GENERAL REMINDERS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
18 November 2006
On-Campus Employment & Receiving A Paycheck: If you are working on campus now and will continue to work at ODU or ODURF in 2007, you must fill in tax forms before the end of the year. It is necessary that you complete new tax forms each year. Mark your calendar for Thurs., 30 Nov. and Fri., 1 Dec. to attend Tax & Travel Signature Days. See the flyer for details on times, locations and necessary documents.
Traveling Overseas Soon?: If you are an F or J visa holder who is traveling out of the U.S. during the upcoming breaks and will return to ODU for your studies, you probably need a new travel signature from ISSS on your I-20 or DS-2019. (Signatures should be less than six months old upon entry.) Mark your calendar for Thurs., 30 Nov. and Fri., 1 Dec. to attend Tax & Travel Signature Days; I-20s/DS-2019s will be signed on the spot! See the flyer for details on times, locations and necessary documents.
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 (one year of work permission from Immigration); to find out if you are, please sign up for a workshop to learn about immigration requirements and the application process. The application deadline for December graduates is 1 December and the last OPT workshop this semester is 27 November.
Curricular Practical Training (CPT): The last CPT workshop of the semester is 5 December. If you are an F-1 visa holder interested in participating in an internship, visit our site and read up on the requirements to see if you are eligible. If so, you can sign up for a workshop to get full information on this Immigration benefit.
ODU Holiday Illumination: President Runte would, again, like to invite international students to be a part of the Illumination program. If you have a special outfit from your home country, would like to say a greeting in your language and give a very short explanation of a holiday in your home country, please e-mail us ASAP. The program will be on Tuesday, 5 December; program participants should be there by 4:45 and will need to be there for approximately an hour.
University Closed: The University will close on Wednesday, 22 November at 12 p.m. for the Thanksgiving Break. If there is an emergency (e.g. hospitalization, need to return to home country for family emergency (and require a travel signature), etc.), a member of the ISSS staff can be reached via Campus Police at 757-683-4000. All offices will re-open on Monday, 27 November at 8 a.m.
Online Suggestion Box: We have added an Online Suggestion Box to our web site. Submissions are anonymous; however, if you wish, you may leave your name for follow-up or clarification. We would appreciate your suggestions and comments so that we may work on improving our services.
Thanksgiving: This is a holiday when we remember the things for which we are thankful in our lives. If you would like more information about Thanksgiving, visit the following links: Holidays on the Net, Wikipedia, and Plimoth Plantation. Most stores have shortened or no business hours on Thanksgiving (Thursday, 23 November), so you may need to plan accordingly.
ENJOY THE THANKSGIVING BREAK!
