January 26, 2006

Dear President Coleman:

I am writing regarding a problem that a Rackham student and Graduate Student Instructor,
Marta Cruz-Sojo, encountered when renewing her student visa. Briefly, the student
returned to her home country for the winter break and was not allowed to renew her visa
at the U.S. consulate. Apparently, someone with a similar name is under suspicion. The
student was told to wait, and that the consulate would telephone her once the issue was
resolved. The student has so far missed the first three weeks of classes and has no idea
when the consulate will resolve her situation. She is also a Graduate Student
Instructor. So she has also missed the first three weeks of the class that she teaches.
Another instructor has substituted for her but the department has told her that unless
she returns by Friday, January 27th, she will no longer be eligible for employment.

I am asking that you assure the University of your support for international students,
faculty and employees by:

I. assuring Marta of the University’s financial and academic support that she was
guaranteed at the start of the semester;
II. contacting legal representatives and government officials as necessary to resolve
Marta’s case;
III. providing centralized counsel and assistance by phone, fax and email to University
members delayed abroad because of visa problems;
IV. continuing employment status, and in the case of students, academic status, until
the visa issue is resolved
V. reimbursing departments for substitute pay that has resulted from visa delays;
VI. advocating on behalf of international students, faculty and staff at the national
level.

Please, President Coleman, respond to the concerns you yourself raised at the University
Presidents Summit on International Education by providing these safeguards to
international students at the University of Michigan. Most importantly, please take
immediate action to help resolve Marta’s case.

Sincerely,
(your name here)

Below, we have included the full text of the letter to GEO from Mary Sue Coleman, as well as the original letter sent by Michael Bader, Vice-President of GEO.
_________________________________________________

Dear Mr. Bader:

Thank-you for your e-mail communication dated January 21, 2006 in which you raised
concerns regarding visa issuance delays for international students.

As you point out in your e-mail, I am well aware of the barriers facing international
students, faculty, visitors and staff desiring to work and study at the University of
Michigan. Many University offices, including the International Center, the Office of
the Assistant Dean for International Education in the Rackham School of Graduate Studies,
the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel, and the Government Relations Office
regularly partner to resolve specific problems and to address policy matters on a
national level, as you have suggested. This on-going collaboration has resulted in
positive outcomes for many individuals and departments and has resulted in effective
advocacy on a national level. We remain fully committed to promoting opportunities for
international education and exchange, and, therefore, will continue with these efforts.

It is a long-standing practice at the University not to discuss individual employment
matters with third parties. The appropriate channel for addressing the GEO concerns
outlined in your e-mail is through Academic Human Resources, as required by the
collective bargaining agreement. Please note, however, that for the last 2-3 years it
has been standard practice that all employment letters and offers of enrollment advise
international students, faculty and staff that their continued employment and/or
enrollment at the University is contingent upon maintaining a valid immigration status.
This is a sound practice based on the business needs of the University that appropriately
recognizes each individual’s personal responsibility to remain in valid immigration
status.

Sincerely,

Mary Sue Coleman

THE ORIGINAL LETTER FROM GEO TO PRESIDENT COLEMAN:

January 21, 2006

Dear President Coleman:

We were pleased to read of your support of international students in the Michigan Daily
article of January 9th, 2006. Your attendance at the University Presidents Summit on
International Education and your concern about students who have difficulty returning to
the United States with their multiple entry visas show that the University of Michigan is
aware of the obstacles that new visa regulations present.

Unfortunately, these visa problems are not a hypothetical occurrence. In one LS&A
department a Rackham student returned to her home country for the winter break and was
not allowed to renew her visa at the U.S. consulate. Apparently, someone with a similar
name is under suspicion. The student was told to wait, and that the consulate would
telephone her once the issue was resolved. The student has so far missed the first three
week of classes has no idea when the consulate will resolve her situation. Sound like a
nightmare? It gets worse.

She is also a Graduate Student Instructor. So she has also missed the first three weeks
of the class that she teaches. Another instructor has substituted for her but the
department has told her that unless she returns by Monday, January 23rd, she will no
longer be eligible for employment. Her job pays her tuition, which allows her to study.
Her study makes her eligible for a student visa, which is currently held up by the U.S.
consulate because someone with a name similar to hers is under suspicion. Unless her
case is resolved over the weekend she will lose this semester of study and her job.

If the University of Michigan truly supports international education it must not
terminate students for circumstances beyond their control. The University should
unequivocally support these students by:

I. providing centralized counsel and assistance by phone, fax and email to
students delayed abroad because of visa problems
II. continuing students’ academic and employment status until the visa issue is
resolved
III. reimbursing departments for substitute pay that has resulted from visa delays
IV. advocating on behalf of international students at the national level

Please, President Coleman, respond to the concerns you yourself raised at the University
Presidents Summit on International Education by providing these safeguards to
international students at the University of Michigan.

Sincerely,

Some of us are in dire need of some of the contract improvements in our strike platform, and some of us are not.  If you break your fellow GSI’s picket line you are actively fighting against their attaining improved healthcare, their improved wages, their improved protection against discrimination.  By entering a university building during a strike you are not “sitting this one out” – you have taken a side against those who need
these protections.

We do not have healthcare because the university is generous and wanted us to have it.  The reason we have healthcare, the reason we get paid as much as we do, the reason we can’t be made to work 50 hours a week for a professor, etc is because some grad student or construction worker that we probably don’t know stuck her neck out years ago and wrestled it from the administration. In our last round of negotiations, one of the skilled trade unions took a couple hundred dollars each in pay cuts rather than cross our line.

Some will try to tell you that taking a job action means that you don’t care about the education of your students.  That is a lie. This union has consistently fought for better GSI training, smaller classes and other improvements to undergrad education. Our contract is a huge reason that this public university attracts great graduate student teachers.  Your
students have skipped class before, and it won’t ruin their education to miss one more.