Editor’s note: “10 Questions” is part of weekly series in which a prominent person in the Iowa State and Ames communities is interviewed. To suggest someone for an interview, submit an e-mail request to [email protected]. This week’s interview is with Dennis Petersen, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars.

What do you do as director of the Office of International Students and Scholars?

I help gather the resources that this office needs to do our mission. The resources would be funds within Iowa State sources but also external funds. My role is enabling the international students here to not only have the best personal experiences, but also to have the Iowa State community aware of their presence. Not just in the academic aspect, but the community aspect as well.

What is the mission statement?

Our mission … is to provide a courteous, accurate and timely service for our many clients and also to create informative programs to go with the services we provide.

The clients would include, obviously, international students and the hundreds of visiting scholars.

What do you do to help the students with your services?

Along with orientation … creating opportunities for Americans and international students to learn from one another. We’re encouraging students to go overseas in greater numbers. In 1994, about 300 students went overseas and after this year, 860 students will have gone overseas, so it has almost tripled during a five-year period.

Why has there been such a drastic increase in the number of students who study abroad?

Well, a number of reasons. One, I think this project exists where students would hear from a faculty member [who has recommended the program]. The most significant change has been for biology, where Iowa State faculty have taken students to Australia, Costa Rica and Kenya. There has also been a significant increase in scholarship dollars available.

I understand the International Students and Scholars department name is changing.

Yes, as of July 1, the name of the International Students and Scholars Office will change to International Education Services, and within that, we’ll still have the International Student and Scholar program and the Study Abroad Center. I think the main reason why the name is changing is the realization that there are many more things that we do here besides providing services to international students.

Tell me about a program you have.

We have a program called “The Culture Core,” which hires international students, and it also hires Americans studying abroad to participate as paid employees to faculty who have submitted grant applications.

What types of student concerns do you usually deal with?

This office is trying to interpret a very complex series of laws and regulations made by the U.S. government that would include international students. This takes a lot of time, especially with 2,500 students. And not every one is on the same visa, so there are a variety of answers to each person.

What are some of the reasons why international students do not graduate?

Actually, the graduation rates of international students through the years have been as good as American rates or even a little bit better. And I don’t know for sure why that is, but I have a few ideas.

One is the means to succeed among international students is such that they can’t just stop studying and hang out because they feel it. And also the family support and the feeling like they only have one chance and they can’t drop in and out like the American students can.

Why is it important for ISU to have OISS?

I think faculty wanted to have the best students from wherever, and the wider the recruiting, the better the students are going to be. There would be a tremendous difficulty if international students stopped coming to Iowa State or any large research institution.

What were your goals for this year, and have you succeeded in reaching them?

The consistent goal is to foster intercultural learning, and we do that by helping international students meet Americans. We’ll also be recruiting people for the conversational English program and for American students to be going abroad to study.