Orientation Workgroup

Overview

This workgroup is tasked with developing a cohesive, systematic program for onboarding all international students at UT.

Team members	@William Vittetoe @Elizabeth Clevenger / @Lauren Wood / Jason Martisek/ Howard Perry / @Yana Mitsos / Nick Jakel/ Cymone Samuels / @Valentina Gómez
Due Date	December 14th 2023
Retrospective period	February 22, 2024

Navigation

Updates

Pre-Arrival Engagement May 15th and July 10th at 8am via zoom

Summer Orientation June 5th and July 10th 3-5pm

Agenda

Plans for Fall 2024

Pre-Arrival Engagement

Summer Orientation

Student Guide Updates - DUE MAY 16th!!

Scholar Onboarding Process

Immediate Tasks

Send Yana ( yana@utk.edu ) any engagement updates for Spring 2024 Orientation

Bullet point notes/ideas of what you are going to write about.

Look over Pre-Arrival material and make any edits necessary.

Onboarding Lifecycle

Students - Point of admission until six weeks into the semester.

Stage	What happens here?	Who is responsible?	What populations?

Stage	Who is responsible?	What populations?
Point of Admission	EM, ISSS	Undergrad, Grad, Exchange
Pre-Arrival	ISSS, EM, Grad School	Undergrad, Exchange (Vet Med), Traditional Grad
Arrival/Orientation	ISSS	Undergrad, Grad, Exchange
Post-Arrival	I-House	Undergrad, Grad, Exchange

Content Needs for Student Orientation Guide

Highlighted Rows = Content that needs to added

Content	How is this delivered?	When is this delivered?	Content Owner	Type	Priority	Deliverables

Content	How is this delivered?	When is this delivered?	Content Owner	Type	Priority
Research Plans for Visa Issuance	Website	Pre-Arrival	ISSS	Student and Scholar	High
Academic Success	Booklet	Orientation	ISSS	Student	Completed
Transportation	Booklet	Pre-Arrival	ISSS @Elizabeth Clevenger	Student and Scholar
Timeline of the onboarding experience	Website/ Booklet	Pre Arrival	@Yana Mitsos	Student	High
Overview of the UT educational structure	Booklet	Orientation	@William Vittetoe	Student and Scholar	High
Health Insurance and Health Care	Confluence/Booklet	Orientation	@Elizabeth Clevenger	Student	Completed
Being A Graduate Student at UT	Booklet	Orientation	Nick Jakel, Howard Perry	Student	Completed
On-Boarding for GA GRA	Website maybe booklet	Pre-Arrival and Orientation?	Howard Perry and Nick Jakel	Student	High
Welcome Greeting from Provost	Booklet	Orientation	@William Vittetoe	Student and Scholar	Moderate
Who can help you with what?	Website - booklet	Orientation	All	Student and Scholar	High
Top Immigration Status Issues	Website and Booklet	Orientation	@Elizabeth Clevenger	Student and Scholar	High
Tax Information (brief overview)	Website and Booklet	Orientation	@Elizabeth Clevenger	Student and Scholar	High
Culture Shock and Cultural Adjustment	Booklet	Orientation	Cymone Samuels, @Elizabeth Clevenger	Student and Scholar	Completed
On-Campus Dining (short), Off-Campus Food Resources and Markets, Big Orange Pantry	Booklet	Pre-Arrival, Arrival	@Yana Mitsos	Student, but could be tailored to Scholar	Completed
Off-Campus Housing	Booklet	Pre-Arrival and Orientation	@William Vittetoe	Student for off-campus student housing Scholar for general off-campus housing	Completed
UT Safety and Live Safe App	Booklet	Orientation	@Elizabeth Clevenger	Student	Completed
Family Needs and Childcare	Website and booklet	Orientation	@Valentina Gómez	Scholar	Completed, but needs to be added
Enrollment Requirements	Website and booklet	Orientation	@William Vittetoe @Yana Mitsos @Elizabeth Clevenger	Student	High
Employment	Website and booklet	Orientation	@Yana Mitsos	Student and Scholar	High
Campus Life and Activities/ UT Traditions	booklet	Orientation	Howard Perry and Jason Martisek	Student and Scholar	Moderate

Content Needs for Exchange Visitor Orientation Guide

https://utkisss.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IBP/pages/283934726

Public-Facing Exchange Visitor/Dependent Content Tracking → find content and its status here

Blue cells mirror the content in the orientation handbook above

Red cells are new content

Yellow cells are content that already existed on Confluence

White cells have not been started yet

Green cells are content that that needs to be written by this group

Content	Content Creator	Type	Deliverables	Comments

Content	Content Creator	Type	Comments
INTRODUCTION
Greetings from the Provost
Welcome and Overview	Val
Who can help you with what? (ISSS vs. HR vs. Departments vs. YOU)	Val
PRE-ARRIVAL INFORMATION
Intro to the J Visitor Exchange Program: Requirements, Regulations, and Limitations	Val
Bringing Dependents	Val	https://international.utk.edu/international-students-and-scholars-services/faculty-researchers-staff-visitors/j-1/
Understanding J Documents	Val
How to obtain a J Visa	Val	https://international.utk.edu/international-students-and-scholars-services/faculty-researchers-staff-visitors/j-1/
Traveling to the United States	Val
Pre-Arrival Visa Checklist	Val
PRE-ARRIVAL CONSIDERATIONS			“stuff you need to look into now and take care of asap after arrival”
Arriving in Knoxville	Val
Health Insurance for EVs	Val		p. 5
Understanding Non-Resident Alien Tax Information	ISSS		p. 15-16
Getting a Social Security Number (SSN) as an EV	Val
Money and Banking for EVs	Val		p. 7 – p. 17
Finding Housing in Knoxville as an EV	ISSS		p. 6 (barely) – p. 10
Using Transportation in Knoxville	ISSS		p. 6 (barely) – p. 16
Applying for a Driver’s License	ISSS
ON-BOARDING
Mandatory Check-In	Val		p. 10
Post-Arrival Checklist	Val
Setting Up in Knoxville	Val		p. 11 (Utilities, phone number, internet and TV, renters insurance)
The J Status Long-Term	Val
WELCOME
Getting Started at UT	Val		divided into (1) Technology and (2) VolCard, and (3) Facilities (“Utilitarian”) / p. 13 /
Life in Knoxville
Campus Life and Activities	Jason and Howard on the student side, Valentina will adapt them for scholars		UT Traditions
CULTURAL ADJUSTMENTS	Valentina
American Social Behavior			from Orientation Guide
Working in Higher-Ed in the U.S.			What to expect as a professor and as a colleague What can staff expect → talk to the Staff Senate
Health and Safety	Val		p. 18-19 / Include Title IX and Disability info / Incident Reports***
Leisure			“The Classic” On and off-campus activities and facilities
Shopping in Knoxville			p. 19
TBD
DEPENDENTS
Guide to Childcare in Tennessee and Finding a Program in Knoxville	Val
Guide to the U.S. School System and Enrolling Kids in Tennessee Schools
Immigration Regulations and Visa/Status Limitations for Dependents	Val
Guide to J-2 Employment Authorization	Val
TBD			(Priority: some sort of list of activities for spouses and for children)
BEFORE LEAVING UT
Exit Checklist			p. 20

Engagement Needs

If there is anything for us to be aware of for August Orientation, let me know!

Event	Who is doing this?	When does it happen?	Populations	Priority

Event	Who is doing this?	When does it happen?	Populations	Priority
Pre-Arrival Engagement	ISSS, EM, Grad School	June, July	Undergrad, Traditional Grad	High
Airport Pickups	International House		Undergrad, Graduate, Exchange, Special Programs	Critical
GSS Welcome Event	GSS		Graduates
Orientation	ISSS	08/17/2024	Undergrad, Grad, Exchange	Mandatory
Graduate Resource Fair	Graduate School	Fri. 8/9 - in-person at Circle Park		High
GTA Orientation	Graduate School	Thurs 8/8 - online		Mandatory? for TAs
Grad Student Orientation	Grad School	Tues 8/6 - online		High
International House Welcome and Campus Tour	International House, ISSS, Global Ambassadors			Critical
Welcome Lunch with Resources and Student Groups	International House, ISSS, CGE, EM, Grad School			Critical
Service Project with a Lunch	I-House	TBD		High
International Mother Language Day	I-House and GSS/WLC	02/21/2024		High
Friendship Program	I-House

Deliverables

Deliverable	Who is doing this?	Status	Budget	Drafts

Deliverable	Who is doing this?	Status
Orientation Booklet	ISSS, EM, Grad School
Orientation PowerPoint	ISSS	Completed
Pre-Arrival Program	EM, ISSS, Grad School	On-Going

Action plan

Action	Owner	Due date	Action items

Action	Owner	Due date	Action items
Create Assessment Piece	@William Vittetoe

Website Landing Page-Currently defunct

CGE Comms will create and host a centralized landing page that we can dive all incoming international students to for information about becoming a student at UT. Emphasis is on reducing the amount of text and serving as more of a link hub.

Cultural Adjustment - I House is the do/ ISSS is the learn

Category	Content (links)	Status

Category	Content (links)	Status
Incoming Graduate Students	International Graduate Students: https://gradschool.utk.edu/graduate-student-life/international-graduate-students/ (could we make this more focused?) Costs and Funding: (do we want to have anything for internationals?) After Admission/Next Steps: Official Transcript/Degree Certificate Instructions for Non-U.S. Institutions: https://gradschool.utk.edu/admissions/applying-to-graduate-school/transcripts/transcript-submission-for-non-u-s-institutions/
Incoming Undergraduate	First-Time Students Admission Requirements- Transfer Students- (we do not have any language driving internationals) Scholarships- (updates for the future) Next Steps- (do we need to have something that drives other statuses?)
Incoming ELI Students	Prospective Students: Costs:
Incoming Special Program (Exchange, Lean Enterprise, Vet Med, 2+2 ect…)	Incoming Exchange: (there is a lot of duplication and overlap here. ISSS is working with PAO to sort this out.) Vet Med seems to be missing. Lean Enterprise Systems is missing.
Campus Resources	ISSS Next Steps/Pre-Arrival Checklist: Search for Campus Organizations: Campus Events: OIT Getting Started on Campus Guide: