Job Information
Michigan State University(MSU) Senior Int'l Student and Scholar Advisor / International Student/Scholar Advisor II in East Lansing, Michigan
Working/Functional Title
Senior Int'l Student and Scholar Advisor
Position Summary
The Senior International Student and Scholar Advisor serves as both an International Student Advisor and the primary administrator of the MyOISS application, powered by the SUNAPSIS software package. SUNAPSIS is an application which interacts directly with both the Department of Homeland Security's Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) and MSU's centralized software systems of record for students, employees, and visiting scholars. The smooth functioning and data integrity of SUNAPSIS are essential to meeting university compliance with federal immigration regulations. The Senior International Student and Scholar Advisor will perform a lead role in the planning, development, implementation, and support of new SUNAPSIS functionality. The incumbent will be the primary liaison between the MSU OISS, MSU IT Services, and the SUNAPSIS vendor. The Senior International Student and Scholar Advisor provides end user support, develops training materials, and presents trainings related to SUNAPSIS. The Senior International Student and Scholar Advisor serves as an International Student Advisor supporting a one-month F and J student advising caseload.
OISS operates on a flexible, hybrid schedule with staff members typically working three days in-person on campus and two days remote
Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
MyOISS (SUNAPSIS)
- Ensure that institutional data concerning international students and scholars are accurate and updated in a timely and compliant manner to support university compliance with federal immigration regulations.
- Report regularly to OISS leadership on issues related to SUNAPSIS, including interfaces with other systems; consults with OISS leadership on needs related to SUNAPSIS.
- Monitor for issues requiring attention and manages relevant SUNAPSIS alerts.
- Continue the development of business processes to fully implement and optimize sunapsis functionalities including checklists, eForms, eForm groups, updates and upgrades, and reporting.
- Collaborates with IT Services to ensure that the interface between SEVIS, SUNAPSIS and MSU's SIS is functioning correctly by monitoring changes and performing audits as needed.
- Liaise with IT Services and the SUNAPSIS vendor to maintain consistent batch processing and troubleshoot between SUNAPSIS and SEVIS.
- Assist with communication to staff and university stakeholders regarding technical changes that may impact processing and compliance for international students and scholars.
- Provide training support to users through personal contact, workshops, group meetings, and by preparing educational/informational materials to ensure effective systems usage.
- Actively participates in SUNAPSIS user groups.
- Coordinate OISS reporting needs for international students and scholars, training additional staff as appropriate.
- Organize and catalog requests/tickets from multiple stakeholders and prioritize according to guidance from supervisor.
- Other duties as assigned.
Advising
Serve as a Designated School Official (DSO) and an Alternate Responsible Officer (ARO) for the university's F-1 student program and J-1 Exchange Visitor program.
Advise international students and scholars and academic departments on immigration matters related to F and J statuses.
Manage student caseload.
Interpret complex U.S. immigration regulations and policies/procedures concerning F/J immigration benefits related to maintenance of status, practical training and
various other regulations related to student visa.
Work as part of a team to assure MSU's reporting compliance and ability to host international students and scholars.
Prepare Immigration documents for international students, schol