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International Center Improvement Project & INSZoom System Rollout. Frances Mueller Division of Student Affairs. Agenda. International Center Improvement Project Background Vision, goals Key accomplishments to date Upcoming initiatives that may impact units INSZoom web system Overview
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International Center Improvement Project& INSZoom System Rollout Frances MuellerDivision of Student Affairs MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Agenda • International Center Improvement Project • Background • Vision, goals • Key accomplishments to date • Upcoming initiatives that may impact units • INSZoom web system • Overview • Impact to units • How you can help • Q & A MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
International Center Challenges • External (since 9/11) • U.S. Department of Homeland Security immigration and national security regulations • Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) • Global competition • Internal • Technical infrastructure • Business processes • Limited institutional policies MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
The Big Questions • How is the U-M International Center handling these challenges? • What about the future? MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Reviews • Division of Student Affairs • External immigration services consultant (Fragomen, LLP) • U-M Faculty & Staff Immigration Task Force review • 20-member task force • Chaired by Liz Barry, Managing Director, Life Sciences Institute MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Assessments & Recommendations • Assessed • State of immigration and national security regulations in the U.S. since 9/11 • Faculty and staff immigration services at other higher education institutions • Faculty and staff immigration services at U-M • Recommended improvements to U-M institutional immigration policies and business practices to ensure compliance with U.S. immigration regulations • Approved and supported by • U-M Executive Officers • President Mary Sue Coleman • Project officially began July 2005 MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Faculty & Staff Immigration Task Force • International Center – Rudie Altamirano*, Kay Clifford • International Institute – Doug Kennedy • Life Sciences Institute – Liz Barry*, Halima Cherif • HRAA – Diane Benson • General Counsel – Donica Varner • Provost/Academic Affairs – Jeff Frumkin • Research – Curt Smitka • Risk Management – Kathleen Rychlinski * Task Force Chair MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Faculty & Staff Immigration Task Force (cont.) • Business – Izak Duenyas • Engineering – Karen Liska • LSA – Mamadou Diouf, Donald Lopez, Robin Sarris • Medical – Clarissa Hunter, Deb Komorowski, Jan Mulcrone • Rackham– John Godfrey • Dearborn – Reynolda Brown, Emily Wang MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Project Vision • Ensure that the U-M International Center is in a position to meet changing demands in • U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security immigration and national security regulations • High-volume U-M immigration service needs • U.S. and U-M interests in attracting international students, scholars, faculty and staff to increase international perspective in higher education • Position the U-M International Center as a leader in higher education immigration services and operations MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Project Goals • Leverage technology to improve International Center service delivery and responsiveness • Improve institutional immigration policies, business processes • Streamline internal operations to gain efficiencies • Implement methods for continued improvements MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Key Accomplishments to Date • Technical infrastructure • Macs to PCs • Health insurance billing, remittance & tracking in M-Pathways • Email management system for tracking & archiving email to students, scholars • New phone systems for North Campus and Central Campus locations • Internal process improvements MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Key Accomplishments (cont.) • Retained Immigration Counsel Policy (10/05) • Use U-M approved, retained law firms to process selected Permanent Residency (PR) and other immigration petitions • Fund employment-based U.S. government immigration petition filing fees • Pay for employment-based immigration petition filing fees with University checks • Ensures consistency across U-M and compliance with U.S. Department of Labor regulations • Faculty & Staff Immigration Advisory Council MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Upcoming Initiatives • March 06 • INSZoom web system rollout • May 06 • Web site redesign • June 06 • Additional institutional policy and process changes for the hiring of foreign nationals • Updates to U-M SPG related to the hiring of foreign nationals MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
INSZoom System MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
What is INSZoom? • Web-based system used to process H-1B visa petitions for U-M employment • Used by • International Center • Hiring departments • Foreign national employees • Developed and hosted by an outside vendor (INSZoom) MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Benefits to U-M • Replaces a manual, paper-based process • Reduces overall turnaround time for H-1B visas by the International Center • Shifts some responsibilities from departments to International Center • Improves communication between International Center, hiring departments, foreign national employees • Available 24/7 for global use MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Pilot Results • Decreased overall H-1B visa processing time by the International Center by approximately 35% • Decreased department staff effort by approximately 38% • 100% of departments and 100% of foreign national employees were satisfied or very satisfied with the system MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Impact to Units • Go-live targeted for March 06 • Rollout to Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn campuses • Business process changes • Transition from paper-based process to INSZoom • Department and IC roles, responsibilities MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
PC Windows 98, 2000, or XP Internet Explorer 5.5 or above Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or above Mac OS X Internet Explorer 5.5 or above (preferred) or Safari 1.0 or above Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or above Workstation Recommendations MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Known Technical Issues • Macs • Vendor is not committed to maintaining Mac compatibility in the future • Browsers, other than Internet Explorer, may not display all pop-up windows and may not be able to open forms • Email programs • Must allow links to HTML files via Internet Explorer MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Communications & Training • Email messages to • Deans, directors, department chairs • Known department administrators • Information posted to International Center web sitehttp://www.umich.edu/~icenter/admin/INSZoom/index.html • Optional INSZoom orientation sessions prior to go-live • Online simulations, job aids MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
System Access • International Center assigns user logins and passwords • System access authorization based on • Initial user list updated by MAIS HRMS unit liaisons • Signed Access and Compliance form MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
How You Can Help MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Faculty/Staff Immigration Contacts • What we have • One International Center email list including: • Department staff responsible for initiating visa petitions • University staff who do not process petitions but who are interested in policy and procedure changes • M-Pathways hiring role is too broad for targeted email • What we need • List of authorized users for INSZoom (individuals who submit H-1B employment visa petitions on behalf of a department) • Updated list of interested parties who need or want faculty/staff immigration policy and procedure information, but do not need to access INSZoom MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Faculty/Staff Immigration Contacts (cont.) • What we need • Review spreadsheet for your unit • Add/delete authorized INSZoom users • Add/delete individuals who currently need or may need process and policy information on faculty/staff immigration or foreign national hiring MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Other Ways You Can Help • Inform your units about INSZoom • Ask department administrators to visit the International Center web site for more info: http://www.umich.edu/~icenter/admin/INSZoom/index.html • Stay tuned in to International Center Improvement Project news that may impact your units MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs
Questions? Frances Mueller Senior Project Manager International Center Improvement Project 647-2149 francesm@umich.edu MAIS HR Unit Liaison Meeting International Center Improvement Project Division of Student Affairs