International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS)

International Student and Scholar Services, or ISSS, provides pre-arrival and orientation activities, as well as, immigration, adjustment, personal, and financial advising for international students and scholars.

ISSS also collaborates with other departments on campus to offer intercultural training workshops, educational programs, and other opportunities to help students, staff, and faculty recognize the impact culture has on our daily lives and interactions and develop effective strategies to increase our intercultural awareness while improving our skills. Some examples include:

• Bridging Domestic and Global Diversity is a leadership training program for all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students designed to increase intercultural awareness and skills, while enhancing understanding and connection through diversity. Focus is on increasing self-awareness while building intercultural leadership skills.
• Friends without Borders is designed to pair incoming international students with U.S. students who are interested in making international student connections. Paired students meet each other at a kickoff event at the beginning of the fall semester and ae encouraged to keep up the connection by getting together regularly during the semester.
• The International Student Advisory Board (ISAB) seeks to voice and advocate for the concerns and needs of international students in order to improve the international student experience and create a more inclusive campus environment.

Contact Information

• Phone: 319-335-0335
• Email: isss@uiowa.edu
• Web: https://international.uiowa.edu/ISSS
• Located at: 1111 University Capitol Centre

What Current Students are Saying

• “I was hoping to gain skills that would allow me to effectively implement cross-cultural relationships in my life. I would definitely say that the Bridging Domestic and Global Diversity Program has made me a stronger leader in settings that might make others feel uncomfortable. It has given the necessary skill sets to effectively communicate with those that might not look like me, which will only give me an edge when it comes to multicultural leadership.”
• “Even before I arrived on campus, I got a lot of support from the ISSS office. Students are well-supported and my professors are both knowledgeable and helpful. In fact, everyone on campus has been very helpful.”
• “The best part (of the Bridging Domestic and Global Diversity Program) is being able to connect with people from such a variety of backgrounds. You get to learn a lot about people’s cultures and homes that you may not have known about before.”
• “I have grown so much as a person since I have been at Iowa. As an international student, my experience has been that people are so welcoming here, which makes me feel that I am an essential part of the university.”