As J-1 Department Facilitators you are a vital part of the Exchange Visitor Program. Oftentimes you are the link between the J-1 scholar and OIS. We work with you to help ensure scholars receive USC services and that they comply with the J-1 visa regulations. We appreciate all that you do for the J-1 scholars and our office, and we know that we could not have an Exchange Visitor Program if it were not for your help.
We want you to be as equipped as possible to work with the unique population of J-1 scholars. To that end, we are available to assist you in any way we can. We hope this website is a useful resource in your work with Exchange Visitors. In addition, we are available for consultation as the need arises. You can reach our Exchange Visitor Program Coordinator, Zach Williams, at: zmwillia@usc.edu or the J-1 Program Assistant at: j1exchg@usc.edu. You may also call our office at (213) 740-2666 to ask questions or schedule an appointment to meet with someone in-person.
We welcome the opportunity to meet with those of you who may be new to working with J-1 scholars. Please feel free to introduce yourself and ask for an overview of the Exchange Visitor Program.
J-1 Facilitator Roundtable
We hope both new and seasoned administrators will join us for our monthly J-1 Facilitator Roundtable. This event, held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 9:30am in Doheny Memorial Library’s Intellectual Commons room (DML 233), is an opportunity for us to meet and discuss current issues with the J-1 program. We usually bring a few agenda items to share but look forward to hearing your questions. We are all able to learn from each other about issues happening across campus that may be affecting the J-1 scholar population.
J-1 Listserve
We have developed a listserve that allows us to contact all the J-1 department facilitators to update you on changes to immigration regulations or OIS practices, announce training opportunities, notify you of office closures and advisor availability or any other purpose we think will help you in your work with J-1 scholars. We add your e-mail to this list whenever you are listed as the “Department Contact” or “Sponsoring Faculty Member” on a DS-2019 application. We try our best to send out useful information and not overwhelm your inbox. If you would like to be added (or removed) from the J-1 listserve please let us know by e-mailing: j1exchg@usc.edu with “J-1 Listserve” in the subject line.
J-1 Workshops
In years past we provided more frequent workshops for department administrators than we currently do. The J-1 Facilitator Roundtable and J-1 Listserve have helped us meet that need. However, we are happy to provide workshops that address issues not covered in another venue, so please let us know if you require more training on a specific topic. If we hear the same request from multiple administrators we will gladly put together a session to meet that need. Please send your suggestions to: zmwillia@usc.edu with “J-1 Workshop” in the subject line.
To see if any workshops are curently scheduled please go to the Calendar of Events.
Click on the link to see slides from our September 24, 2009 workshop.