Feature

Reactions Vary

Two and a half years after its launch, SEVIS has become business as usual on campuses—almost.

Illustration: Shutterstock

Christopher Connell

May 5, 2023

Editor's note: This article was originally published in the September/October 2005 issue of International Educator. In celebration of NAFSA's 75th anniversary, IE is taking a look back at the topics and moments that have defined the field since the magazine began publication 33 years ago.

Susan Geary, director of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) for the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement branch, is no stranger to international student advisers. She has become a familiar face at NAFSA conferences, seeking to allay concerns about the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), the computerized tracking system in place since February 2003 to let the government know the whereabouts and academic status of the 725,000 international students and scholars at campuses across the United States.

Geary acknowledges the first six months were “rough,” but says lately she is hearing fewer complaints and even getting thanks for ongoing efforts to work the bugs out and make the system run more smoothly. She has her special gauge of SEVIS customer satisfaction. “I’m somebody who enjoys Google-ing a lot, and on maybe a weekly basis, I just put ‘SEVIS’ in and do a search,” she said. “A year ago, we would have several pages of hundreds of stories out there. Last Monday, there were three stories total. I take that as people are satisfied with SEVIS. People are finding that it’s become more user-friendly.”