International students thrive
By Aaron Burdette
News editor
Thousands of students from many walks of life attend Mississippi State, a fact that makes certain types of people less conspicuous than others to the public eye. International students make up many of these faces in the crowd.
As of last spring, MSU provided opportunities for over 500 international students and 100 international researchers plus their dependents. Students from other nations form less than 5 percent of the student body, blending in well with the multitudes of other students.
“I think it’s important for students to have a world view in order to receive a complete education,” said Stephen Cottrell, assistant director of international services. “Students need to be aware of events outside of their own country.”
The international services office of MSU attempts to allow this sort of interaction by bringing students from around the globe to the campus, and Cottrell’s interest in international affairs can be seen around his office. Books on China fill his bookshelf next to pictures of Buddhist monks. One frame holds a photo of Cottrell sitting next to a monk, proving the assistant director’s travels and cultural interest. Other ethnic trinkets and decorations line his desk and walls, some of them gifts from appreciative former students he helped during their time at MSU.
Most of these students took graduate courses to work toward masters or doctorates in their respective fields of study, an aspect of the international program that holds true today.
“The majority of our international students are in graduate school,” Cottrell said, “but we are also working to include a much larger undergraduate program, as well.”
Backing this expansion is MSU president Doc Foglesong. In the past months the president commissioned a task force to begin working on multiple aspects ofthe university, including the international student program.
“It is very comforting to know that our new president is a man who has traveled the world as much as he has,” Cottrell said. “He has more of an appreciation for the importance of an international student program than some that have not traveled as much.”
Cottrell has membership in NAFSA, the International Association of Educators, and recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate an international education enhancement program for the United States. Without such a program, many foreign students attempting to gain access to American schools fail to be granted visas due to strict immigration policies.
“If we had an international education enhancement program, logic would say that it would be a little more difficult to deny [visas for foreign students],” Cottrell said.
MSU alumni and former MBA student Kilian Faber enrolled at MSU from Bremen, Germany, after receiving the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree from the University of Duisburg’s Mercator School of Management. After deciding to attend MSU, Faber experienced firsthand the process of acquiring a visa.
“First I had to go to the U.S. Embassy in Frankfurt, which is like a three-hour train ride from where I lived,” Faber said. “Once you’re there you have to fill out forms about your former employers, countries you have traveled to in the last 10 years, and they actually ask you if you are planning to do some terrorist activities, which we always made fun of.”
Normally after the paperwork comes a brief interview of about 10 minutes, during which U.S. surveyors attempt to determine if the person applying for a visa intends to permanently immigrate to America. If they believe the person wants to stay, they deny the visa.
“It’s tragic when that happens to a student,” Cottrell said. “How can someone determine another person’s true intentions after a five minute interview?”
Faber managed to skip that part of the visa process due to extenuating circumstances at the embassy on the day of his arrival.
“It was really crowded the day I went,” he said. “Eventually they just told everyone who was getting [the kind of visa I needed] to come up and sign some paperwork. That was a pretty big thing because you usually have to wait outside the embassy for about two and a half hours, and then once you finally get inside you have to wait another two or so.”
Owning a visa does not complete the process of becoming an international student at MSU. Besides this requirement, potential students must also meet several academic and monetary criteria.
“Students that wish to attend MSU must receive a score of 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language,” Cottrell said. “Some other departments in the university may require higher scores, but to get into the university they must at least achieve that score.”
Beyond the TOEFL, students must also present above-average transcripts from their schools and maintain excellent credentials. Also, students must prove that they can provide about $27,500 per year for expenses, plus $3,850 for each dependent they bring with them. After meeting these criteria, students arrive at Golden Triangle Regional Airport, ready to go.
MSU vans arrive at the airport to bring the students back to campus and their respective homes, often in Aiken Village or Chadwick Apartments. The majority of international students do not own cars, so transportation can become an issue.
“Where I’m from in Germany, we had public transportation, so I never needed a car,” Faber said. “In rural areas of Germany people need cars, but I didn’t know how much you needed one here.”
Most international students live in apartment complexes within walking distance of campus, or, if they live in Aiken Village, take MSU shuttles to class. Faber, who resides at University Commons, rides his bike to class and relatively close establishments like the Veranda.
“I figure I could probably ride my bike to Bin612 and be OK, too,” he said with a laugh.
Transportation is generally not the main weight on the minds of international students. Receiving masters or doctorates in their fields takes that role, and MSU’s international student office aids them in their pursuits.
“A lot of times we’ll have students who are so busy that they forget to check on the expiration of their visas and other such documents,” Cottrell said. “That’s one of the areas in which we help them. We’ll kind of give them a little push to remember to keep up with that sort of thing so that they don’t have to go through the pain of acquiring another one.”
Many of these students come to America and MSU to earn degrees in areas that may not have been offered greatly in their nations. Coming to MSU for an MBA has only pushed Faber’s completion date back one semester, and an MBA from America offers greater opportunities for him than one earned in Germany.
“I will be able to get a better job with a better company now,” he said.
Fatemeh Sayyady hails from Tehran, Iran, and came to MSU to obtain a doctorate in industrial engineering.
“This was one of the few schools that offered a doctorate program for IE,” she said.
Sayyady has also found time to act as vice president for the Iranian Student Association and has met many students from nations she normally would not have gotten the chance to meet. Faber has also experienced this.
“I have made a lot of friends from Saudi Arabia and France,” he said. “When I get back to Europe I hope to eventually be able to see them occasionally. You never know what’s going to happen, though, I guess.”
Faber graduated and returned to Germany in early August to make use of his MSU degree.