A recruiter from the organization International Student Volunteers (ISV) visited the UNL campus during the week of September 8-12. ISV offers four-week trips that consist of a volunteer project (two weeks) and an “Adventure Tour” (two weeks) in Australia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, New Zealand, South Africa, or Thailand. Please know that UNL does not recommend/support ISV.
The UNL Education Abroad staff has received many expressions of concern from our education abroad colleagues nationwide about ISV’s recruiting strategies. Several universities have brought formal ethics complaints against ISV to NAFSA (Association of International Educators).
ISV recruiters regularly:
· Work around university officials.
· Create a (likely false) sense of urgency/scarcity to rush students into applying and committing to a trip seven months in advance.
· Urge students to complete an application at the ISV info session and pay $10 to rush the form’s submission. ISV accepts the student approximately one week later and asks for a non-refundable $600 payment.
· Mislead students about the possibility of earning academic credit (“just talk to your professor about internship or independent study credit!”) with no sense of a university's processes or the likelihood that a student will receive credit.
For more information contact
Rebecca Luhrs Baskerville, MPA
Director of Education Abroad
Love South 127
2-5393
rlbaskerville@unl.edu