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US screening system for foreign students criticised
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US screening system for foreign students criticised Flawed tracking system causes havoc for the 580 000 foreign students enrolled at US institutions
igher education is looking with dread at the balky performance of the post-9/11 computer system that is supposed to screen and track the 580 000 foreign students enrolled in US institutions. The mounting tales of computer woes would be amusing if they didn’t raise the possibility of severe disruptions for many of those students and the schools that depend on them for tuition payments, filling student slots, and laboratory and teaching assistance. Although the computer system is just coming on line, performance to date indicates that “it will play havoc with students, colleges, universities, and consular and immigration offices alike”, David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, told a House Judiciary subcommittee on April 3. The inspector general of the Justice Department said the system—which cost US$36 million—is improving but is still plagued by deficiencies. In a five-page list of frustrations encountered in dealing with student visa applications, and related matters, Stanford University reported that “we have students that applied in June, 2002, but have not received clearances to continue school or begin their studies”. Known as SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System), the computerised gatekeeping is administered by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the newly established Department of Homeland Security. ICE was formed from the old Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS), long known for heavy-handed dealing with immigrants and administrative dysfunctionality. In an historic feat of bureaucratic sleep walking, 6 months after 9/11, the INS officially notified a Florida flight school that the immigration status of two of the perished hijackers had been
H
1280
switched from visitor to student. In view of the havoc of 9/11 and the government’s persistent warnings of more to come, the academic establishment uniformly endorses the necessity of screening and tracking foreign visitors. It’s the bungled implementation that has sent university leaders to Capitol Hill in quest of improved performance. SEVIS anxiety among academic administrators arises from the looming Aug 1 deadline for entering all foreign students into a database that has so far been riddled with computer glitches, unreachable “help” lines, inscrutable instructions, and resistance to correction of errors. Testifying on March 26 to the House Science Committee, Shirley Tilghman,
“we have students that applied in June, 2002, but have not received clearances to continue school or begin their studies” president of Princeton University, said that “it can take as long as 1·5 hours to enter one student”, and expressed concerns about completing the requirements in time for the fall opening of the 2003–04 academic year. A committee background paper noted “anecdotal information” that other nations—cited were Germany and Australia—were seeking students diverted by US immigration barriers. In a limp defence of SEVIS before congressmen, a senior homeland security official, Johnny Williams, contended that the only unresolved problem is “bleeding”—ie, “the unintended merger of data from one school to another which results in the printing of legitimate student information at the wrong institution”. Georgetown University reported that it received information belonging to the University of Delaware. Furthermore,
AP
Daniel Greenberg reporting from Washington
forms sought by Stanford University were received by Duke University, and confidential SEVIS forms used by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory were routed to a school in San Francisco. Humane considerations about the plight of students enmeshed in computer errors and delays inspire much of the concern about SEVIS. The New York Times recently reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a Thai student at a Washington, DC, university after the university mistakenly reported that she had dropped out, and then was unable to enter a correction into the computer system. But concerns are also expressed about maintaining the valued presence of foreign students in US higher education, especially in science and engineering, where domestic enrolments consistently fail to fill the available university positions. In economic terms, the presence of foreign students is substantial —estimated at US$12 billion per year in tuition and personal expenses. Foreigners also account for a major share of enrolments in US universities, including elite institutions. SEVIS’s managers insist that the needed performance will soon be attained. Eyeing the calendar and their computer screens, academic managers don’t share their confidence.
THE LANCET • Vol 361 • April 12, 2003 • www.thelancet.com
For personal use. Only reproduce with permission from The Lancet Publishing Group.
Rights were not granted to include this image in electronic media. Please refer to the printed journal.
US screening system for foreign students criticised Flawed tracking system causes havoc for the 580 000 foreign students enrolled at US institutions
igher education is looking with dread at the balky performance of the post-9/11 computer system that is supposed to screen and track the 580 000 foreign students enrolled in US institutions. The mounting tales of computer woes would be amusing if they didn’t raise the possibility of severe disruptions for many of those students and the schools that depend on them for tuition payments, filling student slots, and laboratory and teaching assistance. Although the computer system is just coming on line, performance to date indicates that “it will play havoc with students, colleges, universities, and consular and immigration offices alike”, David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, told a House Judiciary subcommittee on April 3. The inspector general of the Justice Department said the system—which cost US$36 million—is improving but is still plagued by deficiencies. In a five-page list of frustrations encountered in dealing with student visa applications, and related matters, Stanford University reported that “we have students that applied in June, 2002, but have not received clearances to continue school or begin their studies”. Known as SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System), the computerised gatekeeping is administered by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the newly established Department of Homeland Security. ICE was formed from the old Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS), long known for heavy-handed dealing with immigrants and administrative dysfunctionality. In an historic feat of bureaucratic sleep walking, 6 months after 9/11, the INS officially notified a Florida flight school that the immigration status of two of the perished hijackers had been
H
1280
switched from visitor to student. In view of the havoc of 9/11 and the government’s persistent warnings of more to come, the academic establishment uniformly endorses the necessity of screening and tracking foreign visitors. It’s the bungled implementation that has sent university leaders to Capitol Hill in quest of improved performance. SEVIS anxiety among academic administrators arises from the looming Aug 1 deadline for entering all foreign students into a database that has so far been riddled with computer glitches, unreachable “help” lines, inscrutable instructions, and resistance to correction of errors. Testifying on March 26 to the House Science Committee, Shirley Tilghman,
“we have students that applied in June, 2002, but have not received clearances to continue school or begin their studies” president of Princeton University, said that “it can take as long as 1·5 hours to enter one student”, and expressed concerns about completing the requirements in time for the fall opening of the 2003–04 academic year. A committee background paper noted “anecdotal information” that other nations—cited were Germany and Australia—were seeking students diverted by US immigration barriers. In a limp defence of SEVIS before congressmen, a senior homeland security official, Johnny Williams, contended that the only unresolved problem is “bleeding”—ie, “the unintended merger of data from one school to another which results in the printing of legitimate student information at the wrong institution”. Georgetown University reported that it received information belonging to the University of Delaware. Furthermore,
AP
Daniel Greenberg reporting from Washington
forms sought by Stanford University were received by Duke University, and confidential SEVIS forms used by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory were routed to a school in San Francisco. Humane considerations about the plight of students enmeshed in computer errors and delays inspire much of the concern about SEVIS. The New York Times recently reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a Thai student at a Washington, DC, university after the university mistakenly reported that she had dropped out, and then was unable to enter a correction into the computer system. But concerns are also expressed about maintaining the valued presence of foreign students in US higher education, especially in science and engineering, where domestic enrolments consistently fail to fill the available university positions. In economic terms, the presence of foreign students is substantial —estimated at US$12 billion per year in tuition and personal expenses. Foreigners also account for a major share of enrolments in US universities, including elite institutions. SEVIS’s managers insist that the needed performance will soon be attained. Eyeing the calendar and their computer screens, academic managers don’t share their confidence.
THE LANCET • Vol 361 • April 12, 2003 • www.thelancet.com
For personal use. Only reproduce with permission from The Lancet Publishing Group.