James Dorsett is the director of the International Students and Scholars Office at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Dorsett manages the office and handles important cases that require help with other officials at the university.

   Iowa State University hosts international students primarily from Asia. International students make up about 11 to 12 percent of the student body and the number is rising every year. The top locations are China, which makes up 56 percent of the international student population, and South Korea, Malaysia and Asia. Iowa State has two recruiters that attend overseas recruiting fairs and visit many universities. Primarily, the university relies on word of mouth for new international students. “More of our recruiting is in some of the areas where we don’t have as many students,” he said.

   The university does not directly prepare international students on what to expect about American culture. Dorsett said many of the students get their information from their recruiters or their local U.S. embassies or consulates. He said the information, “is not college specific.” Dorsett said the school provides a preparatory program that is separate from the general international student orientation. “The preparatory program provides them with a lot more support,” he said.

   Iowa State recently enacted a policy that requires international students to have a high score in each section of the Test of English as a foreign language (TOEFL).  This has helped the school realize which students require more English courses. “Students will have already taken the TOEFL test in their home country and it is then they realize that they don’t have the level they need,” Dorsett said.

   Common issues that the office has addressed with international students include cultural, educational, and emotional issues. “Every year we have about four or five students who come to us with issues of depression or homesickness,” he said, “often they don’t seek out the help that is available on campus and that then leads to their poor academic performance and then it causes it them to fail out.” Dorsett said that many students do not adjust to Iowa’s weather with the extreme winters.

  Dorsett said many students do not seek out help from the campus offices. “Students will be having problems but they will rely on their cohort for support and that cohort can not provide the help they need,” he said. He also pointed out this usually occurs with the larger groups of international students, specifically the Chinese students at Iowa State.

   Iowa State has been creating programs to combat some of the issues that international students suffer from. The office hosts workshops on topics such as visas and also they support international student-counseling groups at the school’s health services center. “Unfortunately these groups come and go depending on how staffed the health center is, but in the past few years we have been able to keep it going,” he said. The international students clubs and organizations also hosts cultural nights to help build international students connections with the university and the students.





International Students and Scholars Office

3248 Memorial Union, Ames, IA 50011-1130

URL: https://www.isso.iastate.edu/joomla/

Telephone: (515) 294-1120  

Fax: (515) 294-8263  

Email: intlserv@iastate.edu