Rice University and the Institute of International Education (IIE) are pleased to share a training video: International Friendship Program.

This video serves as a resource for any U.S. institution that facilitates a friendship program between newly-arriving international students and U.S. community volunteers. It includes information on how international students impact and enhance U.S. campuses, provides guidelines on cross-cultural expectations for U.S. volunteers, contains easy suggestions for successful initial interactions, and explains what both U.S. friends and international students would gain from organized friendship programs. This video is intended to be a supplemental training resource at orientation sessions geared for the U.S. volunteer-friends.

This training video was funded by Rice University’s Office of International Student & Scholars, Rice University’s Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies and the Institute of International Education (IIE) Southern Regional Center in Houston, Texas.

The current version of the video (above) was re-edited by OISS in 2019 to shorten the duration to approximately 16 minutes. Click here if you would like to view the original full length video (approximately 28 minutes).