UConn faculty who plan to host international visiting students for research or training can request support from GTDI to provide their students with access to on-campus housing, meals, and health insurance. To qualify for this service, visiting students will earn non-degree credit from UConn for their research or training activity, which GTDI will help to coordinate in collaboration with the academic host. Please note that the service availability is contingent upon availability of on-campus housing. Contact gtdi@uconn.edu if you would like to discuss the service in more detail.
GTDI Services
GTDI will help to coordinate:
- On-campus housing
- On-campus dining
- Bed linens
- Health insurance
- Admission letter
- Course enrollment, Net ID and UConn Email
- Nondegree orientation session (semester-based students).
Host Department Responsibilities
Academic department responsibilities:
- Supervise the student and their research/training activities. Research/training activities should be at least 32 hours per week.
- Identify appropriate academic credit for the research experience (e.g. independent study) and provide a course grade.
- The academic department hosting the visiting student is still responsible for working with Global Affairs directly to submit and monitor the J-1 visa sponsorship request to International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) and communicate any concerns for the visiting research student's performance or wellbeing to ISSS.
Approximate Cost to Students
Costs for the service are paid by the students. These estimates cover the cost of on-campus housing in a shared room, a set of bed linens, a meal plan consisting of 3 meals per week/7 days per week, health insurance and non-degree academic credit representing the research or training activity.
Undergraduate Level Students:
Summer, 4 weeks (1 cr.): $2,640
Summer, 8 weeks (2 cr.): $5,119
Summer 12 weeks (3 cr.): $ 7,598
Academic semester (3 cr.): $11,391
Graduate Level Students:
Summer, 4 weeks (1 cr.): $3,015
Summer, 8 weeks (2 cr.): $5,869
Summer 12 weeks (3 cr.): $8,723
Academic semester (3 cr.): $12,521. Note: Graduate student housing during the academic semester is subject to very limited availability.
Step by Step Process
Step 1
The UConn academic hosting department completes the International Visiting Research Student Services request form to confirm information about the student visit, an appropriate course number and a description of the intended research activity. You will need to upload an Excel file into the request form that includes for each student: Student First Name and Last Name, Name of University in Home Country, Degree Level at Home University (UGrad, Grad), UConn Program Start Date, UConn Program End Date.
The deadline for faculty to request support from GTDI depends on the anticipated timing of the visit.
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- Summer: April 1.
- Fall term: March 1.
- Spring term: November 1.
For students visiting during the academic term, program dates must align with the academic calendar dates. For students visiting during the summer, program dates can be set by the hosting faculty, but must begin on a Sunday and the visit should last four, eight or 12 weeks.
GTDI will confirm with the hosting department whether they anticipate being able to accommodate the students soon after the request is received.
Step 2
GTDI will reach out to the visiting research students to request they submit additional information needed to process their enrollment. Concurrently, the academic department can initiate visa sponsorship for their international visiting research students through the ISSS Scholar Portal.
If housing will be unavailable for the visiting research student, we will notify the host department and visiting research student as soon as possible so alternate plans can be made by the department and visiting student.
Costs are subject to change, and may vary for visits during the academic semester, depending on the student's ultimate housing assignment.
Step 3
Students will pay a deposit to GTDI through the UConn Marketplace store. This deposit covers the cost of insurance and bedding. Remaining costs will be charged to students through a UConn fee bill, and must be paid by the student according to the University's deadlines.
Step 4
GTDI will issue the student a non-degree "admission" letter that they can use at their visa appointment, along with DS-2019 documentation provided by ISSS. This document will be available for the student to download through their ISSS Portal account. GTDI and ISSS will provide both an online pre-arrival orientation to all incoming students who access the service, and an in-person orientation upon arrival. The UConn hosting department will be the primary contact for the visiting students while they are here, but students will also have staff from GTDI and ISSS available for support during their visit.
Step 5
Upon successfully completing their research visit, the hosting department will submit a grade for the non-degree credit(s). GTDI will advise participating students on how to request their transcript from UConn, in case they wish to apply the credits earned toward their home university degree.