Student Sessions: Facebook & Instagram Live

To support and inform international students and educational systems navigating the current challenging and evolving climate, Study in the USA established Student Sessions on Facebook and Instagram Live in the spring of 2020. The weekly program connects current and prospective international students with universities and peers. All sessions take place at Pacific Standard Time, and all will be recorded for viewing after the live broadcast.

Watch the live Facebook broadcasts on our page.

Jim Crawley, Director of Global Recruitment, Hope College
Studying STEM at a Liberal Arts College
Jim Crawley is the director of global recruitment at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He has worked in international recruitment for 25 years, having experience at both small- and medium-sized schools in Michigan. Jim recruits extensively in Latin/South America and Southeast Asia. He presents regularly at state, regional, and national conferences.

Victoria Kassie, IALC Senior Executive Secretary, Fordham University
Jesús Aceves-Loza, Administrator
Student Life in New York City: Experiencing, Sharing, and Learning in the Big Apple
Victoria has been senior executive secretary of the Institute of American Language and Culture since 2005. She earned an MA in human resource education from Fordham’s Graduate School of Education in 2012. In addition to her role as office manager, Victoria oversees the Language Exchange Program and the Culture Club — extracurricular activities that provide students with opportunities for language development outside the classroom.

​Jesús has more than 16 years of experience as an educator and administrator in both Mexico and the United States. He holds a BS in psychology, an MS in organizational development, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in administration and supervision at Fordham University. His cross-cultural leadership passion was born of his experience as an exchange student at Uppsala Universitet in Sweden. Jesús is a member of the New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Association. At the IALC, he assists and provides support to the students so that they achieve their personal and educational goals.

Emily Liu, Recruitment Manager, University of Delaware
How Can I Be Successful in an American University as an International Student?
Emily joined the University of Delaware English Language Institute (ELI) in 2013. She received her bachelor’s degree from Chongqing University in China, her masters of science in civil engineering and an MBA from the University of Delaware. At the ELI, she currently serves as the interim administrator of the office of recruitment, marketing, and communication. Prior to joining the ELI, Emily worked as a market researcher for four years in an IPSOS which is one of the largest market research in China. Emily not only brings her marketing expertise to ELI, but she also uses her understanding of and connections within China to serve as an international recruitment manager for China and Southeast Asia. Emily communicates with partner schools and agencies to build China and South American recruitment, coordinates special programs, and councils Chinese students before they leave China.

Mary Pickett, Executive Director, Columbia University
The American Language P​rogram at Columbia University: So Much More Than English
Mary Pickett is the director of the American Language Program (ALP) at Columbia University. She has worked in the ESL profession since 1993 as a teacher, teacher-trainer, and administrator. She has taught in Italy, Germany, Ecuador, and the United Kingdom, as well as in the U.S. Mary has been a teacher-trainer and assessor for the University of Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching for Adults and has trained more than 400 teachers in North America and in South Africa. From 2006 to 2010 she was the academic director for a small group of private language schools in New York, and in 2010 she joined the ALP as the associate director for intensive and part-time programs. She took over as director in 2015.