From China to Oman: Building A Career Supporting International Students with Jody Pritt

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Are you interested in working with international students? Have you been exploring a career in international student services? Have you wondered what it’s really like to be an international student advisor?

In this episode, Jody Pritt, Director of International Student and Scholar Services at Georgia State University is sharing all of this and more. You’ll get to hear about how Jody landed her first job working with international students, how she hustled to make her very first experience abroad a reality, and the role mentors and educators have played in shaping her academic and professional future. 

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ADVISING LAB

Jody is also our guest instructor of the International Student Advising Lab where you’ll Learn how the international student visa system works in the US, the critical resources and systems you need to be successful as an ISSS advisor, plus creative ways to support international students on campus and online.    

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE: 

• How Jody found her way into a career in international education
• What led Jody from rural West Virginia to living in the Chinese interior (and the biggest struggle she faced)
• The secret question Jody asks in every interview that reveals if you’re ready for a career in international student services
• The core foundation of what work in international student services is all about
• What Jody believes is the future of international student and scholar services
• How you can learn directly from Jody on how to do the work of ISSS administrators
• Why Jody fell in love with Oman and what keeps your going back 

REFERENCES

• Marshall University’s Appalachians Abroad Teach in China Program

• Anglo-Omani Podcast featuring Jody

•  The Study Abroad Journal

 ABOUT JODY PRITT

​​Jody is the Director of International Student & Scholar Services at Georgia State University.

She began her career in international education by teaching English as a foreign language in China in 2002.  Since then, she earned a Masters Degree in Student Affairs Counseling  and held various ISSS leadership positions at Missouri State University, the University of South Carolina, and Drury University. 

Her career spans almost 20 years and includes comprehensive international student support experience ranging from enrollment management, programmatic enrichment, immigration compliance advice, and international employee administration. She's also held leadership roles at NAFSA where she has served as the Region IV treasurer, the South Carolina State Representative, the Region VII Chair, and currently the Regional Affairs Committee Chair-Elect Cohort Coach. 

She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Missouri-Columbia in the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis Program.  Her dissertation will focus on the transformative outcomes of an international study experience. 

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