Dear Volunteers,

We hope that this message finds you all well and enjoying Fall from wherever you are! We have made some exciting changes to the Interview Form, the process for logging study abroad interviews, the National Interview role, and who receives an interview.

Many thanks to our Study Abroad Advisory Group members for their integral role in the changes to the interview form and for their continued support and guidance in developing additional resources to support volunteers in this important work!

Interview Form:

We have completely updated the PDF version of the interview form, and the web-based interview form is accessible through MyAFS! Our Study Abroad Advisory Group worked tirelessly to change the questions we ask, and the cadence of those questions, so that we might better facilitate the interview, set expectations, and begin building a relationship with our applicants and families. Please find the updated PDF here. This form is now available throughout Help and Learning.

Process Changes:

To streamline the process of logging an interview, we have made the following changes:

• Log your interview via MyAFS. You will be able to log your interview on the web form on MyAFS as was done previously. No changes to this, but the questions on MyAFS and the PDF match now for accuracy.
• Log your interview via the GL service case. Using this button will now take you into MyAFS to either upload or fill in your interview form.
• You still have the option to either fill in fields on the web form or upload a PDF. But this is all housed now within MyAFS. We hope that you will find this process to be smoother, and user friendly!
• You will be able to view if your submitted interview is in review or accepted.

National Interviewers:

As mentioned in the February 2022 Study Abroad Newsletter, we found a need to recruit volunteers who were willing to conduct study abroad interviews virtually and on a national level.

Do you like interviewing study abroad applicants? As you know, throughout the pandemic we have allowed volunteers to perform virtual interviews of applicants. We do not anticipate that we will return to mandating in person- though they are preferred- instead, we will continue to allow virtual interviews to be conducted. We also recognize that some area teams have experienced significant changes to structure and volunteer numbers throughout the pandemic. As staff, we find ourselves sometimes in the position of needing to find volunteers to conduct interviews, and this can be quite a challenge.

In collaboration with the Study Abroad Advisory Group, we have decided to recruit volunteers who are interested in conducting virtual interviews on a national level. This group will be convened when there are pending interviews that are coming due and no local volunteer willing or able to conduct them. If you are interested in volunteering for this, or have any questions, please contact Caitlin Schneider (cschneider@afsusa.org) directly!

Global Prep interviews:

To be in accordance with AFS-International standards and procedures we will now be including Global Prep applicants among applicants that require a study abroad interview for their application to be considered complete. Conducting the interview offers an opportunity to begin developing a relationship with applicants and parents, and we feel that this is a great opportunity for AFS volunteers to begin setting expectations and sharing their own experiences. We feel that this is an added benefit to our applicants, parents, volunteers, and partners.

Thank you all for your great support of our study abroad applicants! We really appreciate all of your efforts and hope that these changes will be welcome as we think that they will improve your experience and make things a bit easier. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments please reach out to me directly- cschneider@afsusa.org.

Thank you for all you do.

Sincerely,

Caitlin Schneider