siss september 2012 newsletter

SISS September 2012 Newsletter

Services for International Students & Scholars (SISS)

September 1, 2012

I-20 No Longer Being Stamped

Updating your Address

Drop-In Hours Limited during Orientation Week

New Payment Option

Orientation Dates

NEW-International Student Success Course

Student Letter

Important Dates

In this Month’s Newsletter:

I-20 No Longer Being Stamped There has been an important change in the process for international students entering the United States. As of August 10, 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) no longer provides ad-mission stamps at a United States port of entry on a Form I-20 or Form DS-2019, for prospective and returning F, M and J nonimmigrants. CBP will continue, however to stamp passports and Forms I-94, “Arrival/Departure Record,” stamped upon arrival at a port of entry.

While an admission stamp on a Form I-20 or Form DS-2019 is not an indicator of lawful status or academic program duration, some students may temporarily encounter issues when applying for a driver’s license or Social Security number. If you experience any problems with your unstamped I-20 at the Department of Motor Vehicles or Social Security Administration, please contact your In-ternational Student Advisor at SISS.

Updating Your Address

F-1 and J-1 immigration regulations require you to report a change of address to SISS within 10 days of moving. As an international student there are five fields on the SISWEB Personal Information page where you are to enter an address. For immigration purposes you will need to update your “SEVIS USA” address in SISWEB by following the instructions at http://siss.ucdavis.edu/address_students.cfm within 10 days of moving. This update is then fed into your I-20 SEVIS rec-ord. Your “SEVIS USA” is for your local address where you are physically living. For most students this is a Davis or Davis-area address.

SISS Drop-In Hours Limited During Week of September 17-21

SISS will be hosting several international student orientations throughout the week of September 17-21. We will offer drop-in advising hours only on Friday, September 21, 2012 from 9:00AM-12:00PM during this week. Monday, September 17th and Thursday, September 20th SISS drop-in hours will be canceled due to orientation sessions. After the week of orientation, SISS will resume our regular drop-in advising hours which are as follows: Mondays: 1:00PM – 4:00PM Thursdays: 1:00PM – 4:00PM

Fridays: 9:00AM – 12:00PM

http://siss.ucdavis.edu/address_students.cfm

http://siss.ucdavis.edu/address_students.cfm

New Payment Option-September 15th is Fall Tuition Payment Deadline

UC Davis is now offering a new payment option for international students. It enables you to pay your tuition and any other student fees in your home currency while eliminating the university’s transac-tion charges. We hope that this new payment option will help simplify your payment process and save you money. We have partnered with Western Union Business Solutions to offer this service. Here’s how it works:

1. You go to the Western Union International Student Payment Portal to initiate a payment quote and download instructions for transferring your funds through Western Union.

2. You go to your personal bank or use an online service of your choice to transfer funds to Western Union, using the reference number you were given in Step 1.

3. Western Union then transfers your funds into your UC Davis account. Additional Benefits Include:

Highly competitive exchange rates are guaranteed for 72 hours.

There are NO additional transaction charges from UC Davis.

Obtaining your payment quote takes only about 5 minutes.

Your exchange rate is secured for 72 hours, giving you about three days to get to the bank (or online) and transfer funds.

Once your bank transfers the funds to Western Union, payment reaches your Student Account quickly.

You can pay in your home currency or in the currency of your choice.

Please find additional information attached or go to http://cashier.ucdavis.edu/student/

wiretrans.cfm for details.


Orientation Reminders Monday, September 17, 2012 - SISS Graduate Student Orientation. Graduate Student Orientation Schedule

Tuesday, September 18, 2012 - SISS Transfer and Education Abroad Program (EAP) Student Orien-tation. Transfer & EAP Orientation Schedule

Wednesday, September 19-21, 2012 – SISS and INO Orientation for First-Year Undergraduate Inter-national Students. Orientation Schedule

Wednesday, September 19, 2012 – Information and Resource Fair for all international students in

Freeborn Hall, 12:30pm-2:00pm. Meet representatives from campus departments, banks, cell

phone services, bicycle stores and more.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - Parent Reception at University House Annex (building attached to SISS office) from 3:00pm – 4:00pm. Please sign up here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/

http://cashier.ucdavis.edu/student/wiretrans.cfm

http://cashier.ucdavis.edu/student/wiretrans.cfm

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/STCQJQK


New International Student Success Course-Fall Quarter 2012-Sign Up Now!

Do you want to understand more about American culture? Do you want to excel as a UC Davis student?

During Pass 2 registration, new international students (freshmen & transfers) can enroll in the Student Aca-

demic Success Center's Fall 2012 EDU 98 Seminar: American Cultural Values & the University Experience.

You will learn about and discuss American culture with members of the campus community. Plus, you can

practice important student skills, including how to:

manage your time on the quarter system

develop critical thinking and study skills understand and adjust to life in America

understand your rights and responsibilities as a student

participate in classes, use office hours find resources and answers for all kinds of questions

✓ Small class size (19 students per section) with a focus on student interaction and activities!

✓ 2 units of P/NP course credit and lots of individual attention in office hours!

✓ No language pre-requisites; no midterm or final exams!

CRN Course Sect.Type Title Units* Day/Time Building/Room

44062 EDU 98 11 SEM American C V & U E 2 MW 9:00-9:50A Dutton 3218


44064 EDU 98 13 SEM American C V & U E 2 MW 9:00-9:50A South 16

44065 EDU 98 14 SEM American C V & U E 2 TR 9:00-9:50A Dutton 3216

44066 EDU 98 15 SEM American C V & U E 2 TR 9:00-9:50A South 16



44069 EDU 98 18 SEM American C V & U E 2 MW 10:00-10:50A South 16



44072 EDU 98 21 SEM American C V & U E 2 TR 10:00-10:50A South 16

44073 EDU 98 22 SEM American C V & U E 2 MW 2:10-3:00P Dutton 3218

44074 EDU 98 23 SEM American C V & U E 2 MW 2:10-3:00P Dutton 2258

44075 EDU 98 24 SEM American C V & U E 2 MW 2:10-3:00P South 16

44076 EDU 98 25 SEM American C V & U E 2 TR 1:10-2:00P Dutton 3218

44077 EDU 98 26 SEM American C V & U E 2 TR 1:10-2:00P South 16


*When registering, be sure to enter "2" for unit value.


The following letter was written by Liangyun Shao, a current undergraduate international student at UC Davis. Liangyun wrote this letter to all of our new international students that will begin UC Davis this fall quarter. We hope you will take her advice to heart.

Dear New Aggie:

Congratulations! You will begin your amazing college life in UC Davis this fall. Do you feel excited to

begin a new education process abroad? For me, I was so glad that I could not fall asleep when I

knew I had been accepted by UC Davis. At the same time, I was worried about my new life to study abroad as an in-

ternational student in the United States. Do you feel the same thing currently? According to many international stu-

dents, they cannot get an intended high grade in the first quarter of their college life because of different reasons. To

be more specific, for most Chinese students, the problem is they cannot understand English well enough to follow

their courses.

Although most of the upcoming Chinese students prepare before coming to the United States, I still need to warn you

that understanding courses will be a big problem for you. I know that in order to get an offer from UC Davis, you all

worked very hard and got high enough TOEFL and SAT scores. You might think your English is good, and the upcom-

ing courses for you will be a piece of cake. However, those high scores do not mean you can understand the profes-

sors' lectures or get a high GPA because of several reasons.

Following the professors' lectures requires you do many things at the same time. First, you need to understand what

the professor is talking about. Some professors have accents since they come from different countries. Other profes-

sors might speak very quickly, even native speakers can be hard to follow. Therefore, for a Chinese student who is

not living in an English speaking country, understanding the lectures is sometimes a very big problem. Second, you

should take notes during the lectures. Not all the professors provide slides for their courses; students need to record

important information by themselves. Taking notes is another big challenge for international students. For example,

my Micro- Economics professor used chalk work, but his handwriting made me feel frustrated. It was difficult for me

to understand what he had written on the blackboard. Some of you might think that you can borrow other people's

notes after class. However, sometimes other people's notes cannot help you record what the professors have said

during the lectures, or their notes do not have the information that you want to get.

Meanwhile, finishing homework, including both reading and writing assignments, is another big problem for new Chi-

nese students. As a freshman in UC Davis, my advisor suggested that I take the first year seminar since most Ameri-

can students feel that course is easy. However, after taking that course, I felt it was very hard. The reason is for the

first year seminar, I had to finish many reading assignments before class and discuss the reading during class. Native

students think this course is easy because they just spend maybe 30 minutes every week before class on the reading

assignment, and they can explain their ideas about the reading in class by using fluent English. For me, I needed to

spend more than 4 hours to finish every reading assignment. I needed to read the articles more than 3 times to make

sure I understood them; only then could I say something about them during classes. You might think you can improve

your reading ability by reading as many articles as possible before you come to the United States. However, you can-

not understand some sentences even though you have read them more than 10 times. For example, I took a drama

class in my first quarter in UC Davis. The professor asked me to read a play which has been written in Greek and

translated into English. I spent 4 days reading it; unfortunately, I could not understand more than 80% of it. You

Study Abroad is NOT an Easy Thing


could develop your reading speed by reading a lot of articles; nonetheless, you cannot understand older English or

English humor without understanding their cultures and histories.

Many Chinese students let themselves fall into a vicious cycle during study. Students spend much time to try to do

something in order to prepare for their lectures. However, they are unable to focus on the lectures because of lacking

of sleep. Consequently, students cannot finish their homework and assignments which are based on the understand-

ing of the professors' lectures after class. They need to spend more time to read the book and copy other students'

notes in order to make sure they understand the courses and can do their homework. Students start to get behind.

This vicious cycle makes students feel tired, pressure, and lose self-confidence. Many students are becoming weary of

studying.

In order to solve this problem and help you follow your courses, knowing how to communicate with other people is

necessary. New Chinese students suffer from this problem because of their weak English ability and the stressful situ-

ation around them. Lack of sleep and living in an English speaking country makes international students feel tired

both physically and mentally. Trying to make friends and hanging out with them is a good way to escape the stress

situation. Moreover, making some native friends and talking to them in a relaxed situation is helpful to you to im-

prove your general English ability. You can understand the lectures and finish your assignments by less time since

your ability of understanding English has been improved. Also, you can use some other ways after class to help you

follow your courses. For example, if you are afraid to go to talk to your professors face to face, like me, it is fine.

Mailing tools can help you communicate with them without directly talking. This is what I do: when I have problems

about the lectures, I ask my professor questions by sending emails. By sending e-mail, you can have a visible record

of what your professors have said, which is easier for you to understand. Meanwhile, sending email can save my

time since I do not need to go to all professors' office hour.

Understanding and following your courses might be a problem for you. However, you should treat this problem posi-

tively. Here is my suggestion: once you start your fall quarter, try to communicate with people on and off campus.

You need to spend your time to make friends, talk to your professors, and relax yourselves. Although good grades are

important to you, please keep in mind health is much more important! Try to not push yourself into a stressful situa-

tion.

Best wishes!

Liangyun Shao

Study Abroad is NOT an Easy Thing continued……...

Other Important Dates to Remember…..

September 15 – Fall Quarter Tuition Payment Deadline

September 18-22 – Week of Orientation and Welcome (WOW) for new and continu-

ing graduate students

September 24 – Fall Quarter Begins

September 27 – Fall Instruction Begins

siss september 2012 newsletter

Documents

pm new payment option

payment process

siss dropin hours limited

address dropin hours

week of orientation

payment quote

change of address

address f