Efforts ease transition for foreign students

Every year new students travel to IU to go through an orientation of the campus, college life and the community of Bloomington.\n"Any new students need help getting used to campus, even the ones from Bloomington," said Richard McKaig, dean of students.\nStudents come not only from Indiana and across the country, but also from around the world. International students made up more than 10 percent of student population last spring, according to the Office of Registrar's Web site.\n"IU proclaims itself a world-class University; we are living in a world that seems a lot smaller," McKaig said. "It puts every IU student at a great advantage, interacting with foreign students."\nInternational student orientation varies from the traditional student orientation because of the special needs of foreign students. \n"The overall goal of the orientation program is to integrate the international students at IU into the University environment and the city of Bloomington," said Christopher Viers, director of international services.\nHelping international students become familiar with their new surroundings is just part of their orientation.\n"There is an extra duty to help foreign students get occupied, on some of the little things, currency, grading, maintaining their diet and all the other details that students from other cultures need to take care of so they can concentrate on being students," McKaig said.\nA challenge for the staff of the Leo R. Dowling International Center and the Office of International Services is making sure the incoming international students receive adequate housing.\n"The biggest stress is identifying an appropriate new living space," Viers said. "After taking care of housing, the most important thing is to get through international student orientation and University Division orientation, and that can be very stressful."\nMany international students have a \nharder time registering for the classes they need because they arrive so late in the year.\n"Most students can get into elective classes, but most of the required classes are already filled up because they register so late," said Gonzalo Isidro-Bruno, coordinator of the Leo R. Dowling International Center.\nThe most popular majors for international students mirror those of the student body as a whole. \n"A large number want to go the School of Business, after that a lot go to SPEA and the School of Music," Isidro-Bruno said. "There are a lot of performers from many countries." \nMany of the students and parents going through orientation find themselves rather disoriented when it comes to finding the right buildings.\n"The campus is so big and the locations of the events make it easy to get lost. The distance between sessions does not help," said Renato Alvim, a Portuguese language and literature graduate student from Brazil.\nSoli Ilavia, father of two incoming freshmen from India, agreed the buildings are spread out, but said "everyone has been very helpful."\n"It has been a wonderful first experience; it is a beautiful campus," Ilavia's wife, Crystal, said.