New Space Provides an Inviting Welcome for International Students and Scholars

LAWRENCE — After moving the reception area for International Support Services to the first floor of Strong Hall and modifying their operations, ISS staff have reported improvements in how they serve international students and scholars.

ISS staff member greets students in the reception area of 126 Strong, a new meeting site for International Support Services.ISS reopened its office to the public in fall 2022 after working largely virtually for two years. When returning to Strong Hall, ISS worked with KU’s Office of Space Management and KU Operations to transform 126 Strong into a more customer-friendly environment. The office features a larger reception area with conference rooms, one-on-one advising spaces and a backroom that can double as a workspace for staff and students, or for overflow.

For decades, students met with ISS staff in an office in the basement of Strong. Roberta Pokphanh, associate vice provost for international administration, student success & DEIB, said navigating to the old office from the main building entrance wasn’t the easiest for newcomers, as it is situated downstairs in a back corner.

“We were very aware of how difficult it was for students to find the office, as were many people in the building,” Pokphanh said. “Lost students were a real challenge.”

Pokphanh added that the original space, with its narrow hallways and minimal windows, was not the most inviting introduction for new students who may have just traveled around the world, occasionally with luggage still in hand. During busy periods of the year, students also would have to line up in the hallway if the waiting area was full.

ISS leadership met with Karen Lavendusky, director of space management, initially asking for one contiguous new space for staff to work and meet students in a more inviting environment. Unfortunately, Lavendusky said, the department could not grant the request due to architecture constraints or without moving several other offices. Alternatively, she proposed a different question: What if staff came to the students instead?

“We often are so ingrained in thinking what our wants are that we lose track of what our needs are,” Lavendusky said. “Asking the question completely changed the dynamic of the conversation and changed the outcome to something more greatly beneficial.”

With the opening of 126 Strong, staff can meet students in a brighter and more spacious environment during appointments or walk-in hours while retaining their personal offices downstairs to work on other tasks without distractions.

Pokphanh said the change didn’t come without hesitations or growing pains, but they have adjusted to traveling between floors and added stocked cabinets in meeting rooms in case staff forget to bring needed items from their offices.

Whitney Jones, architect project manager, said she worked with the ISS team to keep student-friendly functionality in mind, as well as maximize the resources and furniture they already had. In addition, most of the furniture can easily be moved to create more open space.

The larger conference room is separated by a glass wall with sliding barn doors. The design serves the dual purpose of allowing in natural light and making it easy to open the room into the reception area, creating more space for programming and events.

“The ISS team was genuinely interested and engaged with solutions to make this a better experience for their students,” Jones said. “The idea that staff would meet students in the student space is a unique concept that seems to be working well for all.”

Pokphanh said at the core of the change, ISS staff wanted to foster students’ and scholars’ sense of belonging and address the unique needs of the international community. She said the flexibility of the space allows ISS to continue to support students as their needs change in the future.

“To have the capacity to have a meeting with a group of students in our space is new for us, and I think adds to that feeling of ‘This is your hub here, this is your space to come,’” she said. “If you don’t know who can answer your question, come to ISS and we can help you with that. I think it’s been a big improvement in our ability to welcome students in the way we have wanted to for a very long time — in a light, bright welcoming space.”

From August 2022 through July 2023, the reception area recorded 4,500 student and scholar check-ins.

ISS helps more than 1,700 international students with a variety of in-person and virtual services, including admissions, orientation, programming and immigration-related and general resource information.