NAFSA Blog

Lessons Learned After 9/11 Can Guide Us Through the COVID-19 Crisis

May 22, 2020

There were just three of us on the plane from Minnesota to Washington, DC, one week after September 11, 2001. The Pentagon and the World Trade Center had been attacked, and the "20th hijacker" arrested in connection with the attacks had been taking flight training courses in Minnesota, where I was

Join Us for the 2020 NAFSA eConnection

May 15, 2020

At this time of the year, all of us would be busy preparing for and looking forward to the NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo to reconnect with old friends and make new connections. It is disappointing that we are not able to gather in St. Louis and celebrate our accomplishments. But it has provided an

Crisis Response: Best Practices for International Offices That Don't Have Dedicated Emergency Staff

May 7, 2020

Did you read the article in IE Magazine about emergency response plans, but your institutions doesn’t have dedicated staff to fulfill responsibilities outlined in the piece? Several of the sources interviewed for the article have recommendations for colleges and universities who want to bolster

NAFSA eConnection: Bringing our Community Together

April 16, 2020

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. Although deeply disappointed that the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis means that we cannot host our traditional in-person annual conference, I am thrilled to see a new special NAFSA program take shape. The 2020 NAFSA eConnection will be an online program

Anti-Asian Sentiment in the Age of Pandemic

April 3, 2020

As a community, we are all struggling with the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic. First and foremost, we are concerned for the safety and well-being of our students, whose access to education has been compromised, graduation ceremonies canceled, and career paths altered as unemployment

Plenary Connections: Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein

March 3, 2020

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein challenges us to defend human rights. I am eager to hear his perspectives on realizing the vision to which NAFSA aspires in our Strategic Plan: "enlightened international relations, a globally engaged citizenry, and a more peaceful world." Having served 4 years as the United

International Educator cover images through the years

To Look Ahead, I Look Back

January 30, 2020

With the move from print to a fully digital International Educator, the one thing I thought I wouldn't miss was writing each issue's letter from the editor. As I've written about before, I tended to encounter writer's block when I sat down to write those notes. But with our inaugural all-digital

Trendspotting 2020: Populism and Xenophobia

January 22, 2020

The following is an excerpt from "Trendspotting 2020: Perspectives of Leaders in the Field" from the January 2020 issue of International Educator. Watching and interpreting future trends can help international educators define priorities and improve impact. But as Nobel Laureate Niels Bohr said,

11 Ways to Support International Students Experiencing Food or Housing Insecurity

December 13, 2019

International students are facing food and housing insecurities on campuses across the United States. Programs and resources, especially over school breaks, can help students to succeed. A 2017 study of basic needs insecurity across the University of California system found that 8 percent of

Taking Advocacy to Our Home Court

June 5, 2019

What is advocacy? Advocacy is action by one or many individuals to support and engage others for a common cause. Our action in advocacy began with NAFSA's Advocacy Day in 2015 where NAFSA Region III provided the opportunity for us to go to Capitol Hill to educate our members of Congress on