The “Invisible” Sponsor Sandarshi Gunawardena, Vietnam Education Foundation

Who is a Sponsoring Organization? Some examples:  In the United States  Institute of International Education (IIE) Institute of International Education  America-Mideast Educational and Training Services (AMIDEAST) America-Mideast Educational and Training Services  Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) Council for International Exchange of Scholars  Ford Foundation Ford Foundation  American Councils (ACTR-ACCELS) American Councils  Academy for Educational Development (AED) Academy for Educational Development  World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Organization  LASPAU: Academic and Professional Programs for the Americas LASPAU: Academic and Professional Programs for the Americas  Foreign Embassies in the United States Foreign Embassies in the United States  U.S. Federal Government Agencies U.S. Federal Government Agencies  Overseas  Foreign governments/ministries  Foreign institutions and organizations

 Wide variety of sponsors and sponsoring organizations  Relationship between U.S. universities and sponsoring agencies varies  Relationships between sponsored students and their sponsoring agencies vary  Relationships between sponsored international student s and their U.S. university international offices vary

Case Study Mental health crisis Emergency medical evacuation

Challenges faced by Sponsors  The “invisible” sponsor  Who is really responsible for the student?  Do you have authority to work on your students’/scholars’ behalf?  Addressing a crisis situation at a distance  Should you and when should you go to the location of the crisis?  Ethical dilemmas: Working with sponsor requirements and a many other requests and requirements  Dealing with conflicting responses and information

Lessons Learned  Identify primary contact in your institution – for all matters and communication  Crisis team – very important  Priorities  Confidentiality and privacy  Ethical issues  Cross-cultural issues  Immigration issues

Lessons Learned  Each crisis situation has its own set of individual circumstances  Responses to a crisis being unified  Crisis situations involving international students/scholars require great sensitivity and respect to a multitude of cross-cultural issues  Each crisis situation requires a university/sponsor to address and refine internal procedures and policies, based on what was learned

Preparation: Plan and Assess Prevention Response Recovery

 Sponsors and Universities: Communication. Who is the advisor who works with sponsored students at the university; who is the contact person at the sponsoring organization?  Universities/colleges: Ascertain sponsor- specific policies and procedures – Each program has its own requirements  All: Need to work collaboratively when making all decisions

A crisis involving international students/scholars cannot be prevented or addressed in isolation. It requires a team of designated, culturally sensitive, and responsible individuals working together