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Helping International Students Thrive F ar from home, sometimes facing language or cultural barriers, international students can find it challenging to find their comfort zone on an American campus. But at the A&S | Maxwell, there is a staff member dedicated to their success.

Ling Gao LeBeau, associate director of international student success at A&S | Maxwell—a unique position in American higher education—is focused solely on those students’ needs, preparing them for employment or graduate school through a variety of programs and initiatives. There are about 1,000 international students, from more than 50 countries, at the two colleges.

Efforts are paying off. More international students are returning their second year, and the program has been nationally recognized with a prestigious 2024 Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for Campus Internationalization by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

We recently spoke with LeBeau about the program.

Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself and the experience you bring to this position? A: Before coming to Syracuse, I was at Western Carolina University and Indiana University. I was overseeing entire campus’ international initiatives: programs for scholars, study abroad, faculty development. Here my focus is more narrow. Before [I got here], there was never a position like this at Syracuse—or anywhere in the U.S., focusing on international students’ academic success. Q: And why is that important? A: The United States is the most popular destination for “global mobility” students. There are about 1 million international students studying in the U.S.—[out of about] 5.6 million in the world. North America does a lot for international students, but it’s a heavy focus on getting and maintaining visas, and on language training and social opportunities. The academic and career piece has absolutely been overlooked. Before I took this position, I realized this was the gap. When I saw the posting, I thought, this is interesting, this is new. I want to make a difference. Q: And what has been key to making a difference? A : We have an “international student success model” that we created from scratch. There are five pillars to support this model: peer mentors, pre-arrival academic coaching, advisor training, academic intervention and communication. Q: The Peer Mentor Program is one of the most vital and popular of the pillars. How does it work? A : We assign a mentor to every international student. Mentors are upper class students, both American and international. We [provide] a syllabus and guidelines; we train and monitor them carefully. Results show that for the students who are actively engaged with mentorship, their academic performance is much better, and their GPAs are higher.

“You can’t just say ‘Go take a class,’” LeBeau notes. “They need the context of what to expect in an American university.”

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