International Student Advisory Board (ISAB)

Application Process

International Student Advisory Board (ISAB) applications are open and due by March 29, 2023. This is a great opportunity for students to have a positive impact on the international student experience at UMD! Applications for ISAB can be submitted at this link.

Review

All applications will be reviewed by a selection committee.

Selection Criteria

The selection committee is looking for candidates that represent the international student body at UMD. This includes actively engaged students from all academic disciplines, countries, and degree levels. Holding a student leadership position is not a prerequisite for participation in the ISAB. In addition to meeting the representation requirement, applications will be assessed by three overarching criteria.

Relationship building: Desire to develop strong relationships with international student organizations and UMD international students.
Seeks to make a difference: Serve as leader to the international student community through the collection and sharing of information around resources and programs available as well as by seeking to understand the obstacles and challenges facing our community.
Solutions-driven: Individuals who are creative, analytical, and focused on developing solutions to the identified challenges of international students on our campus.

MISSION

The ISAB is a group of international student representatives selected to serve as a sounding board for ISSS and other campus units. Members are expected to foster and maintain strong relationships with international student organizations and UMD international students to understand their lived experience and challenges. In turn, members possess the ability to collect and share information as necessary. This board is solutions-oriented and seeks to empower students to develop solutions to the identified challenges of international students on our campus.

ABOUT THE BOARD

Representation

Ten (10) board members should represent international students in the following categories: first-year, transfer (SEVIS*), exchange, professional master, academic master and Ph.D. students. The numbers of students for each category should roughly correspond to those proportions of international student campus enrollment. Two (2) members will be asked to serve as co-chairs.

Term Lengths

Summer and Fall
One calendar year
Two calendar years

The term lengths vary to allow for board continuity and smooth transition for new board members. It also allows for students in shorter academic programs to participate in this leadership role.

Board Member Responsibilities

Attend a retreat at the beginning of the summer semester
Actively participate in monthly ISAB meetings
Be active in the international student life community
Reach out to international student peers to hear about their experience
Learn about ISSS and other campus resources/outreach for international students and share this with peers
Develop and present ”Annual Board Report" to ISSS staff each year

Co-Chair Responsibilities

Serve as a resource to other ISAB members
Encourage solutions-based approaches
Create an open and inviting environment that fosters professional and proactive discussions
Develop agenda items and coordinate ISAB meetings
Work closely with ISSS Director, or the Director’s representative, including monthly meetings to create the agenda and check-in on progress
Co-develop ISSS programs and promote current programs that enhance the integration of international students at UMD
Ensure that a final board report is created and presented to the ISSS team annually at the end of spring semester

Meeting Structure

Monthly meetings will be scheduled a semester in advance with board members’ understanding their attendance is compulsory at the time of application. Meetings will be held virtually or in person depending on restrictions. The primary goal of the board is to identify student concerns for FY 2022-2023 and provide input to ISSS. The ISSS Integration Program team will advise the group.

Mandatory Retreat

All ISAB members are required to attend a board member retreat.

General topic areas that ISAB members may consider focusing on in their first year

Career Development services
Navigating a large campus
Academic success
Social and cultural adjustment
Other topics raised by board members and international student community

You may contact board members at ISAB@umd.edu.

Meet the 2022-23 ISAB Members
Lynn-Marie Edwards (Graduate Co-Chair) - Lynn-Marie Edwards is a second-year Master of Public Management student at the University of Maryland. She worked as an Attorney-at-Law in the Trinidad and Tobago and is interested in policy implementation and management in the justice system. Ultimately, she’d like to combine her legal experience and graduate degree to improve the administration of justice in Trinidad and Tobago. Many of her interests relate to her love for people and engaging in meaningful conversation. These include public speaking, event hosting and coordination, current affairs, reading widely, legal research and writing, cooking, and baking, participating in cultural events like Trinidad and Tobago’s annual carnival, networking, and travelling. She has served as a Do Good Ambassador for the Do Good Institute, University of Maryland; a graduate teaching assistant at the School of Public Policy; and an International Orientation Leader for the International Students and Scholar Services (ISSS).
Precious Ogunsola (Undergraduate Co-Chair) - Hi! I am Precious Ogunsola. I am from Nigeria. I am an undergraduate majoring in Government and Politics, International Relations and Theatre. I am an ARHU ambassador on campus, serve as the Vice Chairman of Maryland Student Legislature, and Assistant PR director of Kreativity Troupe. I am really excited to work with various students in the international student’s community.
Divyanash Agrawal - Divyansh is a Masters of Engineering in Robotics student. Being an international student himself, he is passionate about helping fellow international students adjust to a new environment. He wants to develop a diverse community of students where they can share their needs and difficulties. In his free time, he likes to cook, travel and explore local eateries. You can connect with him at dagrawa1@umd.edu.
Hadeel Arqbi - Hello! My name is Hadeel, and I am originally from Saudi Arabia. I am a Ph.D. student in the Second Language Acquisition Program. I had a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts Boston. My research interests are foreign language assessment and AI applications in language learning and evaluation. My goal is to find innovative solutions to help language learners master their target language in less time and effort. I am passionate about learning new languages and cultures and meeting people from around the globe. If I'm not at home reading or cooking, I'm outside hiking or biking. As an ISAB member, I'd love to connect with you and learn about you; harqbi@umd.edu.
Sara-Laure Faraji - Sara-Laure is a PhD student in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland (UMD). She came to the US from Ottawa, Canada. Prior to starting her studies at UMD, she earned her B.A. and M.S. in criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. While pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in the US, Sara-Laure became familiar with the challenges specific to international students which led her to join ISAB and serve as a co-chair during the 2021-2022 school year. In addition to serving on ISAB, Sara-Laure chairs the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS) Dean's Graduate Student Advisory Council (DGSAC). During her time at UMD, she has also taken part in the Diversity and International Student Committee of the DGSAC, has served as a mentor for first-year students in her department, and has managed a mentorship program for first-year BSOS PhD students. Please feel free to reach out to her at faraji@umd.edu. She is always happy to connect with students and can communicate in English, French, Haitian Creole and Farsi.
Saeed Hadadan - Hi! I am Saeed Hadadan and I am a PhD student in Computer Science at UMD. As an International Student Advisory board, I am privileged to work with many great people, both my peers in ISAB and ISSS reps, to address the challenges of International student lives on and off campus. My focus would be to gather information and find solutions to improve the social life of the international student body. Feel free to drop me a line about your experience as an International student: saeedhd@umd.edu
Victor Hernandez-Sang - Víctor Hernández-Sang is a Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology. His doctoral project examines the performance of gagá (Haitian Dominican music and dance) and racial discrimination in the Dominican Republic through ethnographic and archival research. He completed his master’s degree at UMD with a thesis focused on the performance of palos music in fiestas de misterios in the D.R. and holds a B.A. in music from Luther College, Decorah, IA. In 2019, he was a fellow of the Latino Center at the Smithsonian Institution of the Latino Museum Studies Program. Hernández-Sang is the graduate assistant for the Latin American Studies Center. Prior to UMD, he taught flute, ear training, and English in his hometown, Santiago, Dominican Republic.
JooHee Kim - JooHee Kim is a Ph.D. student and Flagship Fellow in Art History and Archaeology. Before coming to the UMD, JooHee completed her M.A. in Museum Studies at New York University after finishing her first M.A. in Art History at the University of Chicago. She also holds a dual degree in Fine Art (Painting) and Art History from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. As an international student advisory board member, she hopes to bring vibrant energy and a stimulating relationship to the community and inspire and encourage these traits.
Belal Ahmad Noori - Belal Ahmad Noori is a current Fulbright scholar from Afghanistan and a second-year master’s degree student of International Education Policy at the UMD. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American University of Afghanistan. In 2018, he became the first Afghan ever selected for the Crossroad Emerging Leaders Program of the Harvard Business School Club of GCC. He has demonstrated experience in the humanitarian sector and his area of interest is Education in Emergencies programs. From 2017 – 2020, Belal worked with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) an international humanitarian organization. There, he was a project officer focused on education in emergencies and the protection of civilians. In 2021, he joined the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a National Reporting Associate for the Emergency Response Program of FAO in Kabul. He enjoys working with international students and sharing ideas about Afghan culture and is strongly interested to learn about other cultures and countries.
Mishti Relan - Hello! I am an International student from India and currently a senior UMD majoring in computer science. I also have a minor in statistics. I have also been a summer tour guide this summer giving campus tours to prospective students and parents. I am passionate about helping new students adjust to our campus and have a great time here, hence, I decided to take on the role of an ISAB member.
Tetiana Tytko - “Hi everybody! My name is Tetiana Tytko, and I'm from Ukraine. I've been a terp for almost three years. Here at UMD, I'm doing my PhD in Second Language Acquisition in the School of Languages Literatures, and Cultures. I’m the president of the Ukrainian Student Association (UASA) and a member of the International Student Advisory Board (ISAB). When I don't do research, I enjoy traveling and doing yoga. Feel free to reach out to me via my email at ttytko@umd.edu if you want to take over the ISSS Instagram account (@umd.isss) for a day or if you’d like to share your experience as an international student!"