11/20/14 - OISS Digest

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November 20, 2014   Office of International Students and Scholars Weekly Digest

Important Announcements   èOISS and Tulane University Offices will be closed Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28 in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday. èTravel Signature - Get your travel signature if you will travel abroad during Thanksgiving or Winter Break. Due to high seasonal demand, if you will be leaving the country for Thanksgiving or Winter Break we recommend that you check now to see whether you need your I-20 or DS-2019 signed (signature must be less than a year old on the day you plan to return to the U.S.). If you need a signature, please come to the office and request one as soon as possible. At a minimum, come one week before you plan to travel. NO SAME DAY REQUESTS WILL BE PROCESSED. For more details click here: Travel Signature Details èOFFICE HOURS:Downtown Office Hours are cancelled on 11/25/14.                                                                OISS EVENTS OISS End of the Semester Celebration Friday, December 5th, 2014, 3-5 p.m. JL Ballroom, Josephine-Louise Hall, #75. Uptown Campus  Come celebrate with OISS as the semester closes at our End of the Semester Celebration! This will be a great time to catch up with friends before Winter Break and we’d love to see you there! Do you have a favorite holiday or winter food? To make this event special, OISS is looking for the community to bring and share any special dish that others could try! White Elephant Gift Exchange! What is that?: This fun activity is a traditional party game where each participant supplies one wrapped gift. The gifts are placed in a central location, and participants determine in what order they will take turns selecting them. The first person opens a wrapped gift and the turn ends. On subsequent turns, each person can open a new present or gets the choice to "steal" another person's unwrapped gift. When a person's gift is stolen, that person chooses another wrapped gift to open. The game is over when the last person has taken their turn. Please bring a small gift to play – the present must be wrapped in order to participate. The spending limit is $10, but please feel free to be as creative as possible! OASIS Discussion Group For Tulane’s International Student Community  OASIS is cancelled 11/26/2014 due to the Thanksgiving Break.  ​ LINK - OISS Fall Activities          CGE EVENTS Tulane Winter Break EAPP Intensive The Center for Global Education is pleased to offer a week of intensive English classes between semesters. Classes meet Monday, January 5 through Friday, January 9, 2015 from 10:00am-2:00pm at the Uptown campus. This course is open to prospective, incoming, and continuing students. Students who attended previous sessions made immediate improvement and reported greater confidence, comfort, and ease in using language in a variety of contexts. The course emphasizes the development of intercultural skills, social, professional, and academic English ability. The course also provides training and insight into New Orleans’ culture and tips for success at an American university. There will be a special class on fast spoken English, idioms, slang, and phrases for different contexts. Students who attend the course will: (1) Discover common error patterns in their speech and writing and develop accuracy action plans; (2) Create individualized strategies for success at Tulane and in New Orleans; (3) Workshop a wide range of language skills in reading, speaking, listening, and writing; (4) Develop more natural speech and American English pronunciation with targeted practice; (5) Cultivate intercultural communication skills and explore the local culture of New Orleans; (6) Distinguish between formal and informal language in everyday situations. èIntensive Session: Twenty hours of group instruction ($250) èCombination Course: Intensive Session and Private Instruction ($350) èPrivate Instruction: Five 60-minute individual lessons during the 2014-2015 Academic Year ($150) For more information, or to register, contact egaddis@tulane.edu TULANE AND LOCAL EVENTS Celebration in the Oaks November 28 - January 3 Closed: 12/1-12/4; 12/24 and 12/31 The Most Spectacular Holiday Lights Festival in the Country Celebration in the Oaks in City Park is one of the most spectacular holiday lights festivals in the country, with more than 165,000 visitors pouring into the park to see the magical winter spectacle. City Park’s famous oaks are swathed in hundreds of thousands of twinkling white lights and breathtaking light displays (including the crowd-favorite Who Dat tree) are scattered throughout 25 acres of the park, including the Botanical Garden, Storyland, and Carousel Gardens. For prices and more details, please click here HERE Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) : Cirque Du Noel December 6th, 7:30PM Saenger Theatre Tickets: Kids - $10 , Adults - $20 and up. Cirque de la Symphonie returns this holiday season in a performance that comines death-defying cirque acts with seasonal musical favorites.  For more information and Tickets, visit the LPO website HERE è Ongoing:Tidewater Building (Downtown Campus) has allocated # 1819 from 1-3 pm on all weekdays as quiet prayer space for students of all religious denominations. NEWS AND OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS 2014 Open Doors Report The 2014 Open Doors Report on International Education Exchange (IIE) was released on November 17, 2014 citing that international students and colleges and universities in the United States increased by 8% to a record high of 886,052 in the 2013/2014 academic year. The United States is a leader of globally mobile college and university students with a total of 289,408 students who studied abroad for academic credit for their home institutions. Since International Education Week brief in 2000, the number of international students  has grown 72%. To read more about this report, please see the IIE press release HERE. TODAY: Pengyou Day As part of the U.S. State Department's International Education Week, Project Pengyou Campus Chapters and Asia Society Confucius Classrooms across the United States will lead a day of massive grassroots action on over 100 campuses to celebrate US-China exchange and friendship. Learn more at www.PengyouDay.com. Resident Advisor Application Resident Advisors are students who serve as role models and help on campus residents plan and facilitate activities and programs. You must attend an information session to apply. Remaining Information Sessions: 11/20 Sharp Lounge 8pm 11/24 LBC 201 5:30pm For more information, please refer to the following resources: èRA Position Description and Details HERE èRA Recruitment Facebook Event HERE STAFF  Evan Kirk Operations Assistant Ainsley Fagan afagan1@tulane.edu Student Affairs Associate Belinda Schneider belinda@tulane.edu F-1 Students Beth Nazar enazar@tulane.edu J-1 Students and Scholars Nancy Lauland nlauland@tulane.edu H-1B Employees Kristy Magner kmagner1@tulane.edu OISS Director  Annual Community “Potluck” Thanksgiving  Dinner Tuesday, November 25, 2014 Lavin-Bernick Center Qatar Ballroom- 2nd Floor Room 212 Uptown Campus 5:30PM-8:00PM On behalf of the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Office of International Students & Scholars, we would like to invite you to our Annual Community "Pot Luck" Thanksgiving Dinner. This event is held each year to support all students who do not have a place to go for a Thanksgiving meal. In addition, this special holiday event will be a first time experience for many members of our international student, faculty, and staff community. Please R.S.V.P. here: R​.S.V.P. Form Call for Volunteers – Would you be interested in donating a vegetable or dessert dish?  Would you be interested in working the event? Please fill out THIS FORM and help OMA and OISS create a fantastic Thanksgiving program! For more information call: OMA at 504-865-5181 or OISS at 865-5208.  This event is open to the entire Tulane Community. Sponsored by: Office of Multicultural Affairs, Office of International Students & Scholars & Olive Blue Catering Persons of the Week We are excited to introduce two new staff members in OISS - Evan Kirk and Nancy Lauland. Please join OISS  in welcoming them to Tulane! Evan Kirk Operations Assistant Evan studied Chinese language and culture at Peking University and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He comes to Tulane after many years of working in election administration in San Francisco. Evan enjoys Southern literature and trying to keep time with his second-line band. Nancy Quant Lauland Program Manager Nancy studied Communications at UNO and also has ABA certification in Paralegal Studies from LSU.  Before starting at Tulane, she spent eight  years as an immigration paralegal with Ware|Gasparian, a local immigration law firm.  Nancy is excited to serve Tulane’s international population. Want a chance to be featured? Know someone who should? E-mail Ainsley atafagan1@tulane.edu for details.  Mission Statement Links Follow us The mission of the Office of International Students and Scholars is to provide leadership in the internationalization of Tulane University by supporting the Tulane international community and facilitating cross-cultural interaction. By way of support, OISS offers quality programs and services and ensures compliance with federal immigration regulations. Our strong belief is that a vibrant international community enriches Tulane University and the New Orleans community and is an essential component to understanding our role within the global community. OISS Classifieds OISS Website OISS Fall Activities OMA Calendar of Events​ Tulane International Community for Partners, Spouses and Dependents Click on the images to keep up with our social media!                              Weekly Fact: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924.