From: VISA Office
Date: February 12, 2020
Subject: ISS News, February 12, 2020: Nominate for Global Citizen Awards, OPT Workshops, Tax Information, Etiquette Dinner, H-1B Presentation, & More!



IS

February 12, 2020

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in this issue:

  1. OPT & CPT Workshop Schedule
  2. Tax Information for 2019
  3. Wittke and Jackson Award Nominations Now Being Accepted
  4. Featured Events
  5. Campus Events
  6. Winter Weather 101
  7. Global Citizen Award Nominations are Open
  8. Participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement
  9. H-1B Session Available on YouTube

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ISS Staff is available to students, without an appointment, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday during advising hours:

11am to 1pm- through virtual advising available online

1pm to 3pm- through in-person advising in the office

There are no advising hours on Wednesday.

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If you need to speak or meet with an advisor outside of our advising hours, please send an email to international@case.edu to schedule an appointment. Please provide your full-name and a brief description of the nature of your appointment when you contact us.

OPT and CPT workshop branding telling students to check the schedule
winter weather infographic from weather.gov/cold

Winter Weather 101

We want you to stay warm this winter! Be sure that you're dressing appropriately for the Cleveland weather.

2020 Global Citizen Awards logo featuring a globe showing longitude and latitude lines and the continents in blues

Global Citizen Award Nominations are Open

The Center for International Affairs is now accepting nominations for the Global Citizen Awards!

Nominations will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, March 12.

The awards to be presented include:

Faculty/Staff Award

International Leader

Student Awards

Unsung Champion

Spirit of Service

Laurie D. Zelman International Undergraduate Student

Elise Lindsay International Graduate Student

Organization Awards

Outstanding Student Organization

Outstanding Campus partner in Collaboration

All nominees will be contacted shortly after this submission deadline. Winners will be chosen by an anonymous committee and invited to attend the International Achievement Luncheon where they will be recognized and receive their award.

To learn more about the criteria for each award, please visit the Center for International Affairs' website. Nomination forms can be accessed here.

For more information, please contact Marielena Maggio at international@case.edu or 216.368.2517.

Success Series Flyer advertising H1B and other visas session

H-1B & Other Visas
Session Available on YouTube


If you were unable to attend the session last week, tune into our YouTube channel to get all of the information!
student and faculty

Wittke and Jackson Award Nominations Now Being Accepted

Nominations are being accepted for the J. Bruce Jackson, MD, Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring and the Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching through February 15.

Click here for more information about how to nominate outstanding faculty and staff!

tax time clip art

Tax Deadline in April:
Forms & Sprintax Availability

It's time to file your income taxes for last calendar year. ALL individuals in F and J status must file taxes, including spouses, young children, and even if you haven't earned any income!

Staff members in ISS are not tax professionals; we cannot answer your questions or give you advice. We hope the information and resources provided here will make the process a little easier. If you find that you still have questions, the best thing to do is contact a tax consultant or accountant.

Federal Taxes

Sprintax is a tax-return-preparation software program designed primarily for international students and other educational visa holders. It can help you prepare your U.S. federal income tax return and assist you in preparing Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ.

You may access Sprintax and begin preparing your tax return by following these steps:

  1. Register and follow the simple instructions
  2. Complete the online questionnaire
  3. Enter Case Western Reserve University’s unique code.  This code will be provided to you soon by email.
  4. Sprintax will prepare your tax return

State Taxes

If Sprintax determines that you are required to file state taxes, you will have the opportunity to prepare those state taxes. You are not required to use Sprintax to file state taxes but, remember, it is your responsibility to comply with the law and properly file all taxes.

Preparing to File Your Taxes

It's a good idea to wait to access Sprintax until you have all of your necessary and relevant tax forms. This will ensure that you're providing the most accurate information about your income during the last tax year.

If by now, you haven't received your W-2 from CWRU, contact Payroll at payroll@case.edu. If you were authorized to work for another employer, you should contact their payroll department.

Please keep in mind that the US citizen codes in SIS are what prompt the generation of the 1098-T by CWRU's Financial Services Office. 1098-Ts are generated for US citizens and Permanent Residents automatically. 1098-Ts are not automatically generated for international students; the university is only required to provide 1098-Ts to international students (nonresident aliens) upon their request per guidance from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). For more information regarding the 1098-T, please visit Financial Services website to download the Nonresident Alien 1098-T Request Form.

If you are the recipient of a 1098-T, it's not likely that you're eligible to use Sprintax. Sprintax is intended for nonresident aliens and if you're issued a 1098-T, it's possible that you've been in the US long enough to be considered a resident alien for tax-purposes only (overall, you're still considered a nonresident alien though). That means you're able to file your taxes more similarly to the way a US citizen does and could utilize other tax preparation software.

1042-S forms will be prepared by mid-March and sent to students by Payroll. Please contact Payroll if you have questions about the issuance of your 1042-S.

For more information, visit our Information on Filing Taxes page.

Participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement


First-year, second-year, and senior students will receive a reminder on February 20th encouraging them to participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement. The survey is being given to undergraduates at schools across the country, and is designed to query students directly about their educational and interpersonal experiences. Results will help in evaluation of services and programs. The e-mail will come from Dean Jeff Wolcowitz. Questions about the survey can be directed to CWRU’s Office of Institutional Research.

Featured Events

EVENT

Job Search Strategies: Finding Internships and Employment -- Int'l Student Success Series

Wednesday, February 19
12:45pm - 2:00pm
Mandel Community Center 115, 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States
Link
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Searching and applying for positions can feel daunting, but ISS and PGP-EE staff are here to help! Join us for a workshop on the basics of searching for jobs online, building a professional network, best practices for applying, and how to respond when you hear back from that dream employer!

RSVP

EVENT

Career Preparation Etiquette Dinner

Thursday, March 19
5:15pm - 8:00pm
Thwing Center Ballroom, 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States
Link
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As our students look toward graduation, ISS wants to help them prepare for job search and career success! Job interviews often include eating dinner with potential colleagues, and many companies ask employees to take clients out for nice meals. Employers want to know their employees can be professional, even in social situations, and dining with others can be very challenging. Learning Western expectations of politeness can help you feel more comfortable eating unfamiliar foods, and mastering dining rules can help you make a great impression on others!

Attendees will receive hands-on training from Etiquette Consultant Catherine Holloway and will be served a 3-course meal including soup, a main dish, and dessert.

Registration notes:
By registering to attend this event, you are committing to attend, arrive on time and stay for the duration of the dinner.  Please visit the event for more information.

THANK YOU to our sponsors!
International Club (co-host), Office of Global Legal Studies, Office of Residence Life, School of Medicine Graduate Education, Post-Graduate Planning & Experiential Education, International Development Initiative, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, The Alumni Association of CWRU, and Division of Engineering Leadership and Professional Practice

RSVP

Campus Events

EVENT

CWRU Entrepreneurship | Alumni Speaker Series: Halle Tecco Founder & CEO, Natalist

Wednesday, February 12
11:30am - 1:00pm
Sears think[box], Floor 6, 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States
Link
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Join us as part of the CWRU Entrepreneurship Alumni Series for a Zoom Roundtable Discussion with Halle Tecco Founder & CEO of Natalist and CWRU BS ('06) alum. Halle will discuss her career journey, entrepreneurship, experience in health care innovation, and being a female CEO. The conversation will be facilitated by a Sonia Velu, who is pursuing her BS in Biomedical Engineering.

We will also be broadcasting this roundtable and future roundtables to our streaming channel at www.case.edu/livestream/s1 on February 12 starting at noon. The event will also be featured via Facebook Live on CWRU's Facebook page.

RSVP
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image of astronaut Don Thomas
image of rocket launching into space from launchpad

EVENT

CWRU Entrepreneurship | Alumni Speaker Series: Joe Mandato, Senior Advisor, Mainsail Partners

Thursday, February 20
5:30pm - 7:00pm
Sears think[box], Floor 6, 10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States
Link
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Join us as part of the CWRU Entrepreneurship Alumni Series for a Roundtable Discussion with Joe Mandato, who is a Senior Advisor for Mainsail Partners and CWRU PhD ('04) alum. Joe will discuss his career journey, entrepreneurship, experience with venture capital. The conversation will be facilitated by a CWRU Student.

We will also be broadcasting this roundtable and future roundtables to our streaming channel at www.case.edu/livestream/s1 on February 20 starting at 6 pm. The event will also be featured via Facebook Live on CWRU's Facebook page.

RSVP
review relax refresh event hosted by the Alumni Associate.  schedule printed on a seafoam colored background with a wihte flower int he corner