Jo'anna Lindamulage is part of a growing trend nationally as American universities diversify their campuses with talented, international undergraduates.
Jo'anna Lindamulage is looking forward to meeting as many as 10 new University of Cincinnati undergrads arriving on campus from her home country of Sri Lanka this fall. She will do so partly as a summer job in UC Admissions, recruiting talented, international undergraduate students to UC.
 Jo'anna Lindamulage
There's a significant growth in the undergraduate student population from Sri Lanka, since Lindamulage recalls being the only new undergraduate arrival - one of a total of three Sri Lankan undergraduates and 30 Sri Lankan graduate students - from her country during the 2009-2010 academic year.
The Institute of International Education's Open Doors Report found that the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased by eight per cent to an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008/09 academic year, the largest percentage increase in international student enrolments since 1980/81.
The report also found that the largest growth was in international undergraduate enrolments, a population of students that is also growing at UC. That growth is the result of a concentrated effort to bring in talented undergraduates from around the world. UC has been a pioneer in international student recruitment, with over 38 representatives working in 28 countries.
"Over the past three years, we've averaged about a 25-to-35 per cent increase in confirmations of international undergraduate students each year," says Jonathan Weller, director of UC International Admissions. Like the rest of the country, a good chunk of that growth is coming from China. "In fall 2007, we had 18 international undergraduates from China. That number rose to 77 last fall," says Weller.
"The two top countries for sending students to U.S. are India and China," explains Weller. "Both countries have rapidly expanding economies and both cultures highly value education - especially a U.S. higher education," Weller says.
"We're also seeing more growth from China because of our partnership with the ELS Language Center at UC, which provides intensive English programmes to international students interested in pursuing an education in English-speaking universities," Weller says. The centre opened on UC's campus in 2008. The Cincinnati ELS Center has nearly 200 international students studying full-time intensive English. Most of these students hope to enrol at UC once they complete their English training at ELS.
Lindamulage says it was the very personal attention of the UC Undergraduate Admissions Office that confirmed her decision to come to UC, as well as the co-op programme and UC's reputation as a top research university. She entered UC's chemical engineering programme after transferring to UC last fall from American National College in Sri Lanka. The 21-year-old Lindamulage will be a junior this fall and will begin her first co-op during the winter quarter.
Cooperative education - founded at UC - alternates classroom study with paid work experience at companies around the nation and the world. "I think co-op provides a great advantage after graduation," Lindamulage says. "Not only do you get paid work experience, but you're also making contacts with potential employers before graduation."
She says that she is often asked about co-op at her job in UC International Admissions, as well as what the weather is like in Cincinnati. Lindamulage says the climate in her home country of Sri Lanka is like summertime year round, so Cincinnati's changing seasons (and last winter's significant snowfall) were new discoveries for her, in addition to her experience in a new country. "Here, the seasons are changing every three months, so you need to completely change what you're wearing!"
Check out video of UC's first snowfall last winter
She says she also encountered something shared by most international students - homesickness. "I would like to say that for international students, when they come here and there is no family around, we really miss our homes. It can be a tough time during the first quarter or the first two quarters, and I've seen some students go back home. But, I feel if you try your hardest to get past that initial period, then you'll be fine."
She says her UC orientation experience for international students last fall was helpful. That programme included Metro bus transportation and a shopping trip, since international students have to pack lightly on their flight to Cincinnati. "Learning the Metro bus route was very helpful, since public transportation is different from my country," she says. "We also took a tour to become familiar with campus, and on the shopping trip, I bought some little things for my apartment."
Lindamulage is now working with UC Admissions to plan for this fall's international student orientation programme that begins on Monday, Sept. 13. The programme will include an "Amazing Race"-themed event on campus on Sept. 16, followed by a welcome dinner at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.
As part of her summer job in International Admissions, Lindamulage has been sharing her own personal discoveries as an international undergrad with prospective students from around the world. "We've been talking with them through Skype and Facebook and e-mails," she says.
Students from around the world are also taking a closer look at UC from their own homes, in their own language. UC now has 10 foreign language virtual tours available on its website. The tours are led by international students and staff native to the language of the tour. The languages include Arabic, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Nepali, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.
The native tours are especially helpful for undergraduate students because parents play a critical role in choosing their children's university, Weller says. Though the children may be fluent in English, the parents are often not, so native language information is a key connection.
Joanna an alumnus of Devi Balika and American National College was placed by Priyanthi Dissanayake (www.scholarshipsforusa.com) in the fall of 2009. Since being introduced to Sri Lanka by Priyanthi in 2007, University of Cincinnati has made a fine impression on young academics and Lankan institutes of higher education. UC has two collaborations with the Institute of Chemistry and SLIIT.
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