Opportunities to serve international students

The Journal of College Student Development, Vol. 47, No. 5, includes two articles that will be useful to faculty and administrators who seek to better serve international students studying in the U.S.A. The first article (Cultural community connections and college success: an examination of Southeast Asian American College Students, Museus, Shiroma, & Dizon) explores the dynamics that Southeast Asian American students face on campus. Although the sample is U.S. domestic students, the dynamics encountered by them is quite similar to what many international students confront when they study in the U.S. The researchers found that success in college was enhanced by physical, epistemological, and transformational cultural connections.

The second article (International students' proactive behaviors in the United States: effects of information-seeking behaviors on school life, Cho & Lee) analyzed the communication patterns of international students when they interact with faculty. International students from cultures where there is high status differentiation with customs in place that convey high respect to elders and authorities are often reluctant to initiate personal communication with faculty. However, the findings of the study indicated that, if international students are encouraged to form proactive communication with faculty, they are more satisfied with their interaction as well as satisfied with the overall university experience. The idea that faculty can purposefully violate expectations of communication and thereby establish strong relationships with international students particularly caught my attention. This was one of the things I enjoyed most during my years in Qatar - if I purposefully bridged the reluctance, I almost always ended up establishing a lasting and positive relationship.