New Program Helps International Students Adjust to Life at Pitt-Bradford

By Kimberly Marcott Weinberg
Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing

A new program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford is helping international students adjust to college life in the United States.

Pitt-Bradford has more international students than ever – a record 23 this year. Dr. Ron Binder, associate dean of student affairs, developed the new VISA Mentor Program so that a fellow student could help them adjust to life on campus.

Each international student is paired with a mentor for the course of the school year. After arriving a few days early for the start of the school year, mentors gave the new students tours of campus and its buildings and services and the city of Bradford. Students used the Area Transportation Authority to give the tours so that the international students would know how to use the available public transportation system.

As part of the program, mentors also touch base with their students on a weekly basis, to check on their status throughout the semester and, if possible, accompany students on one of the many trips sponsored by the university.

“We don’t want international students to feel lost,” Binder said. “We want them to be part of our Pitt-Bradford family.”

Binder worked with Kristin Asinger, director of international studies and visiting instructor in sports medicine, to develop the program.

Binder said that many of the international students are referred from the Pittsburgh campus, but some are part of the exchange programs Pitt-Bradford has with Heilbronn University in Germany and Yokohama College of Commerce in Japan.

A wide variety of international students take part in the program, Binder said, including students from Jamaica, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.

Binder said one of the challenges of the program is to figure out who needs help since many students were born in the United States and moved to other countries.

Mentor Kaitlin Zapel, a human relations major from Bradford, said, “For the past two years, I've been suggesting that we establish some sort of mentor program for the visiting international students. I truly felt it would enhance their stay at Pitt-Bradford. I'm really excited that we are finally making this happen my senior year. I think VISA Mentoring will become a major asset on campus.

“I think the international students are responding very well to the VISA Mentor Program. It was especially helpful for them to have extra guidance during the first two to three weeks they were in Bradford,” she said.

International student Mandy Lutze, a senior hospitality major from Heilbronn, said that the program has helped her adjust greatly. She said her mentor, Megan Truman, a sports medicine major from Bradford, did a fantastic job, and she is really happy because the two are housemates on campus. Lutze will return back to Germany after the fall.

With the enrollment rate of international students at an all-time high, the university has also introduced a new club during club night called Panthers Around the World.

P.A.W. is an organization for anyone who is an international student or interested in studying abroad.