Annual festival postponed

by Betty Mendoza
Staff Writer

Because of a combination of hiring freezes, budget difficulties and increased workloads, the International and Study Abroad Center will not host an International Festival this semester, for the first time in 13 years. But they hope to bring it back next fall.

This spring, however, local and international students will not be able to hear the music of different cultures or taste the food and experience the richness and diversity that came with the International Festival.

“It’s good for international students,” sophomore Jenna Campbell said. “Maybe more international students wanted to share their heritage with ULV this year.”

Senior Oscar de Leòn, who participated in last year’s International Festival by displaying two booths, one from Guatemala and another from Lebanon, said that he will miss the music, food and activities.

“It’s a shame because it was a good event,” de Leòn said. “You learn a lot about the different cultures.”

Phil Hofer, director of the International and Study Abroad Center, said the main reason for not having the festival is the additional responsibilities he has acquired because of the lack of employees due to a hiring freeze.

For several years the International and Study Abroad Center has had assistants, but this year there is a lack of help in the center.

Hofer has had to juggle multiple responsibilities despite the recent approval to fill one vacant position.

There are certain obligations the International Center must maintain and one of them is tracking students through the Student Exchange Visitor Information System, he said.

Although SEVIS has been around since 1992, an increase in concerns of terrorism in the United States has caused the system to pick up its pace and implement stricter guidelines for international students.

SEVIS, among many things, monitors international students, their majors (and whether they change majors), where they move and when they travel.

“One person has the added responsibility to track international students through SEVIS,” Hofer said.

According to Phil Hawkey, executive vice president, enrollment growth was not as strong as they expected.

“In order to help deal with budget difficulties we had to cut back on expenses,” Hawkey said. “The International and Study Abroad Center had to vacate positions.”

ULV’s current hiring freeze is expected to be lifted after July 1, Hawkey said.

“We’ve got good indicators and are very optimistic,” he said.

If everything runs smoothly, the International Festival will be rescheduled for the week of Nov. 15 during International Education week.