|
« AAUP Homepage
|
Visa Problems May Damage U.S. Science, Groups Warn
By Marjorie J. Censer
Twenty-five higher education, science, and engineering groups issued a joint statement in May cautioning that visa-related problems are discouraging international students and scholars from studying and working in the United States and from attending academic conferences here. If action is not taken soon to improve the visa system, the signatories say, and if internationalstudents continue to decide against scholarly interchanges with the United States, "the damage to our nation's higher education and scientific enterprises, economy, and national security [will] be irreparable."
The statement proposes six specific remedies, including validation of security clearances for the entire duration of study or academic appointment. The clearances are currently valid for only one year. Other recommendations include making it possible for visa applicants to check the status of their applications, and implementing consistent standards for application review. The statement expresses confidence that "it is possible to have a visa system that is timely and transparent, that provides for thorough reviews of visa applicants, and that still welcomes the brightest minds in the world."
The statement stresses the importance of science to the long-term security of the United States: "In the near term, some international scientists and engineers are directly contributing toward helping to win the war on terrorism. In the long run, a robust network of global interactions is essential to winning this war."
The statement's signatories include the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Council on Education, the Association of American Universities, and the National Academy of Sciences.
In a report published in the November-December 2003 issue of Academe, the AAUP's Special Committee on Academic Freedom and National Security in a Time of Crisis drew attention to the threat that on-going visa problems pose to the "vital flow of international visitors" to the United States. Since that report was issued, a Council of Graduate Schools survey found that the number of foreign graduate students applying to study in the United States dropped dramatically for fall 2004 compared with previous years.
"Whether or not the alarming declines we have recently witnessed in foreign graduate student applications to our universities are permanent —we fervently hope they are only temporary — irreparable harm has already been done simply by reducing the international flow of scholars and scholarship," comments Robert O'Neil, chair of the AAUP special committee. "Thus any efforts to expedite the processing of visas, and to make U.S.universities more accessible to scholars from other nations, are critically important to the interests of academic freedom."
|