Since the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Service (SEVIS) was implemented in late 2003, international students have struggled to make enough money to live in Boston with the limited hours they are allowed to work.
“Part-time work on campus is allowed for an international student in good standing,” said David Enderlin, associate director of the International Student and Scholar Institute. “These students cannot work 21 hours one week and 19 the next. They must never exceed 20 hours on campus, except during vacation periods.”
Harish Phadke, a graduate operations research student, is originally from Bombay, India, and has lived in the United States for two years.
Phadke, along with about 100 other international students, works as a proctor for the Resident Security Office (RSO), swiping cards up to his limit of 20 hours a week. He said he often works the early morning hours, which pay more than normal hours, to maximize the amount of money he gets from his 20-hour workweek.
“The money is the major driving force,” he said. He said students who proctor overnight, who get the highest pay, tend to be 95 percent international students.
Tom Cote, associate director of residential safety and security, said proctors who work overnight make $7.88 an hour with a $2.50 addition, called a differential, added to their hourly pay. Those who work morning shifts make $7.88 and hour with a $.50 differential, and the rest of the shifts make only $7.88 per hour.
While working overnight may be an undesirable shift for some, he said, it is the shift that brings in the most earnings.
An extra shift, made especially for international students, runs from 10:40 p.m. to 2 a.m., to allow international students to work 20 full hours a week, Cote said. Additional paperwork is not needed from international students who are applying to RSO, he said, but more information must be supplied on the typical I-9 form, which is required of all working students.
In addition to limiting their work hours, the SEVIS system also tracks international students throughout their entire college careers.
“The government knows at all times where [international students] are and what they are doing,” Enderlin said.
He said new databases such as SEVIS allow the government to make sure students from other countries are in the country to study. While databases for international student information have been in the works since 1996, Enderlin said, the events of September 11 sped up the process.
SEVIS keeps track of an international student’s address, biographical information and all academic information, including major, graduation date and classes taken. Any changes to an international student’s situation whatsoever must be submitted to the SEVIS system within days, Enderlin said.
“Within so many days we have to tell them if a new student hasn’t arrived when before we just said ‘Oh, they didn’t make it,'” Enderlin said.
International students are also limited in the amount of time they can work while in classes, Enderlin said.
Overall, the implementation of the SEVIS program and stricter regulations has led to more paperwork, and sometimes more confusion, on the part of international students.
“Sometimes we don’t really understand what’s going on,” Grenier said, calling the process “very complicated” sometimes.
Enderlin said the ISSI attempts to make the process as easy as possible, and said although it “doesn’t sound very efficient or friendly,” the systems are necessary for protection and, in the end, don’t inconvenience international students greatly.
Phadke agreed, and said although he has noticed stricter regulations while entering the U.S. since September 11, that in the end, the process is not too difficult or intruding.
“Everything is put into a database, it’s become really standard, regular,” he said. “It’s not that much of a problem, really.”
