Cultural Programming for J-1 and J-2 Exchange Visitors

Cultural Programming for J-1 and J-2 Exchange Visitors

Presenters Adam Greenfield Lyn Straka! Chris5na Bruen! Assistant Director, Exchange Visitor Services, University of Florida Director, Exchange Visitor Services, University of Florida Director, International Student & Scholar Center, University of Massachusetts- Dartmouth,

! Overview Section 1: Cultural programming legal requirements.! General Program requirements Reporting Requirements Resources Section 2: Cultural programming.! What is it?! Event Planning Budgeting Promotion Section 3: Finding resources! External and Internal In-kind and other resources

! Handout Please share your ideas and experiences with us.

Cultural Programming Legal Requirements

! Important Sections General Program requirements! 22 62.8 (d)(1)(2)! Annual Reports! 22 62.15 (a)-(g)! Short-term scholars! 22 62.21 (e)!

General program requirements Offer or make available to exchange visitors and the accompanying spouses and dependents, if any, a variety of appropriate cross- cultural ac5vi5es. Sponsors should: Help scholars par5cipate in cultural ac5vi5es Tailor events to your audience The Department of State encourages sponsors to give their exchange visitors the broadest exposure to American society, culture and ins5tu5ons!

! General program requirements The Department of State encourages sponsors to give their exchange visitors the broadest exposure to American society, culture and institutions! Sponsors should:! Baseball games! Local theater! Farmers Markets! American culture and history!

Reporting requirements The annual report must include descrip5ons of the ac5vi5es scholars have par5cipated in or what programs have been made available to them. Sponsors should: Keep records of events you plan Get sign in sheets for events you host Take pictures!

Short-term scholars Due to the nature of such exchanges, sponsors of programs for short- term scholars shall be exempted from the requirements of providing cross- cultural ac5vi5es Sponsors should: S5ll encourage par5cipa5on!

Cultural Programming

What is cultural programming?! Any activity which provides an opportunity for the EV s to learn about American culture, and/or share their own with others.! Think BROADLY: How do Americans live their lives? What do Americans do for relaxation, entertainment, personal enrichment, family time? How might that differ for other cultures?! Cultural programming can be active (participating in an event) or passive (observing)

Event Planning! GENERAL POINTS! Aim to plan programming for a whole year to include variety of activities for each season, age-group, individual interests! What target population would an event attract? Students? Scholars? Spouses? Children?! Have a back-up plan for each event in case of inclement weather, event cancelation etc.

Event Planning: Logistics! Plan for sufficient staffing. Some activities benefit from a small staff-ev ratio (e.g. game night needs more staff to explain rules of different games, supervise/participate, keep score, award prizes)! Do EV s need to pre-register/purchase tickets? Where will everyone meet?! Emergency planning: staff should have cell-phone (number published in advance) so EV s can call for directions etc.! Is it clear when people are free to leave?

BUDGETTING! Does your office have funding for cultural programming? What does it cover? Staff time only? Additional supplies (e.g. games for game night?) Admission and/or transportation costs? Be aware in advance of any reporting and/or documentation requirements. Save receipts, documentation, as required.! How will you allocate any funding beyond staff time? Will all planned events get some additional funding? Or do you save funding for a small number of major events, leaving the other events to be no-cost or participant-paid? Will numbers be restricted in advance?

FINALLY! Enjoy the experience with your EV s!! Record the event: take lots of pictures and encourage your EV s to take pictures too. Make notes afterwards: what worked, anything that didn t work well. Highlights of that particular event.! DoS will also enjoy reading your reports and seeing the pictures as part of your annual reporting.

Finding Resources

Who is responsible for providing the cross cultural activities?! What are the implications depending on where your office/department resides? Student Affairs Academic Affairs External Affairs Enrollment Management! Who owns the responsibility to provide the cultural opportunities? Is it is your Office or Center or does it belong in another office? Do you own everything international or is it a shared responsibility?

Where is your institution located and what type of institution is it?! Urban Large numbers of opportunities with a variety of transportation options. Health and Safety Issues can be a concern given locations of events.! Suburban More activities and functions than rural area, but may be more residential and have fewer options that an urban setting Transportation options can be limited.! Rural An opportunity to introduce international visitors to the local culture of your particular part of the country. Can be the most challenging due to frequency and type of local activities, and transportation.

Outside the Institution Three General Types of Leveraged Activities: Free Events in the surrounding community which are free and open to the public In-kind, group rates, hosted events and/or partially funded Events that charge admission but a group rate is possible (for any group). Or your particular group is hosted by the organization for part of the admission or cost of event Full funding Events/experiences that are fully supported financially.

Outside the Institution Financial Leveraging Internal Resources Sponsoring Academic Colleges, Departments and Faculty How many scholars do they have? What connections do they have in the community? Can they combine resources to provide funding for events? Your institution s Advancement, Development or Alumni Offices Who you can approach and who you may not? Who do they recommend might be interested? Who will they approach on your behalf? Do you have University colleagues with fund-raising experience in the community?

Leveraging the Campus Community Consider engaging the individual supervisors and/ or their departments to own or partner some of the responsibility. As one solution they may be involved both fiscally and organizationally by directly providing the cross cultural experiences for their J scholars! As part of the initial sponsor paperwork ask individual sponsors/departments for a written plan how they are going to provide this requirement or at least be an active partner.!

Outside the Institution Financial Leveraging External Resources How do you ask for donations? This is often a learned skill. Your advancement office can assist you in the appropriate approach to the external community. Consider the possibility of an internship for a student to assist with this process. http://knowhownonprofit.org/how-to/how-to-approach-local-businesses-fordonations http://archive.neworganizing.com/content/blog/tip-how-to-get-donations-foryour-events http://www.nonprofithub.org/fundraising/7-tips-on-asking-for-donations-itsintimidating-we-get-it/

!!! "! Outside the Institution Utilize web based information to identify potential local events! "Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Boards, Local Industries! "https://www.rotary.org/! Utilize the local paper, community members and organizations to identify potential activities.! "http://www.boothbayregister.com/culture! Utilize your local school systems! "Establish a Conversation Partner Program with your local Middle School/High School "Language Programs! Utilize tools to assess your local cultural community! http://ruralarts.museum.msu.edu/resources/community_assmt_guide.pdf! http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/building-relationships/main!!

Outside the Institution! Transportation to Events Depending on your location, the location of the event, and the level of available public transportation this an be a challenge. If you don t have much of a budget, you might consider sharing the cost of the transportation with the scholar, other departments, or the sponsoring department. Establish a relationship with your athletic department. They often have campus vehicles that may be available off season or on days when the teams are not traveling. Establish a relationship ( if your institution does not already have one) with a local bus or van company to see if they will negotiate a reduced price.

! Outside the Institution Establish a residential or nonresidential host family program (can include colleagues living locally) to act as airport pick ups/greeters and/or provide local transportation, settling in assistance, temporary housing, monthly dinners and invitations to US holiday events.! Establish an International Friendship Family group! who will host holiday events such as pumpkin carvings, invitations to Thanksgiving Dinner.!

! Outside the Institution Local Cultural Events! "County/State Fairs! "Festivals! "Parades! "US Holiday events (4th of July concerts)! "Community Dinners! "Garden Tours! "Local or community Sport Teams! "Local community bands (Does the scholar play a musical instruments or attend a "concert)! " "http://www.fhacb.org/! Historical Societies and Historical re-enactments!! "http://www.rwfia.org/! "https://brigadeoftherevolution.wordpress.com/!

Outside the Institution Sister City Programs! "Opportunities for scholars to share their home "country culture if appropriate! " "http://www.sister-cities.org/! " "http://www.newbedford.com/nbsisters.html! Ethnic Groups in the local community! "As a country of many cultures there are "often "opportunities to introduce our visitors to "Americans who maintain parts of their ancestral "cultures.!!

Outside the Institution! Native American communities http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ http://www.powwows.com/ http://www.choctawnation.com/ http://mashpeewampanoagtribe.com/ Community Service Events Environmental Education Centers http://lloydcenter.org/volunteer/ Local non profits volunteers (must always be a volunteer position) Soup Kitchens Tutoring http://www.giftstogive.org/

Discussion