student regulations. The Senior International Student Advisor will serve as Designated School Official to F-1 students and Alternate Responsible Officer to J-1 students to perform nonimmigrant F-1 and J-1 processing, monitors data and reports events as mandated by federal regulation. The Senior International Student Advisor will report to the Associate Director for Student Services but will also assist the Assistant Director for Student Services and the ISSO management team with student processing and projects.

Essential Functions:

• Counsel and advise nonimmigrant students and their families in relation to university policy and regulatory requirements. (20%)
  • Serve as 'Designated School Official' and 'Alternate Responsible Officer' in Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) and maintain expertise in F-1 and J-1 nonimmigrant student regulations to ensure institutional compliance.
  • Maintain expertise in a variety electronic systems and databases to record, monitor and report data and events mandated by federal regulations.

• Perform detailed data reconciliation to maintain accurate data and to monitor and report immigration related events to federal agencies. (10%)
  • Perform complex, multi-step immigration-related processing with students and their dependent family members as they apply for immigration benefits including responding to requests for evidence from government entities.

• Follow procedures to communicate with SEVIS Help Desk to resolve data irregularities to ensure accurate data is reflected in all records. (20%)
  • Serve as liaison to deans, department heads, faculty and administrators in assigned schools and colleges.
  • Develop and maintain an in-depth knowledge of the academic programs, as well as relevant policies and procedures within each assigned school/college in order to apply immigration regulations accordingly.

• Provide excellent customer service, outreach services to stakeholders, as well as cross-cultural and regulatory workshops to students, faculty and administrators within the assigned schools and colleges. (10%)
  • Perform complex immigration duties which may include, but are not limited to, STEM OPT processing, OPT reporting, correction of status advising, change of status advising, dual student/scholar clients, sponsored students etc.

• Assist with initiatives such stakeholder communication, workshops, new procedure development, manual updates/development, website maintenance, lead/facilitate advising trainings, investigate unusual cases and, after resolving, follow up with student team as a training exercise (40%)

Required Skills

• Master's degree required in the field of intercultural communication, international relations, advising.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in foreign student or scholar advising.
• Demonstrated success in advising a large, diverse international student population.
• Expert knowledge of SEVIS and student immigration regulations.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills to manage, analyze and resolve complicated immigration cases required.
• Superior communication skills to educate students, university faculty and administrators on matters pertaining to nonimmigrant regulations and institutional policies.
• Ability to understand, interpret and follow complex government regulations and institutional policies to non-native speakers of the English language.
• Ability to maintain detailed immigration records, perform intricate immigration processing and ensure institutional compliance with student immigration regulations.
• Patience, professionalism and high level of sensitivity when advising students in crisis required.
• Ability to facilitate cross-cultural trainings, deliver effective group presentations and work effectively in a team setting required.
• Adherence to Boston University's compliance policies and guidelines; sensitivity to highly confidential material required.
• This position must clear CORI screening as well as standard HR background check in accordance with federal regulations.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.