Local colleges get schooled

In light of concerns about foreign student enrollment, the Department of Homeland Security is traveling the country to inform college officials about the ins and outs of visa policy.

C. Stewart Verdery Jr., assistant secretary for border and transportation security policy and planning for the department, finished up a tour of some of the nation’s top universities Thursday at UNC.

He met with the University’s International Affairs Advisory Council and other school officials to answer questions and to provide information about the effect of U.S. visa policy on universities.

“We saw big declines in the number of student applicants after 9/11,” he said. “But the numbers are rebounding, and we want to encourage that.”

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, enrolling in American schools was much harder and more time-consuming for foreign students. But now, Verdery said, improved technology is helping the process move more quickly.

He said his meetings with college officials at schools such as Harvard and Duke universities were designed to determine whether the policies of his office are interfering with the enrollment of foreign students.

“The use of biometrics — finger scans and digital photographs — for most of our programs … can speed people up, because there is less worry.”

This technology can help immigration officials clear foreign students who are not on a terrorist watch list and who have visas.

Biometrics and databases will improve the immigration process for more than just students.

“We are working on the registered-traveler program, where if you have been vetted appropriately we can exempt you from customs and immigration processing,” he said.

Although some people might be greenlighted through customs, students will not fall off the radar of homeland security once they enter the country.

The Student Exchange Visitor Information System is a program that allows schools to provide information to the government, ensuring that foreign students are operating within student visa guidelines.

“We can tell, ‘Has this person been admitted? Are they currently enrolled?’” Verdery said.

But Verdery said there were errors and technical malfunctions in the program that caused problems for foreign students.

“SEVIS, I think everyone would admit, when it was first developed, was not a good system,” he said.

Since the initial setbacks, SEVIS has improved its record, seeing a 90 percent reduction in problems, Verdery said.

He said that the feedback he is receiving from school officials reflects this improvement, but that there remains more work to do.

“We are working on getting out better information to the University community … that can be useful to students when they are considering UNC-Chapel Hill or William and Mary or Podunk U.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.