Unpaid Scholars

  UNPAID VISITING INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS:
RESPONDING TO INQUIRIES REGARDING SOJOURNS
AT CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY , LONG BEACH

The following are important points to bear in mind when an inquiry comes to the university on the part of an international scholar who may wish to make a sojourn at the university for the purpose of engaging in unpaid, short-term academic collaboration and research:

1. It is the decision of the Department Chair, with the compliance of the Dean of the College, whether or not the chair thinks it would be appropriate to invite a particular visiting scholar to come to the department for the purpose of engaging in short-term academic collaboration and research. Please note that NO FORMAL INVITATION can be made until all of the steps outlined below have been followed. Additionally, the INVITATION LETTER COMES FROM THE DEAN'S OFFICE.

•  The Chair should consider whether or not the potential visiting scholar has research interests that are in line with work currently being done by faculty members in the department. If there is no congruence of research interests, there is probably no "match" regarding a given international scholar who may be making an inquiry. In such a case, it is the responsibility of the Department Chair to respond in writing to the individual who has made the inquiry, declining his/her request to come to the university.

•  If the Chair decides that there is a "match", then he/she should identify a faculty member in the department who would agree to act as mentor or sponsor of the visiting international scholar and of that person's research interests. The CSULB faculty member would then be expected to correspond with the visiting scholar.

•  The Department Chair, or the faculty mentor, is charged with gathering the required documentation on the visiting scholar. This includes all of the following:

•  A written statement from the visiting scholar regarding his/her research interests;

•  An Affidavit of Financial Support, indicating that the visiting scholar has a minimum of $1,500 per month at his/her disposal for him/herself, plus $1,000 per month for each dependent.

•  A copy of the visitor's highest diploma with certified English translation, if the original diploma is in a language other than English. Normally, we look for a terminal degree.

•  A copy of the visitor's Curriculum Vitae.

•  The CSULB faculty mentor (not the visiting scholar) must fill out the "Foreign Faculty/Researcher Application" form, available from the Center for International Education; the form must be co-signed by both the Department Chair and the Dean.

•  All of the documents from number four above are then sent to Paul Lewis in the CIE, or Brian Nowlin in Foundation (if scholar will be funded by Foundation) for review; from there, they are sent to the Center for International Education for a final review.

•  Once all reviews are completed, the CIE creates the DS-2019 (i.e. the Dept. of State document called the "Certificate of Eligibility" needed by the visiting scholar to request the J-1 Visiting Scholar visa). The DS-2019 is forwarded to the Dean or HR Director of the department, and they are responsible for sending the DS-2019 and welcome letter directly to the international scholar.

•  The above process may be time consuming, particularly if it is necessary to correspond back and forth with a potential visiting international scholar. We, therefore, recommend that the process be initiated three to six months prior to the visiting scholar's desired date of arrival.

•  Please keep in mind that inviting an international scholar to the university carries with it certain responsibilities on the part of the CSULB department. Aside from assigning a faculty mentor, the department must identify appropriate office space, provide for the use of a telephone, computer etc., as well as a number of other details needed to make the sojourn of the visiting scholar successful for him/her and for the department. (See "Departmental Checklist for Service to Visiting International Faculty, Researchers and Scholars" available from the CIE).