Dear All,

Happy Academic Year 2021-2022!

As I write this message, we find ourselves at the end of orientation week, delighted to see the UI’s new international students walk through our doors! All told, we have 340 new international students (with more likely arriving in January), on both the graduate/professional and undergraduate levels. Graduate and professional students arrived the week of August 9, while the undergraduates came to campus the week of August 16. Orientation involves campus tours, information on visa regulations, sessions on university services and administrative procedures, as well as an introduction to life in Iowa City. 

We are immensely proud of this new group of international students—many of whom waited months to obtain visa appointments while dealing with numerous travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Numbers for graduate and professional students are up significantly from fall 2019—proving that our global reputation for advanced degrees in the health sciences, the STEM fields, and business remains quite high. And while we still have work to do in increasing our international undergraduate enrollment, we are working hard with our Office of Admissions to recruit students in parts of the world that show increased promise. I had the pleasure of meeting some of these new international students last week, and found all of them eager to begin their Hawkeye adventures.

I would be remiss without thanking our wonderful staff in International Student Scholar Services—Michael Bortscheller, Brandon Paulson, Pauline Beezer James, Rudia Kihura, Taivna Mills, Dongwang Liu, Taivna Mills, and Shuhui Lin—on making orientation a success. Most of the orientation was organized virtually, but some aspects were held in person. I was especially impressed at how attentive our staff was to student needs—especially as these new arrivals navigate a new school, time zone, city, and culture. Please join me in celebrating the arrival of these latest Hawkeyes, and in expressing support and warm wishes they begin this next phase of their academic careers. These important people are so crucial to IP’s mission of bringing the world to Iowa.

All the best,

Russ