The University of Iowa

International Students Committee

The International Student Committee works with the international student body, the Office of International Student Scholars (OISS), other University administrators, and appropriate international student organizations in order to address issues of concern for international students.

Starting in Spring 2008, the International Student Committee successfully began an Ethnic Restaurant Review Project, called Lekker, Lekker("Lekker" means "tasty" in Dutch)! Visit the Lekker, Lekker! (opens in new window) site for more information!

Committee chair(s): 
Steinitz, Joseph
Committee chair(s): 
Thomas, Bradley
Committee members: 
Kou, Yupeng
Committee members: 
Chin, Si-Chi
Committee members: 
Zhang, Rui
Committee members: 
Mejía, Carlos
Committee members: 
Zagorodna, Oksana
Committee Updates
Committee Report: 

September 10, 2009 Meeting

At the first International Student Committee (ISC) meeting, co-chairs Steinitz and Thomas welcomed committee members and briefed them on representing GSS at the Fulbright Gateway Orientation and discussed activities planned for the new academic year.

Si-Chi Chin will continue to manage the Lekker Lekker website and we are excited that this successful project will take place again this year and may expand to include grocery stores in the area.

Strategies to better communicate with the OISS and other UI organizations and international student groups were discussed as well as creating a list of those for this blog.

The continuation of the inquiry on the International Student Fee was discussed. Our conclusion is that answers provided on the legitimacy of the fee were not sufficient. ISC will look at strategies possible, perhaps with other offices at UI.

Committee Meetings: 

All meetings are held at T-Spoons cafe, corner of Market and Linn.

Thursday, September 10, 2009: 5:30pm - 6:20pm
Monday, October 5, 2009: 5:30pm - 6:20pm
Thursday, November 5, 2009: 5:30pm - 6:20pm
Thursday, December 3, 2009: 5:30pm - 6:20pm

Committee news: 

  • 2009 Lekker, Lekker! Project Seeks Sponsors

    The 2009 Lekker, Lekker! international restaurants and grocery stores review project is now seeking sponsorship from ethnic restaurants in Iowa City area.

    Lekker, Lekker! seeks to connect new international students and existing University of Iowa students with international restaurants and grocery stories in the area. Students are encouraged to submit reviews hat are posted to the Lekker, Lekker! Website. The feedback can then be accessed by students and used to learn more about local food businesses. Sponsorship from local ethnic restaurants allow us to offer incentives for students to write reviews. Thus, we are looking for coupons, discount cards, or gift certificates to use as prizes in the Lekker, Lekker! project to encourage participation. Any support you are willing to provide us would be very helpful in our endeavors and would be much appreciated.

    Sponsorship from local ethnic restaurants provides an opportunity for those establishments to advertise their menues to graduate students students in Iowa City! Sponsors will be listed on all the Lekker, Lekker! publicity materials, which includes:

    1. Lekker, Lekker! flyers, which will be posted across campus and cambus;
    2. The GSS listserv, which will reaches all graduate students on campus;
    3. The Lekker,Lekker! homepage (http://www.slis.uiowa.edu:8080/lekker/), which will be
    visible for all browers of the site;
    4. Folder materials for participants of the annual GSS Jakobsen Conference in March
    (http://gss.grad.uiowa.edu/jakobsen-conference).

    Our complete proposal sponsorship can be downloaded here. If interested in sponsoring Lekker, Lekker!, please contact one of the International Student Committee co-chairs:
    Si-Chi Chin (si-chi-chin@uiowa.edu), Oksana Zagorodna
    (oksanazagorodna@uiowa.edu) or Amber Griffioen (amber-griffioen@uiowa.edu) by Friday March 6th. Additionally, please feel free to contact us with questions!

    Our 2008 sponsors include:
    Atlas
    China Star
    La Reyna Mexican Restaurant
    Los Cabos Mexican Restaurant
    Oasis: The Falafel Joint
    Oyama Sushi
    Plaza Jalisco
    Sushi Kicchin
    Taste of China

  • ISC committee has been building a blog site for the International Student FAQ, which will serve as a information platform for new coming international students. Currently we have set up the page on the GSS website at: http://gss.grad.uiowa.edu/blogs/international-student-faq.  We would like to have your input on potential questions and creating new categories. Please take advantage of the new site and provide your feedback.
  • We plan to officially announce the Lekker, Lekker ethnic restaurant/grocery review project on March 4th, 2009(GSS meeting). The event will be promoted from March 4th to April 10th, 2009. We will start raising gift certificates from local ethnic restaurants at the beginning of the Spring semester and finalize the sponsorship list at the end of February. Please let us know if you have any comments on the dates and planning. At this point, we would need your help to expand the list of local ethnic restaurants. Please use the online form https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=p9NXZd5QOHMOjStPNn-LaRw
  •   Students who are native or very advanced German speakers are invited to the unofficial (non-university-sponsored) Stammtisch, which meets twice a month to speak German and enjoy the company of other German-speakers. For more information, please contact Amber Griffioen.
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