This article explains how Terra Dotta ISSS: Scholar Admin can help ISSS offices support third-party OPT and STEM students working at your institution.
F-1 students on OPT from a previous institution often find OPT or STEM OPT employment at another institution. While that second institution does not need to update SEVIS with participation, oftentimes Terra Dotta universities and organizations want to be able to gather information and report on this population. To help with that responsibility, Terra Dotta ISSS has incorporated this process into our New Sponsorship Request.
New Sponsorship Request
Starting a New Sponsorship Request
After a department has completed hiring and is ready to notify the ISSS office that they are working with a student on F-1 OPT/STEM, they will complete the New Sponsorship Request and indicate F-1 as the proposed visa type.
Clicking F-1 OPT/STEM will also display four new fields:
- I-20 Start Date
- I-20 End Date
- EAD Start Date
- EAD End Date
Note: none of these new fields are required by the department to submit the request. However, the EAD start date and end date are required for ISSS Admin to continue to process the record as an F-1 OPT/STEM.
Processing a New Sponsorship Request
Routing on this Sponsorship Request is similar to any other request. The ISSS Admin may review the request on the Dashboard and select how to process it - as a J-1, H-1B or F-1 OPT/STEM (as well as Ineligible).
By selecting F-1 OPT/STEM, the ISSS Admin will be able to identify that this F-1 student is working at the institution while keeping the record separate from other F-1s who studying at your institution on your SEVIS record. The ISSS Admin can also update information including the host department field on the Department tab for an existing scholar. Changing this information will permit the Departmental Admins in the new department to see the scholar in their dashboard.
When the record is active as F-1 OPT/STEM, the Request, Documents, and History Log tabs display to the Department and ISSS. The Documents tab can be used to gather copies of the I-20 and EAD as well as any other documents your office requires.
Changing Host Department of Existing Scholar
The ISSS office can now update the information in the host department field on the Department tab for an existing scholar. Changing this information will permit the admins in the new department to see the F-1 OPT/STEM student within their dashboard results. To complete this action, open the student's profile and navigate to the Request tab. Change the 'Host Department' field and select the correct admin from the 'Contact Name' field. The new department will be able to access the student's record for any needed updates.
Portal Invite
After selecting F-1 OPT/STEM for the New Sponsorship Request, the ISSS Admin will then be prompted to activate the Scholar Portal for the scholar and to send a request to notify the scholar. Clicking Yes will display an email window to send the scholar instructions to access to their portal. Important: At this time, sending the initial email to the scholar is the only way to activate the scholar's access to the Scholar Portal.
Inviting a scholar to the system can be done at many points throughout the process. The initial invitation is described above. After the initial creation, ISSS Admins can invite the F-1 OPT/STEM student to the portal through the Dashboard.
- Begin by using the filter Scholar Portal Access to sort for closed portals.
- A checkbox will appear in the upper right corner of each card for users who have yet to be invited into the system. Click the Checkbox individually or for multiple scholars.
- When at least one scholar's card is selected, Excel Export and Portal Invite options appear within the Actions menu in the top of the Dashboard. Simply select Portal Invite to send the New User email.