A RESOLUTION TO SPONSOR THE ACADEMIC VISA REFORM PETITION

A.R. 5

WHEREAS since September 11, international students and scholars all over the United States have faced difficulties due to the tightening of visa restrictions and other security measures; and

WHEREAS creating a supportive climate for international students and academic workers at U.S. institutions of higher education furthers those institutions’ overall missions and generates goodwill toward for the U.S., thus contributing to national security in ways that are less tangible, but no less important than law enforcement measures; and

WHEREAS international students are a significant part of graduate student body at UT-Austin; and

WHEREAS the new restrictions and security measures have caused hardship to international students at UT-Austin and interfered with departmental research and teaching: A graduate student at UT named Chang Tan suffered severe financial, professional, and personal hardship after she had to wait for eight months for the background check, causing her to miss the 2002-2003 academic year. During the summer of 2003, three Chinese nationals who are graduate students in the College of Engineering crossed the border into Mexico and also needed to wait for a background check when they applied for a visa to re-enter US, resulting in their return to China; and

WHEREAS the Graduate Employees and Students Organization at Yale University (GESO) has initiated an online Academic Visa Reform Petition to address these problems at www.visareform.net (see attached text).

BE IT RESOLVED that the Graduate Student Assembly should officially co-sponsor the Academic Visa Reform Petition.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Graduate Student Assembly calls on all of its members and all interested members of the University Community to sign the petition individually.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the GSA requests that the Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies establish a committee that would include representation from members of the Graduate Student Assembly for the purpose of reviewing existing university policies and procedures regarding student visas and recommending improvements, both internally and to relevant government agencies.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that an official copy of this resolution be printed and distributed to the President of the University, Provost and Executive Vice President, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, Chair of the Graduate Assembly, Chair of the Faculty Council, Vice President for Student Affairs, Vice President for Human Resources, the Vice President for Institutional Relations and Legal Affairs, and the Director of the International Office.

Authors: Erin Boade, Qiu Wu, Peter C. Haney

Sponsors: Erin Boade, Qiu Wu

Approved: November 3, 2003

Attachment: Academic Visa Reform

President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, U.S. Congress, and University Presidents

Since September 11, 2001, tightening visa restrictions, lengthy security checks, special registrations, and other national policy changes have created an increasingly inhospitable climate for international students, post-doctoral scholars, and other academics studying and working in the United States. Such students and scholars often find it difficult to:

• attend academic conferences necessary for advancing their research and professional development
• visit family at home and have family members visit here, leading to long periods of separation from parents, spouses, and children
• continue their studies and research without lengthy interruptions, or the threat of lengthy interruptions, due to delays in the security-check process
• advocate, either individually or collectively, for their own interests - such as fair wages, benefits, and access to teaching and research positions - in a way that might create disagreement or conflict with university authorities
• feel welcome as full and equal members of the academic community in the United States.

While recognizing the paramount importance of homeland security concerns, we, the undersigned, believe that international students, post-doctoral scholars, and other academics should be better recognized and rewarded for their vital contribution to the intellectual and economic life of the United States; that the research and teaching interests of U.S. universities would be best served by eliminating the unnecessary delays and fears caused by many current visa policies and procedures; and that a fair and welcoming environment for the increasing number of international students, post-doctoral scholars, and other academics in the United States is vital to the protection of academic freedom for all teachers and researchers at U.S. universities and of this nation's status as the center of academic research and teaching internationally.

With that in mind, we call upon the addressees of this petition to:

• create a more efficient and streamlined security-check process,
• investigate the feasibility and desirability of offering longer-term re-entry visas and multiple-entry visas for scholars from China and other areas who do not currently enjoy such privileges,
• create additional provisions that would allow international students, post-doctoral scholars, and other academics to change their visa status or renew their visas without leaving the country,
• create a fair appeals process for people who have been denied visas, and
• hold congressional hearings to inform possible legislative changes.

In the meantime, we call upon University Presidents to:

• collectively lobby the U.S. government for the changes described above,
• make clear public statements and engage in other efforts to educate the general public on the value that international students, post-doctoral scholars, and other academics bring to the intellectual and economic life of the United States,
• protect international students' right to exercise their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association and make clear public statements about these rights,
• waive the SEVIS fee or any other cost to international students for their own surveillance, and
• create ways to share the financial and other burdens caused to international students, post-doctoral scholars, other academics, and their laboratories by extended security checks and travel difficulties generally.
• increase support for ESL training, housing subsidies, dependent health-care and other programs meant to create a secure and supportive environment for international graduate students and scholars working in the United States.