The College of Arts and Sciences’ | Maxwell School’s Office of Academic and Career Advising/Office of Student Success received the prestigious 2024 Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for Campus Internationalization at the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs’ (NAFSA’s) annual conference and expo held in New Orleans, Louisiana in May. Named after the late U.S. Senator Paul Simon of Illinois, the annual NAFSA Simon awards celebrate outstanding commitment and accomplishment in campus internationalization.

Accepting the award were Steve Schaffling, assistant dean of student success, and Ling Gao LeBeau, director of international student success in the Office of Academic and Career Advising in A&S | Maxwell. Their team was recognized for its academic advising initiative, the International Student Success Model, which helps international students in their first-year transition and beyond by providing intentional, targeted programming in academic and career advising.

The model includes five pillars:

• pre-arrival academic onboarding coaching through a noncredit asynchronous course that familiarizes students with the University’s academic expectations and the people that will help guide them;
• peer mentoring;
• advisor training;
• academic intervention to help students stay on track;
• and communication, including through a weekly newsletter and social media connections that also keeps parents connected.

Evidence of the model’s success, the international student retention rate for A&S | Maxwell in Fall 2022 was 91.5%, the highest since 2010 and the second highest on record.

Learn more about International Student Success in A&S | Maxwell.

Editor’s Note: This article was adapted from an SU News article written by Kathleen Haley.