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University of the Pacific

Guiding the 21st century foreign student advisor : a compendium to the Handbook of Foreign Student Advising

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>The field of Foreign Student Advising has undergone significant change over the last 25 years, outpacing the seminal guidance in the field provided in The Handbook of Foreign Student Advising by Gary Althen, first published in 1983 and revised in 1995. Foreign Student Advisors (FSAs) are professionals employed at institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations, who work with nonimmigrant students (primarily those in F and J nonimmigrant status). Their essential function is to ensure the student's legal status and help promote adaptation to and academic success in the U.S. The field of Foreign Student Advising is inherently complex and intercultural, more so today due to the ever-present and increasing federal government parameters following 9/11/01.</p> <p>This thesis addresses these changes by providing a compendium to supplement The Handbook. The steps taken prior to writing the compendium include: consultation with Althen, a critical analysis of what does and does not work in The Handbook for today's FSA. a survey of a select group of international education leaders to determine what topics should be included in the compendium, and a review of the literature and research about FSAs with a focus on what has been written since 1995.</p> <p>In order to secure the most meaningful feedback on the major developments in the field, a survey was conducted with fifteen past presidents of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, who had a Foreign Student Advising background and were still active in the field. This information, in combination with the current literature from the field, reflections from my twenty-plus years of FSA experience, and guidance from Althen was used to prepare a compendium to The Handbook. The Compendium provides updated guidance, addressing some of the major changes in the field of Foreign Student Advising.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Level thesis:degree_level
Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
International Studies
Year dc:date.available
2009

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Young, Nancy E.
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Kent Warren

Subjects

dc:subject × 7

Rights

dc:rights

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/720
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:scholarlycommons.pacific.edu:uop_etds-1719

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of the Pacific
Base URL
scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Young, Nancy E.. Guiding the 21st century foreign student advisor : a compendium to the Handbook of Foreign Student Advising. Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted thesis, 2009. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/720