Education Abroad Reciprocity Students at the University of California at Berkeley: An Innovative International Student Orientation Program Design

The proposed international student orientation for new Education Abroad Program (EAP) Reciprocity students enrolling at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) as part of a one or two semester exchange is an innovative design that aims to provide students with the most pertinent resources available to them in order to ease their transition into the culture of the United States (U.S.). The orientation will be hosted by the Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) office which serves more than 5,000 international students and scholars at UC Berkeley annually. The proposed design introduces a new program model that emerged out of a comprehensive review of current issues, trends and studies in the field of international student advising. The core of the orientation program focuses on three major points: 1.) Introducing students to the U.S. higher education system, 2.) Addressing language differences, 3.) Cross-cultural adjustment issues. Using these three points as the basis of the orientation sessions, ten days of planned activities and events have been designed. The orientation program utilizes a variety of teaching methods integrating faculty, UC Berkeley staff and current students through interactive sessions, informal discussions, workshops and planned social activities. The design strives to meet the needs of students and at the same time implement SISS’s strategic vision to forge a positive identity that works collaboratively and proactively with other units within the UC Berkeley community