School Programs

Fox Intercultural Consulting Services is proud to offer the following new programs and services specifically designed to ensure the overall success of the incoming students from Asia. These programs can be offered individually or combined in an overall package designed to meet each school’s particular needs.

Faculty and Staff Development Seminars: With the recent influx of students from Asia at schools in the US, the need for greater awareness of and sensitivity to cultural differences is critical. In order to build a strong academic community within the institution, it is essential that faculty and staff understand the particular cultural dimensions that these students from East Asia bring to the school. FICS offers a wide range of customized faculty and staff training programs based on the particular needs of each school. While some schools would benefit from an overview program on understanding some of the basic cultural differences, other schools have more specific questions or situations that a more targeted program or consultation would be more appropriate. The purpose of all of these workshops is to gain insights and understanding of the cultural differences so that faculty and staff feel more prepared to help the students succeed.

Inside America Today: Student Orientation Seminars: Arriving on a quiet high school or college campus can be an extremely lonely and disorienting experience for a high school student from Asia. From Seoul to Shanghai, these students are accustomed to living in cities of at least 15 million people. This program is specifically designed to make the incoming foreign student feel more at ease in their new environment. It gives the student the tools they will need to achieve success while studying in the US. This program will be broken up into two distinct and complementary sections. The first section will focus on general concepts of American culture including the American concept of time, communication styles and concepts of privacy, individualism, privacy, competitiveness and other cultural dimensions. The second part will look at specific aspects of campus life with a particular focus on campus life. Specific topics include: Family life, social relationships, racial and ethnic diversity, sports and recreation, behavior in public places, classroom behavior and expectations, student-teacher relationships, and plagiarism.

Host family orientation: Hosting a student from a different culture can be a very enriching experience. However subtle cultural nuances must be understood so that the overall adjustment period is smoother and cultural differences are minimized. The purpose of this informal host family orientation program is to give the host family the background and tools necessary to fully understand the cultural dimensions involved in hosting an overseas student.

Cross-cultural Coaching and Trouble Shooting: Fox consultants are available to discuss individual cross cultural challenges or issues regarding student adjustment to the US or faculty concerns regarding cultural differences. We can also make recommendations on what your school can do to make it more accessible and supportive to the foreign student body.

In China

Regional representation The Fox Intercultural Consulting Services (FICS) staff in Beijing can help American secondary schools and institutions of higher education with a wide range of issues inside China including:

Pre-departure student and parent orientation programs (in China): FICS staff in Beijing will offer intensive pre-departure programs each August for students and parents. The program will focus on student expectations, classroom norms, parent concerns, etc. The purpose of this full day program is to prepare students and their families for the differences they will encounter while living overseas for the first time. FICS has developed relationships with many of the major recruiting agencies inside China. Our work compliments the services offered by the various agencies in that we provide a more personalized overview of campus life.

On-going relationship building and verification: Although many schools already have existing relationships with recruiting agencies inside China, there are still many uncertainties that come up that FICS can help sort through. Having someone on the ground inside China who has lived in New England, taught at a private school in Maine and generally understands the needs of the students and parents can only help in each school’s overall recruitment plans. FICS can work closely with American schools in the following ways:

• Verify information that school admission directors receive.
• Host receptions for parents and/or students on each school’s behalf.
• Attend study abroad fairs on the school’s behalf.
• Conduct follow-up from student leads from study abroad fair participation.
• Work on developing school relationships inside China.
• Help in all aspects of international recruiting inside China.
• Cooperate with local recruiting agencies on follow-through and screening issues.
• Translation services
• Accompany school representatives on any China related travels. (provide logistical support on China side)