Lee advises foreign students on housing and registration problems, and helps students obtain visas and Social Security numbers, which are needed for the duration of their visit in the states. If a student or scholar has children, the center will help place the children in a public school. The center spends most of its time advising students with lease problems and consulting with them on domestic or financial aid issues. There are representatives from more than 100 countries at the University, she said, and these students are a valuable asset to the campus as well as to the community. In one case, she said, an international student was used as an interpreter in a court case.
Foreign students are also valuable to the community hospitals.
Foreign students have been used as interpreters for the doctors of these patients, she explained. The center provides services for the preparation and processing of immigration documents for foreign faculty and helps coordinate the Fulbright program for domestic faculty. For University students and faculty, the center offers, in appropriate cases, guidance in obtaining financial support for study, research, teaching and travel abroad. International students identity cards for overseas discounts and youth hostel cards for inexpensive housing abroad can be bought from the center as well. For most foreign students, their visas will expire 18 months after graduation.