International Students and Scholars Office

Academic Services upholds a culture of inclusivity as we engage a diverse community of students, faculty, and campus partners. We promote the growth of students as scholars and citizens through comprehensive advising and support over the course of their academic journey. We provide resources and opportunities that strengthen students’ ability to define and achieve their academic goals, develop resilience, and lead meaningful lives.

The Brandeis Counseling Center provides counseling for students in times of stress and encourages them to ask for help with their most immediate concerns. Our staff is experienced in dealing with deeper developmental and psychological issues ranging from stress and depression to substance abuse and eating disorders. Treatment is available in English, Hebrew, Mandarin, and Spanish. All concerns are addressed with sensitivity to and respect for diversity and individuality. We maintain the strictest standards of privacy and confidentiality and serve as a resource to the entire Brandeis community.

The Library is here to support all your work at Brandeis, with books, databases, research help, workshops, and many other resources and services to help you throughout your student experience. We look forward to meeting you and supporting your learning adventures at Brandeis. Check out our list of 10 Things to Know about the Library.

Brandeis Innovation is a focal point for innovators and aspiring change-makers in  the Brandeis community. Our mission is to put Brandeis values and ideas to work in the world, by providing a platform for innovations created at Brandeis to reach a wider audience.

We offer training, mentorship, pitch competitions, and commercialization assistance to the entire Brandeis community of students, faculty, and staff. By doing so, Brandeis Innovation is becoming a "collision" place for interdisciplinary research and entrepreneurial teams. We comprise two distinct, yet interlinked entities: The Office of Technology Licensing and the Virtual Incubator.

To promote the safety and health of all Brandeis students, the Care Team evaluates and addresses concerning student behavior, and coordinates resources of the university to intervene and provide necessary support.  Examples of concerning behavior include expressions of violence or self-harm, emotional or personal distress, academic struggles (coupled with other signs of distress), and any other risks to the well-being of an individual student or others.   The Care Team is made up of professional staff members from the Dean of Students Office, Academic Services, Brandeis Counseling Center, Public Safety, Department of Community Living, International Student and Scholars Office, and Graduate Student Affairs.  The Care Team reaches out to students to assess reported concerns and provide any needed support and resources to promote their success at Brandeis.

Anyone in the Brandeis community can report a concern by completing an I Care form.  A review of concerns can take up to one business day.  For imminent safety concerns about a student or the campus community, please call Public Safety at 781-736-6333 (on-campus) or 911 (off-campus) for emergency response.  Not sure if your concern should go to the Care Team? Feel free to call the Care Team Case Manager at 781-736-3098 or the Clinical Care Team Manager at 781-736-4778 for consultation. More information can be found on the Care Team website.

Undergraduate Student Resources

The Hiatt Career Center assists undergraduate students and alumni in developing the skills to transform their unique backgrounds, liberal arts education, and experiential learning into meaningful professional futures and relationships. Hiatt engages employers, faculty and staff, parents and families, professional consortia, and the greater Brandeis community to achieve this mission. See resources for International Students.

Graduate Student Resources

• Brandeis International Business School: Career Strategies and Engagement Center
• Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: Professional Development
• Heller School of Social Policy and Management: Career Development Center

Looking for a space to explore what matters most to you? The Center for Spiritual Life offers numerous ways to do this, including through 1-1 conversations with a chaplain, discussion groups, mindfulness practices, retreats, service and more! Spiritual Life also mentors numerous religious student organizations, facilitates weekly services, and maintains spaces for reflection, meditation and prayer across campus. 

Whatever spirituality means to you (including if you’re unsure), you are welcome here.

Don’t see your spiritual beliefs or practices represented in our current offerings? Please reach out! We’d love to partner with you to bring something new to campus.

The Center encourages students to use the learning and insights they receive from scholarly and creative work to help better the world. The Center harnesses the thriving culture of community service at Brandeis, provides a front door to the University for community partners, and deepens the engagement of students, faculty and staff across campus, in Waltham, in Greater Boston and beyond. 

The Dean of Students Office seeks to build a campus community based upon mutual understanding and consideration and that acknowledges that one's actions must take into account the rights of others. One of the cornerstones of our community is to identify opportunities for students to learn and practice leadership. We support a variety of social, cultural and educational activities initiated and developed by individual students and student organizations, and within the residence halls. These activities extend the educational mission of Brandeis beyond the walls of the classroom and incorporate our core values: citizenship, integrity, respect, civility, lifelong learning and embracing diversity. We support the development of a student-directed community — a place where the student voice challenges and directs the shape of the institution. We know that to be effective in that role, students must have both opportunity and the skills to make it work.

The Department of Community Living (DCL) cultivates an inclusive, diverse, and symbiotic living and learning environment in all of our residence halls. We empower our community members to respectfully challenge each other and engage in opportunities of holistic enrichment through critical thinking, constructive dialogue, and leadership development. DCL oversees Brandeis’ on-campus housing and Community Advisor Program. 

As a part of the Division of Student Affairs, the Department of Student Engagement's mission is to empower students to engage, learn, and lead in their communities on and off campus. The department is responsible for developing programs like Back to Brandeis, Winter Welcome Back, Senior Celebration, and Family Weekend. DSE offers training, leadership development experiences, and co-curricular programming that allow students to build important skills and enhance their classroom learning. Also, Student Engagement supports 250 student organizations in their leadership development, events, financial operations, and member development.

English Language Programs (ELP) serves both native and non-native speakers of English, offering language support services to all students, staff, and faculty at Brandeis. We offer individual tutorial sessions in written and oral skills to both undergraduate and graduate students in the arts and sciences; on-site and online office hours to Heller School of Social Policy and Management students; and workshops, tutorials and consultations to Brandeis International Business School students. We also offer tutorials to postdoctoral research fellows, visiting scholars, staff, and faculty. These services are designed to develop oral communication, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills.

The mission of the Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC) is to provide resources, positive visibility, an affirming space, and advocacy for lesbian, gay, same gender loving, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual students, staff, and faculty at Brandeis University. Through education, community building, and programming for the entire university community, all are encouraged to participate in creating and maintaining an inclusive environment. The GSC is located in Usdan G069 by the steps to the Office of Study Abroad and down the hallway from PARC.

Health and Wellness Promotion (HAWP) is here to support your well-being so you can make the most of your time at Brandeis. We coordinate campus-wide health and wellness efforts through evidence-based promotion and prevention strategies such as educational programs and events, health information and resources, and peer education.

The Heller School drives positive social change through research, education and public engagement that inform policies and programs designed to address disparities in well-being and social inclusion in a sustainable way.

The Hiatt Career Center assists undergraduate students and alumni in developing the skills to transform their unique backgrounds, liberal arts education and experiential learning into meaningful professional futures and relationships. Hiatt engages employers, faculty and staff, parents and families, professional consortia and the greater Brandeis community to achieve this mission. See resources for International Students.

The Intercultural Center (ICC) serves as an umbrella organization for numerous diverse student clubs and organizations. It is dedicated to creating a haven of respect, education, and celebration that aims to develop critical consciousness and awareness of the myriad cultures of Brandeis University. It also works to foster a welcoming community where diverse experiences and perspectives are valued, and dedication to the understanding of cultures and tonicities is essential. Located on the lower level of Swig Hall in the East Quad, the ICC features a spacious resource room equipped with computers and printers, a small lending library of cultural books and videos, and a diverse array of cultural publications. It also has a conference room, multipurpose room, comfortable lounges, a patio and kitchen facilities, all of which can be reserved through the ICC.

Fundamentally, the ICC provides events that focus on issues of culture, ethnicity and social justice.

By teaching rigorous business, finance and economics, connecting students to best practices and immersing them in international experiences, Brandeis International Business School prepares exceptional individuals from around the globe to become principled professionals in companies and public institutions worldwide.

The International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) is part of the Provost Office's global engagement efforts; Global Brandeis. As such, the ISSO is dedicated to supporting international students and scholars throughout their time spent in the Brandeis community. The ISSO determines visa eligibility and prepares and issues the visa documents needed for non- immigrant students, scholars and their dependents to obtain visas in order to come to Brandeis University to study, teach and/or conduct research. We advise and provide guidance to international students and scholars regarding academic, financial and personal issues which may impact their legal status in the U.S. and at this university.

The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (ODEI) is the central office within the division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and houses the Chief Diversity Officer. ODEI is committed to working collaboratively with the campus community to assess and support its strengths and needs in an effort to build high- quality programming that evokes positive and progressive social change. ODEI offers educational opportunities for faculty, staff, and students and individual coaching for community members who wish to develop a particular idea, program, or curricular strategy using diversity, equity, and inclusion frameworks and strategies. 

The Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) is available to assist students, staff and faculty with concerns regarding discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct. OEO addresses concerns regarding all protected categories, including race, color, national origin/ethnicity, sex (which includes pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, transgender identity, religion, disability, age, genetics, active military or veteran status. OEO can provide information regarding support resources on campus and about what options may be available for addressing this conduct. OEO also conducts training on this issues for members of the Brandeis community.

 The Office of Graduate Affairs collaborates with each of the Brandeis graduate programs to provide strong, comprehensive support to all graduate students at Brandeis. We plan and implement programs and workshops throughout the year, focused toward academic, social, and personal development.

Do you want to study off-campus during your time at Brandeis? The Office of Study Abroad helps students live and learn in a new and different cultural context as part of their Brandeis education. The staff of the Office of Study Abroad assist students in accessing educational experiences that foster their development as global citizens through cultural, academic, and linguistic immersion. Aligned with the core Brandeis mission to center social justice, we strive to provide students with opportunities to learn about global inequality and structural social injustices in order to engage as active citizens in our multicultural world. We are committed to assisting any student with a desire to go abroad in finding an opportunity that aligns with their personal, professional, and academic goals. We believe and actively promote the notion that a student’s identity, financial background, and/or academic discipline should not be a barrier to an educational experience abroad.

Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center (PARC) provides education, empowerment, and confidential support related to sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, and stalking. Brandeis undergraduate and graduate students can speak with a trained advocate who can provide confidential support (available in multiple languages), information about reporting options, connections to both on-campus and off- campus resources, and/or self-care and grounding exercises.

• Schedule a meeting with a Peer Advocate or staff.
• Drop-in hours: Monday-Friday, 12-5pm any day we have class: talk to a Peer Advocate in person (Usdan G-106) or by chat/text.
• PARC is also available on the 24/7 hotline during the semester:+1-781-736-3370.

Student Accessibility Support (SAS) seeks to promote the growth of undergraduate and graduate students through individual connections, campus-wide initiatives and collaboration with others in the Brandeis community. SAS works closely with instructors, staff and students (who identify as having disabilities) to implement academic accommodations and facilitate accommodation requests for housing, medical dietary, Accessible Transportation Services and parking.  

Students with disabilities make up an important part of our Brandeis community. Our diverse community includes students with a range of physical, sensory, psychological, medical and learning disabilities. SAS works with a disability justice perspective to ensure students with disabilities have equitable access to learning opportunities. 

Each year, the Undergraduate Admissions Office works to recruit and matriculate a diverse and talented class that will add to the global community of scholars currently on campus. Admissions staff travel to over 25 countries promoting the opportunities Brandeis offers. They then review the almost 12,000 applications Brandeis receives annually to best determine which students are a strong academic and personal fit for the institution. The class of 2023 is the one of the most internationally diverse in Brandeis history and includes students from over 30 countries around the world.

The Brandeis Ombuds Office provides confidential, impartial, informal, and independent assistance for students, staff, faculty, and anyone with a connection to the Brandeis community in helping individuals and offices in resolving University-related problems and conflicts.

The Office’s primary purpose is to provide a confidential resource for visitors to which they can bring their concerns and questions, and can get assistance in problem-solving and considering their best options for handling a difficult situation. The Ombuds Office is an alternative to formal channels of dispute resolution.

The Ombuds’ response is tailored to each visitor’s specific situation and concerns. The Ombuds perform a variety of functions in carrying out their duties and responsibilities. They:

• listen, providing a respectful, and safe place for visitors to discuss issues;
• help individuals to fully understand their concerns and consider all appropriate options;
• explain University policies and processes;
• make referrals to others;
• coach visitors on self-help techniques;
• engage in shuttle diplomacy;
• conduct informal conflict resolution through varied techniques, including but not limited to mediation/informal dispute resolution;
• facilitate conversations;
• employ any other method appropriate and desired by the visitor that is within the standards of practice of the Ombuds Office.

The goal of the Ombuds Office is to help people find resolutions that work for themselves in the least restrictive means and as easily as possible. It is empowered to provide informal assistance only. Formal actions are managed by other Brandeis University offices or officials.

The University Writing Center is the driving force of writing support on campus. We offer support for writers of all levels in all subjects, working on anything from first college essays to lab reports, senior theses, dissertations, and job and fellowship materials. We advise writers at any stage in the writing process from brainstorming and drafting through final revisions. The Writer Center conducts two types of individual writing consultations: face-to-face consultations, which take place either in-person or over Zoom, in which consultants and writers examine and discuss drafts and create a plan for revision and exercise new writing skills. In addition to this individualized support, the Writing Center hosts workshops, graduate writers' workspaces, and other writing events.