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14-Aug-2000 12:17 PM

Inter-l

Frank

The information on inter-l is not always athoritative, but it can be helpful nonetheless. It's basically a bunch of people in different areas of int'l. education sharing a forum for their questions and issues. The problem is that when someone asks a question to the group, the five or ten people choosing to respond with their opinions are not necessarily providing informed answers. They're often just speaking from their experience, as we all do, but any one person's experience may have little or nothing to do with what's technically/legally correct in a given situation. (So five people speaking up to provide an incorrect answer doesn't make it a correct answer. The guy with the right answer may not be tapped into the discussion, or is otherwise too busy with other things.)

And yes, the law and the reality of practice within this field are ambigious enough that straight answers are often hard to find.

Anyway, Inter-l is divided into six subtopics, which are ADSEC (Admissions Advisors), ATESL (ESL Administrators), CAFSS (basically the DSO population), SECUSS (Study Abroad Advisors & Administrators), COMSEC (Community Volunteers), and OSEAS (Overseas Advisors). You'll see those acronyms at the beginning of each subject line, letting you know the general subject of the message.

You can follow their disussions at the following web site without having to actually be on their listserv (you probably wouldn't want to get that much e-mail on a daily basis, but it's nice to be able to link to this page to check for interesting topics from time to time.)

Anyway, here's the link, but please don't take anything on inter-l (or most stuff on the web, for that matter), as the final word on anything.

http://www.manitouheights.org/inter-l/

This month's discussions are at:
http://www.manitouheights.org/inter-l/2000/Aug/

14-Aug-2000 05:09 PM

Re: Inter-l

lin

Inter-l is a good source of information but as Frank has commented, you will not always find the "right" answers to questions posed on this listserv. Often, the more experienced DSO's do not subscribe to Inter-l or don't answer unless the question is truly worthy of the list-serv. Unfortunately, Inter-l all too often becomes a place for inexperienced DSO's to ask questions they could easily find the answers to in the regs or in NAFSA's manual. A good discussion about the inconsistencies of DSO's was recently discussed under the subject: "DSO Certification". I personally have seen responses to questions that I have found frightening. This is not to say that inter-l can't be a good place for information. For me, it is a way to see how my colleagues interpret the regulations, and how they implement their responsibilities at their schools. As a rule of thumb, those who can and do quote the regulations, or cables, tend to have an understanding of the regulations founded upon the regulations rather than just experience.

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