Bill Elliot is pleased.

The director of international admissions is glad to see international student enrollment increase by 34 students, but said he would like to see those numbers continue to increase.

“Part of the (increase in) enrollment is due to the popularity in our programs – especially in the area of technology,” Elliott said.

The enrollment numbers for the 2007 fall semester were released Sept. 5. International student enrollment increased from 151 students to 185 students.

Elliott said technological and business fields are the most popular programs among international students at Eastern.

The international programs office is responsible for the recruitment of international students and making sure international students are compliant with governmental regulations.

An international student has to go to a U.S. Embassy and acquire a visa before being able to study in the United States. The international student is then subjected to several rules and regulations while staying in America, Elliot said.

“That’s basically what our office does,” he said. “We recruit them and once they are here, we work with them to stay aware of all of the regulations involved with their studies here in the U.S.”

Elliot added the office sends representatives to recruitment fairs both in the United States and abroad. The office spends a fair amount of time recruiting at community colleges in Illinois, he said.

“It’s such a difficult process to get a visa that it makes sense to recruit from other schools where students have already been through that process,” Elliott said.

He said the visa application process is one of the difficulties when recruiting international students from a foreign country.

The visa process can take a long time and it is something the student cannot do at the last minute, Elliot said. Many international students at Eastern are successful at acquiring a visa, but apply months in advance.

He said the visa process makes it difficult to know how many students are expected to enroll at Eastern.

“It makes our job challenging,” Elliott said. “Every week there is, literally, a tally as we communicate with the students.”

The university also has international student organizations to help acclimate students to a new culture.

Rodney Amematekdo is the chair of the Association of International Students. He is originally from the Ivory Coast, which is a country neighboring Ghana.

Amematekdo wanted to study in America because his father received his business administration master’s in New York, and he also has family members in Chicago.

One of his family members is studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the other transferred to Eastern.

“(I went to Eastern) mainly because of my family,” Amematekdo said. “When you come to a new country, it is always nice to have family around so you don’t get too homesick.”

Amematekdo said the International Programs Office really helped with the application process.

“They kind of smoothed the process for the paperwork,” Amematekdo said. “It was easier than other schools.”

He also applied at universities in Texas and Louisiana. He said he thought about transferring from Eastern during his first semester because he was used to an urban lifestyle.

He stayed in Chicago before coming to Charleston and went to high school in Paris, France.

Now a senior, Amematekdo believes he made the right choice.

“Once I got a chance to meet people and get involved on campus, I felt like it was the best place for me,” he said.

Elliot said the level of service the international office provides differs from other schools.

He said an international applicant is not treated any differently than a domestic one in other universities.

“From the start, we are different in the fact that we respond personally,” Elliot said.