International Center Updates: September 29, 2021

International Center Updates
September 29, 2021

Adjusting to Challenges in the New Semester
As we head into the third week of the semester, many of us are now getting settled into the routines of a new school year and enjoying the opportunities of on-campus life. However, for many international students, this is also a time when initial feelings of excitement start to give way to the challenges of adjustment. We want to recognize and validate how you are feeling, and share some suggestions and tips that we at the International Center have picked up over the years. Whether you are a new student facing initial challenges adjusting, or a continuing student experiencing the ups and downs of your international experience, we encourage you to visit our dedicated post at: https://icenter.tufts.edu/blog/2021/09/20/adjusting-to-challenges/, and as always, please feel welcome to contact your international student advisor if you are struggling.

On-Campus Employment Limitations Reminder
F-1 and J-1 students attending Tufts University are permitted to work on-campus for any Tufts University department, office, or unit. During the academic year, on-campus employment may not exceed twenty (20) hours per week. Full-time employment over twenty hours per week is permitted only during school breaks, including the winter break and summer vacation period. Students are individually responsible for ensuring that they understand and comply with these hourly restrictions. Those students working for more than one Tufts department simultaneously are responsible for tracking their cumulative hours each week to ensure that they are not working over twenty hours per week during the academic year.

F-1 students with a valid Form I-20 from Tufts University do not need authorization to accept on-campus employment. J-1 students who received their Form DS-2019 from Tufts University must be authorized for on-campus employment through the International Center. Please refer to https://icenter.tufts.edu/immigration/j1-students/j1-student-employment/ for more information.

All students working on-campus will need to apply for a Social Security Number (SSN) if they do not already have one. You may find the eligibility requirements and current procedures for applying for an SSN here: https://icenter.tufts.edu/practical-matters/social-security/.

Optional Practical Training (OPT) and Curricular Practical Training (CPT) Workshops for October
For continuing / returning students: the International Center has scheduled several on-line Zoom workshops throughout October (and November) for F-1 students interested in Curricular Practical Training and in post-completion Optional Practical Training. Please visit our Calendar of Events for dates, times, and links to register in advance.

Additional information about OPT and CPT can be found on our F-1 employment webpage: https://icenter.tufts.edu/immigration/f1-students/f1-employment/.

Introduction to US Taxes
New to the US and feeling confused about how taxes work? If you're an international student who is new to the United States, we know that it's easy to get lost when it comes to taxes. We have created a guide of some basic pointers to get you started, available on our website here: https://icenter.tufts.edu/blog/2021/09/14/new-to-taxes/.

Our tax-filing provider, Sprintax, will also be hosting a webinar on October 13 at 12:00pm EST. This webinar will introduce useful tax information such as what to expect during employment, lay out the core information about tax obligations for non-residents in the US, and provide preparation for tax filing season 2021. The workshop will be free to join, and is open to both new or existing international populations who want to brush up on their tax responsibilities. Register here!

Free Language Resources at Tufts

• IEEE is offering a free, self-paced online course in English for Technical Professionals. This course is available to anyone with a Tufts student ID, and presents the English language standards and practice activities that are essential for your daily success—whether you want to describe a project to a peer, submit a technical proposal to a funding source, or justify your technical findings to a supervisor. Interested student are welcome to visit the IEEE English for Technical Professionals site.
• Tufts students continue to have free access to Mango Languages, an online language learning resource that provides cultural and grammar notes. Log into Mango Languages here to create a profile.
• Tufts University’s StAAR (Student Accessibility and Academic Resources) Center offers language tutoring and conversation practice sessions with trained tutors, which are open to all students. Please visit the StAAR Center website and select “subject tutoring” for schedules.
• Fletcher Students:
  • NEW: The Fletcher Language Practice Matching Program is a new initiative to connect students, faculty, and staff with partners and small groups who are interested in improving their fluency, helping others to improve their skills, or just speaking a particular language together, whether about scholarly or social topics.
  • NEW: Fletcher is now offering Mini-Grants for Language Practice to support language-based group activities where peers keep each other accountable for their language learning, such as meeting for coffee to practice describing their studies in a different language, attending a non-English-speaking event, or undertaking an outing dedicated to language practice. See the link above for more details and to apply.
  • NEW: Come check out a Language Conversation Hour, which offers an opportunity to join a conversation in a language other than English and find language study partners. Find upcoming dates on the myFletcher calendar.
  • Fletcher’s Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies offers language tables in Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, and Farsi. See the email sent by Rachel.Carrillo@tufts.edu this past Friday for more info.
  • The Learning Languages Research Guide compiled by Ginn librarian Ellen McDonald outlines numerous additional free web resources.
  • For more information on the language study and other opportunities at the Fletcher School, contact Jillian DeStone: jillian.destone@tufts.edu

International Center Service Operations for Fall 2021
As we welcome everyone to Tufts for the Fall 2021 semester, the International Center has published a brief guide to Getting Things Done with the International Center. Please visit this link for information about our online services and walk-in hours available at each of our three campus locations. This fall, the International Center will continue to take precautions to protect our students, staff, and visitors through the following measures:

• Many services - including one-on-one advising appointments, document requests, and immigration workshops - will remain online to minimize risks of COVID transmission.
• Walk-in hours will be limited to specific times and dates at each of our offices, and are for document drop-off / pick-up and quick questions only.
• All visitors must continue to use face coverings and observe social distancing while inside an International Center location.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we all work together to meet the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, while ensuring everyone has a successful start to the new year.

Sincerely,

Tufts International Center
https://icenter.tufts.edu
internationalcenter@tufts.edu