Missouri State University working with international students whose visas revoked

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - In May, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States will begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students at colleges and universities. Some foreign-born students at Missouri State were made aware that their legal status as international students was being revoked.

President Williams said the university is the one that spotted the issues on the students’ forms and informed them of the issue.

”And our students were fortunate enough to have the help here,” said Dr. Richard “Biff” Williams, Missouri State University President. “Many students are saying, why aren’t we standing up. These international students do not want attention brought to them; we are helping them on a case-by-case basis.”

Missouri State University officials assisted them in obtaining legal representation, educated them on their rights, and reinstated their enrollment, allowing them to complete their degrees.

President Williams said it is the goal of Missouri State to make sure that it serves every student within the system. And that the services provided to students in need meet those needs. For Missouri State University, having international students is a benefit to the campus community, which is why helping them is so important.

“Our international students are a vital asset to our campus. It brings wonderful culture here, it is something that has always been a great part of our campus and will continue to be a part of it,” said Dr. Williams.

For international students, the future of an education in America can be concerning. President Williams says the University is the one that spotted the issues on the students’ forms and informed them of the issue.

“I think our staff did a really good job of getting them the that they need,” said Dr. Williams.

Missouri State helped them obtain their attorneys, informed them of their rights, and allowed them to complete their degrees.

For Missouri State, the university continues to work on recruiting international students to its campus.

“Recruiting students. It’s tricky because everything is changing, and so we are trying to stay up to date on executive orders, as well as any law changes, procedures, or policies. We’re still recruiting heavily,” said Dr. Williams.

Missouri State maintains a partnership with the College of International Business in China.

“We just had Vice President Bodenhausen just came back from China, so they went and had the graduation ceremonies there. And I was at Conference USA meetings, I haven’t had the opportunity to go over China, but we’ve had alumni events there that were just packed. We’ve had our commencement ceremonies. We’re continuing to add programs of need,” said Dr. Williams.

For Missouri State University, having international students is a benefit to the campus community, which is why helping them is so significant.

“I think we all have concerns of what this means for international students. There’s not much we can do except sit and wait, and then as things come down, we’ll just look at what the issues might be, and we’ll try to resolve them as we can,” said Dr. Williams.

However, questions about the future for students remain prevalent.

“And so, there’s a lot of noise in the world right now. So, our focus is on what can we do here and now to make sure that our students are successful,” said Dr. Williams.

No matter where a student is, seeing news about other universities may raise questions, but for Dr. Williams, his focus remains on the Missouri State Bears, no matter where they are.

“We fall in a trap of thinking that what’s happening to another institution will happen to us. And what we really focus on what are we doing at Missouri State University. Harvard is a much different institution from us, and so we’re focusing on student success. We’re focusing on adding the degree programs that are necessary, making sure that our students are getting itted, but they are staying, and that they’re getting the jobs that they need, and making sure that they’re getting the internships and externships that they need to be career ready,” said Dr. Williams.

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