GENERAL REMINDERS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

25 October 2006

Optional Practical Training (OPT):  Are you an F-1 visa holder who will graduate in December or a graduate student finished with coursework with only your project or dissertation remaining?  You may be eligible for OPT; to find out if you are, please sign up for a workshop to learn about the application process.  If you attended an OPT workshop more than six months ago, you should plan on attending again. 

Also, please note that there have recently been many mistakes on the EADs (OPT cards) issued by Immigration due to illegible handwriting.  To minimize this possibility, we now require that you fill out the I-765 online and print it out to submit with your application. 

Social Security Numbers:  If you have received your Social Security card, please remember that ISSS needs to make a copy of the original to properly update your payroll forms.  If you are not able to come during I-9 Hours, please e-mail us and we can work out an alternate time with you. 

Time Change:  Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour on Saturday night.  Enjoy the extra hour of sleep!

Online Suggestion Box:  We have added an Online Suggestion Box to our web site in the About ISSS section.  Submissions are anonymous; however, if you wish, you may leave your name so that you can be contacted for follow-up or if we need to clarify anything.  We would appreciate your suggestions and comments so that we may work on improving our services.

Tax Form & Travel Signature Day:  Mark your calendar for Thursday, 30 November or Friday, 1 December!  If you currently have a job with the University or Research Foundation and will continue to work in 2007, please plan to come to ISSS on one of these days to fill out 2007 tax forms, thus ensuring that there will be no interruption in your spring semester paychecks.  (If you will begin a new job in 2007, please come to ISSS during the regular I-9 hours.)

On those two same days, we will be signing I-20s and DS-2019s for students leaving the country and re-entering after Winter Break to continue studies at ODU. Signatures should not be more than six months old at the time you return to the U.S.  You'll need to bring your current I-20 or DS-2019 and your passport; if you have dependents, be sure to bring their visa documents, too.  If you have no registration holds, we will sign your document(s) on the spot!

Times and additional details will be announced soon on the listserv and posted on our web site in the Announcements section.

Webb Advising Hours:  Effective immediately, we have cancelled Webb Advising hours.  We didn't have as many students stop by with questions as we had anticipated; therefore, we felt it was more effective to keep advisors in Dragas, where we have a steady flow of students.  We have considered doing some type of online advising, so you may hear about that in the near future.  Another possibility is going to colleges on regular days.  If you have an idea for making advisors more accessible to students, please let us know via the Online Suggestion Box. 

Health Insurance Tips--Review Your Policy:  Make sure you understand what your policy will and will not cover.  If there are restrictions, be aware of the instances when you will not be reimbursed for expenses.  Please feel free to ask the company to explain any terminology or phrases that are not familiar to you.  Most U.S. health insurance policies, for example, do not cover dental work but may cover injuries to your mouth as a result of an accident.  

Halloween:  Halloween is just around the corner on 31 October.  Here are a few links to info on this holiday:

General Info 
Wikipedia Article
Trick-or-Treating Safety

If you would like to pass out candy to children, your porch light should be on.  It's best if candy is individually packaged (like miniature candy bars, gum, etc.).  If you live in an apartment complex, it isn't likely you will get many trick-or-treaters.  In general, trick-or-treating is for children 12 and under, and takes place for about two hours in the late afternoon or early evening.  Each city has its own regulations about times and ages for trick-or-treating; you can refer to your city's official site for more information.

There will be some Halloween fun this Friday from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. in Webb Center; see the flyer for more details.