September 2003 — Special Feature
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A Pragmatic Approach to High-Tech Security on Campus
Foreign-Student Tracking System
The mandated adoption of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) program by many universities this year was one of the largest scale and most controversial technological projects campus IT professionals were recently faced with implementing. Tech-minded colleges, such as The University of Texas at Austin, have adopted SEVIS, which provides tracking, monitoring and access to accurate and current information on nonimmigrant students, including exchange visitors.
The project is a joint venture between the departments of Homeland Security, State and Education. SEVIS was initially met with frustration by many school administrators who found the task of entering a large amount of data daunting. But, it is now a mandatory policy for all higher education institutions that accept international student enrollment.
According to the Bureau of Citizenship and Information Services (BCIS), the system automates "the manual data-collection process that schools and exchange visitor programs are already utilizing to gather information on their students, scholars and exchange visitors." Data collected includes basic immigration information as well as a student's visa and academic status. The data entered by a school or exchange program resides in a central database on a server maintained by BCIS, which is accessible by schools and exchange programs via its Web site.
The deadline was Aug. 1, by which all schools that admit foreign students - about 74,000 in all - were required to enter data into the system regarding foreign students who were enrolled prior to Feb. 15, 2003. This dramatic acceleration of the system affected higher education IT departments, international student offices and human resources departments as they worked to meet the implementation deadline. SEVIS compliance is also having an impact on school admissions since a significant percentage of foreign students have been reluctant to apply to universities that use this tracking system. At press time, it wasn't known how many universities actually met the government mandate.
'311' System
Ron Police, Oracle's executive vice president of higher education, spearheads the team that offers universities the means to tie a school's existing databases and applications together with SEVIS requirements. "While we provide an integrated platform for a school's SEVIS compliance, we also help the student stay safe from the first day of classes," says Police. Oracle's applications can be accessed on staff cell phones, as well as on PDAs equipped to receive instant messages and notifications.
Schools adopting integrated technology platforms are now able to track students from the day they apply and/or are recruited to the day they leave. Police says these platforms are even being integrated into the nascent "311" system on selected campuses nationwide, which provides the toll-free 311 number that is devoted to nonemergency calls to police and other government offices.
A critical security period occurs at the beginning of each term for all students, especially incoming freshmen who are often in unfamiliar surroundings. "We provide tools for students to register for classes without waiting in line or even needing to be present," according to Police, who says Oracle's online registration process is finding traction at many schools nationwide. "Students can stay safe at home or in their assigned living quarters during this often chaotic time."
