International Students Arrive at UA

Jan. 7, 2015

The spring semester began early for about 250 new international students, who attended a mandatory three-day orientation hosted this week by International Student Services, part of the Office of Global Initiatives at the UA. Classes do not officially start until Jan. 14.

The students met in rooms at the Student Union Memorial Center to make sure that their immigration, academic and financial papers were in order. They were welcomed on Wednesday, the second day of orientation, by Provost Andrew Comrie, the University’s chief academic officer.

"Get involved," Comrie encouraged the students. "Don’t just go to class. You’ll learn as much from your peers as you will from your professors, and you’ll do it in multiple contexts."

More than two dozen countries were represented by the students who sat before him, with an especially large contingent from China. Nearly half of a total of 3,700 international students enrolled last fall in UA academic programs were Chinese, according to Joanne Lagasse-Long, a native Canadian who is the director of International Student Services.

Lagasse-Long said that because of China’s strong economy, families are in better position today to send their children overseas to study. She said visa accessability also has improved in recent years for such students.

William Bowen, an economics instructor in the UA’s Eller College of Management, said the increase in the number of Chinese students has been dramatic in the 11 years that he has been teaching at the University.

"They’re highly disciplined and well-prepared," he said of the Chinese students in his "History of Financial Markets" class. In the fall, almost half of his 56 students were Chinese.

Comrie, who grew up in South Africa, said cultural assimilation can take awhile for international students. He knows from experience that many need time to learn that speaking up in class is a good thing.

"My culture trained me to be deferential and respectful of hierarchy," Comrie said. "You often didn’t talk to teachers or build a relationship with them. In the U.S., that’s really different."

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