The ISEP Coordinator at your host institution is familiar with the ISEP agreement and with the nature of the your benefits. He or she makes housing and meal arrangements prior to your arrival, provides information about registration and academic advising, helps deal with problems and maintains correspondence with ISEP.
Please remember that the position of ISEP Coordinator is not a full-time job paid by ISEP, but an employee of the host university with other responsibilities. Although the coordinator is an individual with a genuine interest in international exchange and dedicated to ISEP, he or she may be a professor or administrator with many other pressing responsibilities.
Like your relationship with your academic advisor at your home university, your relationship with your host Coordinator can be a great asset if handled sensitively. In any case, be sure to stop by your coordinator's office when things are going well, too; he or she is interested in your integration into the university community and culture.
The name and contact information for your host ISEP coordinator is noted on your IIS.
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS
Your host Coordinator may wish to handle all questions or only the more urgent problems and instead encourage you to make use of other university personnel for help with everyday concerns.
Any major complaints or problems you may have, particularly those relating to your benefits, should be directed to the ISEP Coordinator at your host institution.
Should you be dissatisfied with your Coordinator's response, take some time to think it over. Being in a new culture can sometimes make simple matters seem more dramatic, and you may need time to adjust. If you still find the situation unsatisfactory, ask your Coordinator who else in the institution could address the issue and try to solve the conflict. Remember, part of what you will learn on an ISEP Experience is how to become a more independent and confident adult who can adapt to new situations. If you are still not satisfied, please put your problem in writing to your home institution ISEP Coordinator and send a copy to ISEP in Washington, D.C.
ISEP seeks to ensure that benefits and services (as outlined in the ISEP Terms of Participation for Institutional Members) are provided by ISEP member institutions and will seek to resolve any difficulties in cooperation with the host institution ISEP Coordinator. At the same time, ISEP's responsibility to students does not extend beyond such endeavors and ISEP is not liable to any student for benefits not provided by the student's home or host institution.