July 9, 2020 - A message regarding the new SEVP guidance on international students
Dear University Community,
Throughout this week, our UMSL Global staff have been in contact with our international students regarding the newly released guidelines from the Department of Homeland Security affecting those studying with F-1 visas at UMSL through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. As many of you have seen in the media, the new guidelines specify that international students enrolled at universities planning for online instruction only during the upcoming academic year will not be allowed to remain in the U.S. to continue their studies.
If you are an international student, please know that you are welcome here. We want to reassure you that, based on our academic plans for the upcoming term, this new guidance does not apply to international students enrolling at UMSL. We are committed to offering in-person blended courses as well as fully online courses during the upcoming semester – so international UMSL students should not be impacted by this change in guidelines.
Since the DHS announcement on Monday, we have worked closely with our schools and colleges to ensure that our international students will meet the minimum requirement to be enrolled in at least one 3-credit-hour in-person course. Furthermore, we have established a plan to ensure that our international students will remain in compliance with federal guidelines should the university need to transition to online only instruction based on public health conditions.
We are grateful that our UMSL Global team continues to work closely with our international students and scholars to ensure they have the appropriate resources to live, work and learn here.
Please know that we remain committed to ensuring that all students who wish to transform their lives through education are welcome here at UMSL. We recognize the essential contributions of our diverse community of students and scholars and will work diligently to ensure that we support their needs and continue to provide a high-quality education.
Sincerely,
Kristin Sobolik
Chancellor
University of Missouri–St. Louis
