CCSN builds global base

Saturday, Sept. 26, 1998 | 3:15 a.m.

A year ago an aggressive campaign by the Community College of Southern Nevada to recruit international students was embroiled in controversy, and there was a question of whether the campaign would survive.

Even though CCSN President Roger Moore had seen similar recruitment programs flourish in other parts of the country, especially California's Santa Monica College where he spent 20 years at the helm, he was willing to abandon his pet project if that's what the powers-that-be wanted.

After complaints surfaced about such issues as travel expenses and whether international students were being taken care of once they arrived at CCSN, Moore put recruiting on hold in September 1997 until a task force appointed by the Board of Regents could investigate those and other allegations that cast a shadow over the program.

Two months later the task force said international recruitment should continue and recommended to the Academic, Research and Student Affairs Committee of the Board of Regents that the hiatus be lifted, although certain complaints should continue to be investigated, including those concerning housing and support services.

Today international recruiting is experiencing the kind of success envisioned by Moore when he arrived four years ago and recruited William Cassell, a longtime associate at Santa Monica College, to come to Southern Nevada and be vice president of CCSN's International Student Services.

There has been a 53 percent increase in the enrollment of international students this fall -- from 150 last year to 230 this year, with an expected enrollment of 280 in the spring semester.

This is happening at a time when there is an economic crisis in Asia, the area that most international students attending college in Nevada call home.

UNLV, which has no international recruitment program, has 852 international students this year compared to 920 last year -- a 7 percent decline.

"The economic crisis is the only thing I can figure," said Margaret Hardigree, UNLV's director of International Student Services.

Cassell said the annual budget for the International Student Services Program at CCSN is $350,000, which includes travel, salaries, benefits, advertising and operating costs.

Revenue from international student tuition for the fall semester will add up to about $518,000 and in the spring is expected to be $630,000 -- for a total revenue for the fiscal year of almost $1.15 million.

According to state law, excess funds generated by a school are returned to the state, but the institution generating the money may ask that it be returned.

"We have never been turned down in the past," John Kuminecz, CCSN spokesman, said referring to the refund of foreign student tuition.

Moore said the money generated after costs is used to increase the quality of instructional programs and a variety of services.

"We use the money to enrich programs, such as tutoring," Moore said, "and we have increased the amount of money we spend on security -- we haven't gotten any more money from the state for security but have increased our protective services by 50 percent."

The money also goes into financial aid packages.

"We have expanded the number of scholarships to Nevadans," Moore said. "They are direct recipients of excess revenues we have earned."

Since the task force made its report to the regents, several changes have been made.

Perhaps the one that hit closest to home for Cassell is that his wife, Ilse, is no longer hired by the college as a consultant to accompany Cassell on his recruiting trips around the world.

Cassell says the school lost a valuable recruiter when they lost his wife, who teaches English as a second language in California.

"Believe me, traveling around the world recruiting students is no vacation," Cassell said, stung by critics who portrayed the business trips as a sort of second honeymoon.

Now the trips are made by Cassell, recruiter Bud Harrigan and occasionally counselor Tammy Silver.

Another criticism leveled at the program included concern over whether the international students were taken care of while living in Las Vegas.

To address that issue, a full-time and a part-time counselor have been added; there is assistance in finding housing; a tutoring program is available; and there is a free shuttle service between the West Charleston and Cheyenne campuses.

With the program operating well in the black, Moore would be within reason to ask for an increase in funding, but that is an issue he shies away from.

"I haven't asked the state to increase funding because of the controversy," Moore said. "But the revenue has more than doubled.

"I ran the largest international student program in America at Santa Monica College with more than 2,000 international students. That college got an extra $7 million to $9 million a year (from foreign students) -- it's that profitable an arrangement."

Even so, there are critics who wonder whether a community college should be in the business of recruiting international students, who traditionally attend universities rather than two-year colleges.

English Professor John Esperian, one of the sternest critics during the controversy and a member of the task force that was appointed to investigate the program, says he enjoys having international students on campus.

"I have no ax to grind," he said. "But I still have some of the same old concerns.

"Is there adequate infrastructure for the students? What are the fees? Are we recruiting quality or quantity?

"International students are great. They add to the flavor (of campus). My concern is, are we providing fairly, even-handedly?"

Professor Al Balboni, president of the Faculty Senate and a member of last year's task force, says he, too, is in favor of international students on campus, but he thinks there should be a limit to the recruitment effort.

"It is appropriate for a large community college serving a population area of 1.5 million to recruit a small number of international students," Balboni said, repeating what he said a year ago. "They increase the education base.

"A small number, I think, is a good investment for the college and the taxpayers."

Balboni wasn't sure how big the recruitment program should be.

"It's a good thing to do a bit of that, but not too much ... we don't want to put too many resources into that," he said.

Cassell said he wouldn't mind seeing the same ratio of international students to domestic students as his former college had.

"I had the largest program in the country at Santa Monica, with 2,200 international students, and that was less than 10 percent of the total number of students," Cassell said.

So there is room to grow. Ten percent at CCSN would mean 3,200 international students.

"I would be comfortable if we went up a little more than 200 year after year," said Cassell, who anticipates an enrollment of at least 400 next fall.

Some of those students, who are not fluent in English, enroll in an intensive, four-week language course given by FLS International, a private company that has facilities next door to the International Student Services office.

For about $450, students are immersed in the English language so that by the time they are finished, they meet the requirements demanded by CCSN for enrollment.

FLS also helps its students find housing and transportation as well as social activities.

Through an agreement with CCSN, it provides the same services for the college's international students.

"We help (any international student) locate apartments or put them in homestay (private homes)," said Bob Colasuonno, FLS's regional director. "We inspect the homes to make sure they are clean and safe.

"We try to help the students become acclimated to American culture."

One major source of housing for foreign students is the apartment complex across the street from the West Charleston campus that a private investor created primarily for international students.

FLS picks up students at the airport and provides counseling, a service also offered by Cassell's office.

"Ideally, there is one counselor for every 200 students," Cassell said. "We have 1 1/2."

Tammy Silver, Cassell's full-time counselor, said CCSN's major responsibilities include registering international students and advising them on classes they need to complete to earn the degree they want, whether at UNLV or another institution.

Most of the international students attend CCSN the full two years and then transfer to UNLV, usually for its hotel and restaurant management program, which has a worldwide reputation, Silver said.

"UNLV has made up specific guidelines for students to complete their program," Silver said. "We guide them along those lines."

Hardigree, head of UNLV's international student program, said she has worked closely with CCSN.

"What benefits them benefits my office," she said. "In many cases I get their students, eventually, and they mine. So it behooves us to see we're on same page. We work very closely together."

Hardigree said that before CCSN had an international student program, there were a lot of problems.

"Bill Cassell has done a wonderful job getting the program under control," she said.

Silver, who also teaches study skills for international students, says she is introduced to her students as "Mom."

"They know they can always call me and talk about problems. I'm not here just for the academics. I also help with any type of personal situation," she said.

Natasha Possamai, 25, from Italy, Luciano Sameli, 29, from Brazil, and Shimpei Katsuragawa, 25, from Japan are enrolled at FLS. When they complete the intensive training they plan to take classes at either CCSN or UNLV.

"I like living here," said Possamai, who plans to enter the dental assistant training program at CCSN. "This is a good opportunity to learn about a new country."

She is staying with a cousin who lives in Las Vegas and convinced her to enroll at CCSN.

Sameli was born in Italy to an Italian businessman and a Brazilian opera singer. When he was a child the family moved to Brazil, where his father ran restaurants and entertainment concerns.

"My dad had a heart problem and came to Las Vegas to rest," said Sameli, who has degrees in law and marketing but wants to go to UNLV to study hotel and restaurant management after completing two years at CCSN.

Sameli lives with his father.

"CCSN gives more chances to international people," he said, "and it is not so expensive."

The cost of nonresident tuition for an international student at CCSN is the same as that of any nonresident, about $4,000 a year.

"A kid from Utah can come here and be a resident in a year," Hardigree noted. "But an international student, until they get a green card, always pays the nonresident fee each semester.

"And we are not recycling money in Las Vegas. They are bringing money in from outside ... from outside the system."

Katsuragawa, who graduated from a music conservatory in Japan, came to Las Vegas to attend UNLV's music program.

He learned about FLS on the Internet and enrolled there before entering UNLV.

"I don't like Japanese education," Katsuragawa said. "It hasn't changed for 50 years. It's the same style. I need the American culture ... which is very open and easygoing. That is very good for me."

Cassell said that's one of the reasons international students want to come here to study.

"They are not treated as well at their universities. Their professors won't even talk to them," Cassell said. "It's a cultural thing."

The opportunity to learn about different cultures is one of the positive influences foreign students bring to campus.

"These are long-term relationships we are building," Cassell said. "Another member of the family (of the international student) will come to Las Vegas -- word of mouth is more important than a brochure. The real recruiting is the young man who goes back to his home in Sweden and tells everyone what a wonderful place this is."

Moore said the personal contacts made between local and international students are valuable.

"The world is a small globe," he said. "It's very helpful for those of us in Las Vegas to have contacts with people from around the world."

Another benefit of bringing in international students is the intellectual power that stays here.

"A quarter of the international students who come here stay in America," he said. "They pay for their own education. They become scientists and engineers and they stay."

Of the more than 230 international students at CCSN, 98 are from Japan, 31 from Korea, and the rest from such places as Indonesia, Brazil, Thailand, Bulgaria, China, Mexico, Trinidad, Hong Kong, Morocco, Sweden, Pakistan, Croatia and Sri Lanka, to name a few.

In the months ahead, recruiting trips are planned for such places as Vietnam, Singapore and Taiwan as well as Mexico City, Turkey, Kuwait and Japan.

University Regent Mark Alden said the international student program is a great way to showcase Las Vegas as an "all-American city to the world."

Problems that existed with the program last year have been worked out for the most part, Alden noted.

"They should be accountable to cost, and now they are," he said.

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