Visiting International Faculty Program

The Visiting International Faculty Program started in North Carolina and first hosted twelve foreign language teachers in ten North Carolina counties beginning in 1989. The Visiting International Faculty Program is more commonly referred to as VIF and serves as an intercultural program of exchange with international teachers from around the world who serve as teachers and cultural ambassadors. Since 1989, the number of teachers participating in the program has grown from 12 teachers to thousands of teachers today. These teachers have concentrated their work in California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Virginia but have branched out to other states over the years. These foreign teachers work abroad in the United States for a limited term and are selected from countries such as Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Ireland, Jamaica, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela.

VIF teachers typically fill the need for teachers in difficult to staff areas such as foreign language, English as a second language, math, science, and special education. The program takes care of the selection process that includes the application, interviews, references, and background checks. The teachers are paid by the program with funds that have been channeled from the specific school district. According to the guidelines of the program, all program participants receive salary and benefits adapted to exchange teachers to include health, life, and disability insurance, dental insurance, liability insurance, round-trip airline stipends, interest-free loans to help offset travel and relocation expenses, and assistance with car rental or leasing for long or short term transportation. Salaries are paid on a varying level based on where the visiting international teacher decides to work. Schools located in systems with higher costs of living normally pay a higher wage. Likewise, some school systems take into account the years of teaching experience that the teachers have in their native countries. Based on reports from VIF, teachers who are not married and share housing indicate earning a significant amount of money for travel and comfortable living. VIF teachers are still required to meet the same local standards that full-time teachers must meet in their individual school systems.

Overall, the visiting international faculty program handles the total recruitment process for a school system in addition to support of the visiting teacher. In terms of retention, the program provides the following: Local advisors who help the new international teacher adjust to the new surroundings in a new community; professional development opportunities with other program participants; emergency support via a twenty-four hour hotline throughout the year; and the opportunity to earn higher degrees while residing in the United States.

In Georgia, the school systems that I have known to have participated in the VIF program typically have had positive feedback concerning the program and its teacher representatives. The greatest challenges to hosting a VIF teacher is locating suitable housing for the visiting teacher and providing the necessary professional support and community orientation for the new teacher. The only real disappointment of the program is that after the three year teacher obligation is concluded, VIF teachers return to their home countries, and this often leaves a void for students and communities.

(Source: www.vifprogram.org)