Overview
This article provides a tour of the J-1 scholar process from the J-1 scholar's view.
The initial portal invitation email sent to the scholar will contain a link to the Scholar Portal (https://CLIENT URL HERE/index.cfm?fuseaction=scholarPortal.Department) and automatically prompt the scholar to change a password.
- The Header
- Exchange Visitor/Profile Tab
- Additional Information Tab
- Message Center
- Requests Tab
- Documents Tab
The Header
From the header, the scholar can add or update their photo used in the thumbnail for all parties to view (as can the Departmental or ISSS Admin). They can email either the ISSS Admin or Department Admin directly from the portal, and also see any notifications created for the scholar. At this time, the scholar's Notification Bell will generate an alert when a request has been made on their behalf, or when they have received a response from ISSS Admin on a pending request.
Clicking on the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the page will allow the scholar to securely log out.
Exchange Visitor/Profile Tab
The first tab that the Scholar lands on is the Exchange Visitor tab if the Scholar's profile is in draft status or Profile if they are an active Scholar. The information on these tabs are the same.
The Exchange Visitor/Profile tab contains information specific to the EV. Some of this information is transferred directly from the New Sponsorship Request that was completed by the department. Additional fields are available for either the scholar or department to complete.
Available fields include:
Name of EV panel:
- Family Name
- Given Name
- Middle Name
- Email Address
- Gender
- Date of Birth
Information panel:
- Birth City
- Country of Permanent Residence
- EV ID
- US-born Non Citizen Reason
- Has the beneficiary ever been a J-1 exchange visitor or J-2 dependent of a J- exchange visitor?
Biographical Information panel:
- Country of Birth
- Country of Citizenship
Contact Information:
- Primary Email Address
- Primary Phone Number
- Secondary Email Address
- Secondary Phone Number
- Foreign Phone Number
- Foreign Country Code
Address Information panel:
- U.S. Physical Address information
- U.S. Mailing Address information
- Foreign Address information
Dependent Information panel:
- Relationship
- Name
- Gender
- Date of Birth
- Birth City
- Country of Birth
- Country of Citizenship
- Country of Permanent Residence
Emergency Contact Information:
- Contact Name
- Contact Number
- Email Address
- Languages Known
- Address
After you update these fields, click the Update button located at the bottom center.
Additional Information
This tab contains any specific content and workflow that the ISSS office has configured. This could be information that the Department Administrator completed as part of the initial New Sponsorship Request, or content created specific to J-1 scholar process (for example, information relating to the 212(e) requirement). The ISSS Admin completely controls this page.
The scholar can view information that the ISSS Admin has assigned to the Scholar when the workflow was configured. Note, this page will display as a blank page from the scholar's view if all content is given only Departmental view permissions.
Important: The above example has no content configured or assigned for the scholar to complete (though the department may).
Message Center
This is the hub of communication tracking for the scholar. Here, they can review messages and time stamps of messages sent from Terra Dotta. Messages begin from the point that the Departmental Admin submit a request to ISSS for sponsorship (before scholar had access to the portal). Here the scholar can track the communication that has been sent to them and about their case. The first five communications display on the landing page, chronologically organized from newest to oldest. Scholars can to expand the view to search for specific communications.
The Scholar can click on the name of the message to open the content of the message in a new modal window.
Requests
This tab is viewable to the Scholar once they are in active status. After the scholar's academic objective has been created, this tab will contain the majority of the requests they need to transact from the ISSS office and A/RO. Scholars or departments can initiate a request from the A/RO, then track the processing of the request. If the request is associated with a SEVIS batch action, then the batching information ("pending" or "processed") will also be shown.
Terra Dotta prevents multiple erroneous requests while providing the scholar transparent status updates that confirm how their request is being handled by the ISSS office. Both pending and completed request cards will show the most recent five requests, with a link to review older requests.
Documents
The Documents tab categorizes all documents contained within a scholar's record - from passport ID pages and proof of English proficiency to a resume or CV and appointment letters. The Scholar, Department, and ISSS may all upload documents here.
Note: At this time, JPEG and PDF documents are supported in the documents tab.