International Students and Scholars Office

Does the field in question qualify as an academic field (i.e., a “body of specialized knowledge offered for study at an accredited United States university or institution of higher learning”)?

Is the employment in question permanent (i.e., “tenured, tenure-track, or for a term of indefinite or unlimited duration, and in which the employee will ordinarily have an expectation of continued employment unless there is a good cause for termination”)?

Does the foreign national have at least three years of experience in teaching and/or research in the academic field? Experience in teaching or research while working on an advanced degree is acceptable only if the applicant has acquired the degree, and if the teaching duties were such that he or she had full responsibility for the class taught or if the research conducted toward the degree has been recognized within the academic field as outstanding.

Can the foreign national document his or her experience in teaching and/or research in the academic field? Evidence of the required three (3) years of teaching and/or research experience must be in the form of letters from the current or former employers and must include the name, address, and title of the writer and a specific description of the duties performed by the foreign national.

Can the department and the foreign national present evidence from at least two of the following categories?

• Documentation of the foreign national’s receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement in the academic field.

• Documentation of the foreign national’s membership in associations in the Academic field that require outstanding achievements of their members.

• Published material in professional publications written by others about the foreign national’s work in the academic field (including the title, date, and author of the material and any necessary translation).

• Evidence of the foreign national’s participation, either individually or in a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied academic field (i.e. reviewing articles, serving as a “referee” in scientific debates, acting as a Ph.D. advisor, etc.).

• Evidence of the foreign national’s original scientific or scholarly research Contributions to the academic field (i.e. patents awarded, letters from other scholars in the field, etc.).

Is there evidence of the foreign national’s authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the academic field?