by Eloy Areu

For the past year and a half, Student Application Services (SAS) has been working with International Education Services (IES) and other entities within and outside the campus in implementing a system that allows the university to comply with SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System). SEVIS is a new system implemented by the former United States Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), now a part of Homeland Security, which tracks information electronically on international students, exchange visitors, and their dependents. Via SEVIS, schools are required to transmit electronic information and notifications to reflect status changes on all international students and exchange visitors. On January 30, 2003, the university began complying with the new requirements.

The project has entailed changing the student information system (SIS) database to comply with SEVIS data requirements, developing batch mechanisms to electronically transmit and receive information securely in SEVIS format, implementing processes to monitor student and visitor activities for changes, complying with over 30 INS-defined reporting events, and establishing processes for quality assurance. In addition, SAS has provided IES with tools to communicate automatically via e-mail with selected groups of students, as well as Web-based tools for students and visiting scholars to confirm and request changes to information that the university keeps on them. Since late spring, IES has been transmitting to SEVIS information about internationals planning to be outside the country during the summer — a total of about 2,200 — so that they could return when the fall semester began. By August 1, all international students had been entered into SEVIS. In September, all enrolled international students and exchange visitors will be reported to SEVIS.

SAS will continue to work with IES through the remainder of 2003 implementing the various reporting events required by SEVIS. SAS is part of Administrative Enterprise Applications (AEA), which is a major stem of OIT.

For additional information, you may visit www.inform.umd.edu/ies/sevis.

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