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International Graduate Students at Elle College

Shakira Moreta

Salem State University

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International Graduate Students at Elle College

NASPA/ACPA (2016) defines social justice and inclusion as “a process and a goal that

includes the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to create learning environments that

foster equitable participation of all groups and seeks to address issues of oppression, privilege,

and power” (p. 30). Student affairs professionals are responsible for applying the social justice

and inclusion competency to their practice in order to meet the needs of students from different

backgrounds, distribute resources equitably, raise social awareness and repair harms on campus

(NASPA/ACPA, 2016). Social justice and inclusion has been a topic of discussion among

colleges and universities across the United States for many years. Given the current state of the

political climate and events related to social justice that have occurred over the past few years,

protests related to social justice issues have increased at colleges and universities across the

country.

When discussing social justice and inclusion in higher education, student affairs

professionals tend to focus on issues regarding undergraduate students from different racial,

ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Although services within student affairs such as Career

Services and Health and Counseling Services, are available to all students, graduate students tend

to believe that those services are no longer available to them. Graduate students typically work

during the day and have class at night, therefore although various services on their campus are

available to them, they do not have access because of their busy schedules. Student affairs

offices tend to have typical 8 am – 5 pm hours, making it difficult for graduate students to

receive the support they need.

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This paper will utilize the ACPA Statement of Ethical Principles and Standards to

analyze a case study regarding social justice and inclusion for graduate international students at

Elle College.

Case Study

Elle College is a 4-year private institution devoted to communications and the arts

through a liberal arts perspective. The institution is located in the center of Boston’s theatre

district. There are approximately 3,700 undergraduate students and 600 graduate students

enrolled in the college. Ten percent of the students enrolled at Elle College are international

students from approximately 40 different countries.

Sarah is the graduate intern at the Career Services office at Elle College. During her

internship, Sarah’s main focus has been coordinating the “What’s Next?” program which focuses

on providing support for graduate students. Leslie is the Assistant Director and Liaison for

graduate students and alumni in the Career Services office at Elle College as well as Sarah’s

supervisor. Throughout her time at Elle College, Sarah and Leslie have been trying to advocate

for inclusion of graduate students within the division of student affairs. “What’s Next” is a

program which Sarah and Leslie create resources to enhance career development for the graduate

students they serve as well as meet with graduate students one-on-one when they setup an

appointment with a career advisor.

Many of the graduate students who sign up for an appointment with Career Services are

international students. Internships and jobs are limited for international students therefore many

of them have access to the Career Services office during regular office hours. As Leslie began to

realize that a majority of the students she met with were international students, she began to
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question whether or not the Career Services has been effectively meeting the needs of

international students.

In order to understand the needs of international students in the career services office and

how career services could better support international students, Leslie suggested conducting a

focus group for international graduate students. Leslie and Sarah met with the assessment

department on campus in order to learn how to move forward with the focus group. After

meeting with the assessment department, Leslie and Sarah began to reflect on what they wanted

to learn from this assessment and created questions regarding the students’ current understanding

of Career Services, experiences with Career Services as well as how they felt about the overall

culture of the college. Throughout the focus group, students constantly brought up the fact that

they felt graduate students were left out of programs such as site visits and career fairs. They felt

that although they were invited, the events were marketed more for undergraduate students rather

than graduate students. Students also expressed that during career/internships fairs, they believed

that employers lacked knowledge regarding international students.

ACPA Ethical Standards

The ACPA Statement of Ethical Principles and Standards was created to help student

affairs professionals control their behaviors when presented with an issue or dilemma using the

ethical standards they outlined (ACPA, 2006). The ACPA Statement of Ethical Principles and

Standards identifies four ethical standards which are professional responsibility and competence,

student learning and development, responsibility to the institution and responsibility to society

(ACPA, 2006).

Professional Responsibility and Competence

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Student affairs professionals are responsible for advocating for the welfare and concerns

of their students, promoting and facilitating students learning and advancing their profession

(ACPA, 2006). One of the ethical statements related to professional responsibility and

competence that I thought related to the Elle College case study is “Maintain and enhance

professional effectiveness by continually improving skills and acquiring new knowledge”

(p.165). In order to enhance their professional effectiveness, Leslie and Sarah reached out to the

assessment department in order to learn more about conducting focus groups and assessing the

responses.

Student Learning and Development

As student affairs professionals, we are responsible for student learning and development.

One of the ACPA ethical standards within student learning and development that I think apply to

this case study is “Inform students about the purpose of assessment and research; make explicit

the planned use of results prior to assessment requesting participation in either” (p. 166). In the

case study, the Leslie and Sarah conducted a focus group in order to assess the needs of

international students and the services their office is providing them. It is important that students

are aware of why the assessment is being done as well as the plans for the results of the

assessment prior to the students participating. Student affairs professionals are constantly sharing

data with different departments within their institution or even other higher education institutions

in order to advocate for students’ needs. It is important that students are aware that what they

may say may be shared with other people who were not present for the focus group in case they

are uncomfortable with the idea. It is also important that students are aware of any risks that they

may be exposed to during the assessment and after. The case study did not specify details
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regarding the results of the focus group, however I think students should be aware that their

names will not be exposed in the report.

Another student learning and development ethical standard I think applies to this case

study is “Develop multicultural knowledge, skills, competence, and use appropriate elements of

these capacities in their work with students” (p.166). In this case study, the Career Services

office is looking to find ways to better support their international students. The case study

mentions that the international students at Elle College come from about 40 different countries. It

is critical that as student affairs professionals we do not assume that all international students

have the same experiences and concerns.

Recommendations

Having conversations about the inclusion of graduate students in higher education is

important. Although many graduate students tend to have more experience and more of an

understanding of their career goals than traditional undergraduate students, it is important to

consider that graduate students also need support. Working full-time and being in a graduate

program can be stressful and some students enroll in graduate school because they are making a

career change. Therefore, it is important that graduate students are aware that they also have

access to various support offices on their campus.

In order to make sure graduate students feel that they are a part of their campus

community, I think in the case of Elle College Sarah and Leslie should share their reports with

other departments such as the International Students Office, Graduate Studies, Graduate

Admissions and the Multicultural Affairs office. Providing other offices that serve the graduate

student population with feedback from graduate students could potentially bridge a gap between

offices and help student affairs professionals find a solution to graduate students feeling as if
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they are not part of their campus community. Sharing the results of the focus group could also

help develop programs for graduate students that will influence their overall development.

As previously mentioned, I think it is important that student affairs professionals develop

multicultural knowledge, skills and competence. In the case of Elle College, I think it is also

important for Sarah and Leslie to help international students adjust to the American culture,

especially for those students who wish to find an internship and potentially an employer that is

willing to petition for their H1B visa. It would be helpful for Sarah and Leslie to meet with the

International Student Affairs office and possibly the Multicultural Affairs office in order to

develop programs that help international students adjust to the American culture and tips that

would be helpful for their professional development while completing internships in the United

States.

International graduate students at Elle College stated they believed employers who were

invited to the career/internship fair were not well informed about working with international

students. An ethical statement related to professional responsibility and competence that I think

would be important to refer to when trying to make sure employers are informed about

international students is “Monitor their personal and professional functioning and effectiveness

and seek assistance from appropriate professionals needed” (p. 165). In Career Services, there is

typically a staff member who specifically builds relationships with employers who will attend

the career/internship fairs. If Leslie and Sarah reach out to the staff member in charge of

employer relations, they may be able to express international graduate students concerns about

meeting potential employers who are familiar with the H1B visa process, Curricular Practical

Training (CPT) and Optional Practical Training (OPT), making students feel more confident

when attending career/internship fairs.

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Conclusion

Social justice and inclusion has been an increasing concern on college campuses. Student

affairs professionals are constantly learning about how to make services on campus more

accessible for all students and how to improve the experiences of their students at the institution

they work for. Unfortunately, because graduate students have different schedules and may

already have professional experience in their desired field, the focus of student learning and

development is mainly for undergraduate students. In higher education, the issues discussed

related to social justice and inclusion are typically related to race, gender and sexual orientation.

International students and graduate students are also underrepresented students and it is

important that as student affairs professionals we begin to advocate for them as well.
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References

American College Personnel Association (2006). Statement of ethical principles and standards.

Retrieved from www.myacpa.org/au/documents/EthicsStatement.pdf