Back Row: Maureen Chao, Jessica Galan Front Row: Cynthia Okawara, Sarah Cunningham

Coordinating the international student advising team at Green River is exciting! Why do I find it exciting?  There are several reasons. Prior to coming to Green River, I worked at another two-year school in Washington, and also at a university. I enjoyed assisting students with immigration issues and cultural adaptation. But I never really got to know my students very well, since they went to other offices for help with admissions, academic planning, transfer planning and housing.  

When I learned about the all inclusive services at the Office of International Programs at Green River, I knew it was the place I wanted to work. I felt the way GRCC serves students was unique, and not something I found at many other schools. At Green River, we are the advisors for certain countries and regions, meaning all students from that region will have an assigned advisor. Although we have four advisors who are always willing to assist any student who walks in the door, we really enjoy having a specific group of students to work with. It helps us get to know them on a much deeper level. 

The other aspect that makes advising at Green River unique is that students get their academic and transfer planning in the Office of International Programs, where we advisors understand the special needs of international students. From the first day they become an academic student, we work with them one on one to develop their personal academic plan. We always have a copy of the student’s plan in our office, so we are prepared every time a student comes to see us with a question or for advice.  If they want to work after completing their degree, we advise them on the procedures to do so. If they plan to transfer to a university, we walk them through every step. We start by showing them our Transfer Planning Center, located right in our lobby. By personally traveling to visit many of the universities our students are interested in, including Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State, U. of Washington, and numerous universities in California, the advisors have collected excellent information to help a student transfer from Green River to the university with maximum transfer credits. We put that information in a format that’s easy for students to understand. As a university representative who visited our campus last week said “I’m so impressed with the information you have presented to students on our university; you are way ahead of other community colleges”. 

We know that students can choose from many different schools. So it’s our commitment that when they choose to come to Green River, we will work hard to make sure they have an enjoyable experience, and receive all the assistance they need.