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camp exchange usa program updates

OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION TO OUR HOST EMPLOYERS.
​CONCERNED YOU MISSED AN EMAIL? CHECK HERE FOR AN ARCHIVE OF RECENT COMMUNICATION AND UPDATES

summer 2022

general program updates

May 2022: Summer Kick-off webinar
 CIEE Camp Exchange USA Summer Kick-Off Webinar
If you missed our live webinar, please find a recording below where we kick-off our Summer 2022 season! In the webinar we shared updates on: 
  • The current landscape
  • Pre-arrival tips
  • Arrivals
  • In-country support
  • CIEE Insurance
  • Communication with CIEE
Webinar recording
Webinar slides only

IMPORTANT SUMMER 2022 REMINDERS
​
Reminder: Counselors Traveling Directly to Camp

Counselors will be traveling directly to Camp this summer. Participants are responsible for booking their own travel to Camp. You have filled out arrival information on your host profile that participants are using to make their plans. We ask that you also communicate with them directly on any further instructions or updates to the information you initially provided. As a reminder, CIEE recommends that Camps provide counselors with a travel stipend if flight costs to Camp’s preferred arrival airport exceeds flight costs to CIEE gateway airports (JFK, LGA, EWR, BOS). Please see more information on our Suggested Airport Surcharges. 
 
SEVIS Registration – Upcoming Changes! 
All exchange visitors must register with SEVIS when they arrive in the U.S. and keep it up to date with their address and employer information. CIEE’s SEVIS registration process is changing. In the coming weeks, Counselors will be able to register in SEVIS directly from their CIEE Beacon Portal. We will notify you when this change has been implemented and provide you with additional instructions so that you can support any CIEE Counselors with questions. Until further notification, CIEE Counselors should call CIEE at 1-888-268-6245 to register in SEVIS during business hours (9am – 5pm EST, Monday – Friday).
 
Connect with Your Local Social Security Office 
Now is a good time to connect with your local Social Security Office to start planning your summer appointments. We have found that every office has continued to operate a little differently around pandemic levels and, in some cases, remaining restrictions have impacted normal operations. Knowing any different operating procedures early will help make the process smoother this summer and avoid any surprises! 
 
Direct Placements/Returners 
We continue to have capacity to accept your additional Direct Placement and Returner counselors! With our recent staffing additions, we are processing new applications within 24 hours of them being submitted to CIEE! As a reminder, the administrative fee will increase to $200 charged to Camp, in addition to the standard program fee for Direct Placement/Returner applications, after May 1. Our full Fee Schedule can be found here. 
 
Host Resource Center 
Check out our Host Resource Center for important information and resources! Visit host.ciee.org (password: ciee) to find information on FAQs, program best practices, and many other resources including an archive of recent communication and in-country participant support resources.
 
We are looking forward to a fun and successful summer with you and as always, please reach us at camp@ciee.org with any questions! Thank you for your support and contribution to cultural exchange!
March 2022: Program update email
​Greetings from CIEE!
 
I hope this email finds you well. We are looking forward to our CIEE Camp Exchange USA Summer 2022 program with you and are writing to share some recent updates and reminders!
 
South African Global Youth Advisor Applicants
CIEE is excited to partner with the U.S. Consulate General in South Africa in collaboration with the U.S. State Department, and our International Representative, Awesome Travel, to support participants on the Global Youth Advisor program. The initiative’s goal is to increase the opportunity to travel globally amongst South African youth.
 
What this means for you:
  • In the coming weeks you’ll begin to see these applicants in the pool!
  • The overall cost to Camp to hire these applicants will be the same, but the fee structure is different to help subsidize the upfront travel costs to come to the U.S.
  • Camp fee to CIEE: $2,200
  • Pocket money to participant: $800
    • Plan to add $35 per day for any additional day worked beyond the standard 63-day contract (includes staff training and days off).
 
Many of you hosted participants in 2019 on a similar scholarship, Thuma Mina, and we are excited to relaunch this for Summer 2022, continuing CIEE’s commitment and tradition of broadening access and diversity on our programs! Thank you for your support and consideration of these applicants!
 
Embassy Activity
We are continuing to hear good news about visa processing from U.S. embassies that support the CIEE Camp Exchange USA program. Two important things you can do to help with keeping things moving:
 
  1. Be in touch with your counselors directly: Encourage them to finalize their application paperwork (specifically their police checks) in Beacon with their CIEE International Representative so that CIEE can get them their DS2019 forms!
  2. Send CIEE updated Workers Compensation and Business License Documents: If you recently received an email from us, because you have not yet uploaded any compliance documents, please follow the instructions in that email. We need these on file before we can print DS2019 forms for your hired counselors. If you have received new documents since you initially uploaded them to CIEE Beacon, please email us the updated version at camp@ciee.org. This will help proactively keep your host profile up to date and compliant!
 
Direct Placements/Returners
We continue to have capacity to accept your additional Direct Placement and Returner counselors! With our recent staffing additions, we are ready for these busy weeks and will continue to accept these placements! As a reminder, there is an administrative fee of $100 charged to Camp in addition to the standard program fee for Direct Placement/Returner applications after March 1. Our full Fee Schedule can be found here.
 
Collections of Medical Documents from Counselors
If you require specific medical paperwork on file (health forms, vaccinations, etc.), please remember to be in touch with your counselors directly to collect this information. As always, if you have any questions, you can contact us at camp@ciee.org.
 
Recommended Flight Stipend – Preferred Airport Surcharge
CIEE recommends that Camps provide counselors with a travel stipend if flight costs to Camp’s preferred arrival airport exceeds flight costs to CIEE gateway airports (JFK, LGA, EWR, BOS). Please see more information on our Suggested Airport Surcharges.
 
As a reminder, this year participants are responsible for booking their own travel. You have filled out arrival information on your host profile that participants are using to make their plans. We ask that you also communicate with them directly on any further instructions or updates to the information you initially provided.
 
Connect with Your Local Social Security Office
Now is a good time to connect with your local Social Security Office to start planning your summer appointments. We have found that every office has continued to operate a little differently around pandemic levels and, in some cases, remaining restrictions have impacted normal operations. Knowing any different operating procedures early will help make the process smoother this summer and avoid any surprises!
 
Host Resource Center
Utilize our Host Resource Center for important information and resources! Visit host.ciee.org (password: ciee) to find information on FAQs, program best practices, and many other resources including an archive of recent communication!
 
 
The next messaging from us will likely be a Summer Kick-Off webinar, in late April or early May. We are in the home stretch, and excited for this summer with you! Thank you for the important role you play as hosts and cultural ambassadors! Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or feedback at camp@ciee.org. 
February 2022: Webinar
Greetings from CIEE!
 
Thank you to everyone who joined us our CIEE Camp Exchange USA webinar yesterday! We are so excited about this upcoming summer as we rebuild and reemerge from the pandemic stronger than before! We are grateful to your partnership, support, and dedication to cultural exchange!
 
If you were unable to join or would like to revisit any portion of the presentation, please view our recording here.
 
Resources, Reminders and Follow-Up
  • Our team is growing! Yesterday we shared our new team to support CIEE Camp Exchange USA! Moving forward, our Camp Exchange USA program is supported by myself, Jessica Kissell, Julia Elliott, and Louisa Creigton-Smith. Please continue to contact us at camp@ciee.org. A huge thank you to Olga for her leadership, passion, and guidance during her tenure with the Camp Exchange USA program and through this transition! We are excited for her move to our Professional Exchanges programs at CIEE.
 
  • Utilize our Host Resource Center for important information and resources! Visit host.ciee.org (password: ciee) to find information on FAQs, program best practices, and many other resources including our CIEE Fee Schedule 2022 and Suggested Airport Surcharges 2022 .

  • Reminders on CIEE Beacon and CIEE Connect:
    • We have launched Beacon site updates. These updates will help with faster loading times for the applicant pool! You will also see that the “candidates” button on the home screen banner has been updated to read “CIEE Connect”. All functionality remains the same.
    • As a reminder, participants can self-nominate to any active camps in CIEE Beacon. Participants can also remove themselves from review at any time. Please do not continue to reach out to an applicant after they have come off review with you or offer jobs to candidates from our applicant pool who are not on review with you, without speaking to CIEE first.  
 
As we approach Summer 2022, we are energized by our Camps, our participants, and the value these programs create for your camp communities and the world! Thank you for your contribution and please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or feedback at camp@ciee.org.

January 2021: Webinar and Program Updates
** Emailed 1/31/2022**

​
Greetings from CIEE!
I hope this message finds you well. We are looking forward to our CIEE Camp Exchange USA Summer 2022 program with you!

Please Join our Live Webinar on Thursday, February 17 at 1:00 PM EST
 
We hope that you can join us for our live CIEE Camp Exchange USA Summer 2022 Updates webinar on Thursday, February 17th at 1:00PM EST. For those travelling to the ACA conference next week, we will miss our annual chance to see you in person. We hope to answer any questions you have after the conference as we all prepare for the summer and to provide updates specific to CIEE. During our webinar we will cover:
  • Updates on CIEE
  • Program, sending country, and embassy updates
  • Best practices for participant and CIEE communication
 
PLEASE REGISTER HERE
 
We believe that our webinar format allows the best opportunities to connect with our host Camps, answer your questions and provide clear, updated, and consistent messaging to all. We hope you can join us live, but a recording will be available, upon request.
 
Additional Best Practices and Housekeeping Reminders
  • Take action before the On Review period expires: As a reminder, please pay attention to the On Review expiration date and time. We kindly ask you to swiftly respond to and interview applicants, but we know that sometimes finding a good time for an interview may exceed your On Review time. If you need to extend, please email us at camp@ciee.org to prevent your applicant from automatically going back into the pool.
  • Complete your Direct Placement and Returner offers: As a CIEE Camp host with a completed host profile, we are prioritizing processing your Direct Placement and Returner for you so that counselors can schedule embassy interviews. Please make offers to counselors and encourage counselors to submit their application to CIEE ASAP so that we can process and ship them their DS2019 form now, while there is plenty of time to arrange an embassy appointment. As a reminder, we have a March 1 deadline to complete these offers. After March 1, additional late processing fees may be charged.
  • Upload your Workers Compensation and Business License: CIEE is not able to print DS2019 forms until we receive your workers compensation and business license. We expect that in some cases, your compliance documents will expire before camp starts, but in order to process the DS2019 forms, we need your most recent documents on file!
 
Thank you for your dedication to cultural exchange programs and for being a valued host Camp!

Camp Exchange USA Team
September 2021: webinar
** September 15, 2021**
September 2021: Webinar follow up
** Emailed 9/15/2021**

​
Greetings from CIEE,

​We are excited to work with you to kick off the Summer 2022 Placement season for the CIEE Camp Exchange USA program.  If you were unable to join our live webinar today, please follow this link to listen to the webinar recording (passcode: #g*.6#YK) and hear important updates about the BridgeUSA program landscape and Camp Exchange USA program changes for the upcoming season. 
 
Please look out for a note from us next week to start working on your 2022 Host Profile updates.  Our IT team is completing some system edits and we will alert you when everything is finalized. 
 
2022 Placement Season Documents:
A few important details as you are getting organized for the season:
  • 2022 Host Employer Agreement
  • 2022 Fee Schedule
  • 2022 Preferred Airport Surcharge Recommendations
 
CIEE Host Employer Resource Center:
Visit our CIEE Host Resource Center (password ciee) to find the current season documents and other resources.
 
Photo/Video Request to Feature Your Camp:
We would appreciate if you could send us your 10 (or more) HD photos from this summer that we can use to promote your camp as well as a 30 second video message to prospective counselors (see webinar recording for more information).  You can share these files via Google Drive, email, or send via WeTransfer free sharing service to camp@ciee.org.
 
Thank you for your ongoing engagement, partnership, and support!  We are thankful for our relationship with you and you and your commitment to cultural exchange.  If you are not able to find answers to your questions using the above resources, please continue to reach us at camp@ciee.org. 
October 2021: CIEE Connect and Travel Updates
** Emailed 10/15/2021 **

​
Greetings from CIEE!
I am writing to share a few program updates with you.

Vaccines and Travel Updates
As shared last month, the U.S. plans to open travel for all vaccinated foreign nationals in early November. Today, it was reported that this federal policy will go in effect on November 8 and all foreign nationals will be required to show that they have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO).

We do not believe this will greatly impact travel for our participants. The vast majority have received or have access to a COVID-19 vaccine listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO). Additionally, effective November 1, 2021, CIEE will require ALL BridgeUSA program participants we sponsor to be fully vaccinated prior to arrival in the United States.

CIEE Connect is now live!
CIEE Connect is a new feature for the CIEE Camp Exchange program that sets up an open digital job market where participants and host employers can find their best match.  We believe that this functionality will help you get better quality placements and will attract strong candidates to the program.  Review the CIEE Connect Overview to understand this new feature.  Please keep in mind:
  • Participants can now add themselves on review to your camp. 
  • Camps will receive email notifications when participants are added on review.
Participants will receive email notifications when removed off review.  Please keep this in mind as you provide feedback. 

Thank you for your partnership with CIEE and support of cultural exchange! We are looking forward to continuing to rebuild this invaluable program as we enter the 2021-22 placement season with you. Should you have any questions, please contact us at camp@ciee.org. We will be in touch again with any relevant updates in the coming weeks!
 
Kind Regards
Olga


September 2021: COVID-19 Vaccine
** Emailed 9/21/2021 **

Greetings from CIEE!
 
I am writing to share a few program updates with you.
 
Travel Updates
As shared with in our recent Summer 2022 Updates Webinar last week,  we have been expecting the Biden Administration to require nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Yesterday it was reported that the U.S. plans to open travel for all vaccinated foreign nationals in early November. The specific policy and plans have not yet been published by the White House and CIEE is awaiting more details to understand any implications this may have on BridgeUSA programs, including Camp Exchange USA.
 
At shared in our webinar, we have anticipated this and have worked extensively with our international representatives on this possibility. Ultimately, we see this as a positive indication that the U.S. is safely reopening to travel again, including to a more robust CIEE Camp Exchange USA program. As we have more information, I will share the updates.
 
CIEE Host Portal Updates
We are performing some additional development work on the CIEE Host Portal, and the system will be available for the 2022 Placement Season starting October 1. We apologize for the delay as we know you are eager to start the season early.  We hope that the system enhancements will be a welcome change and will make your work easier.
 
In the meantime, you can find some key season dates and materials here on the CIEE Host Employer Portal. I will be running a live training on October 1, 2021 at 1:00pm EST to offer a quick refresher on updating your host profile for the new season and answer any questions that you may have. Register here to join the training.
 
Kind regards, 
​Olga
december 2021: general program updates
** Emailed 12/17/2021**

​
Greetings from CIEE!
 
This note is a little different from my typical updates and we hope you will find the information helpful, timely, and inspiring! After facing unprecedented challenges related to the pandemic, navigating change, and weathering an unpredictable storm, we are nearing the holiday season, and we wanted to celebrate some amazing wins and share our gratitude with you. Our incredible host employer partnerships through this pandemic made the wins possible and we look forward to building the next chapter together!
 
5 WINS WE ARE CELEBRATING THIS YEAR!

1. The world is reopening, and programming is resuming!
  • The broad reaching travel bans lifted last month, and the U.S. has begun to welcome international travelers again who have received a World Health Organization approved vaccine!
  • While some travel bans are still in place and embassy challenges linger with limited visa interview appointments, this winter season is a turning point for exchange programs! With your support, elected officials understand how critical this program is for economic recovery and public diplomacy and we have been busy welcoming winter participants into the U.S.
2. CIEE has been selected to administer BridgeUSA Leadership Development Program through a $500k grant funded through the U.S. Department of State!
  • We are honored to be able to deepen the public diplomacy impact of the BridgeUSA programs through developing and delivering ten leadership development seminars for participants across all sponsors on a broad range of program categories (Camp Counselor, Summer Work and Travel, Au Pair, Trainee, Intern, Teacher, Professor, Secondary School Student, Short-Term Scholar, Specialist, and Alien Physician). 
3. CIEE Connect is launched!
  • CIEE Connect sets up an open digital job market where participants can apply directly to host employers based on their qualifications, preferences, and experience (think Indeed.com or LinkedIn).
  • We believe that this functionality will help you obtain better quality placements and will attract strong and diverse candidates to the program.
4. We have reimagined communication!
  • In times of uncertainty, we have learned that communication with our stakeholders is critical to our partnership, even if we do not have all the answers!
  • As we re-build, our commitment to transparent and timely communication will continue. In addition to individual hiring strategy meetings, you’ll continue to hear from CIEE’s leadership on important program updates and ways to run meaningful and successful programs.
  • We have launched our Host Employer Resource Center (password: ciee). This site is designed with our hosts in mind to have answers to your frequently asked questions and tools to educate you and your teams about the program right at your fingertips! This tool will be a living site that we will continue to construct and update as necessary. We hope you find it useful and if you have any feedback specific to this site, please email camp@ciee.org.
5. It’s time to re-build!
  • CIEE is regrowing our team and hiring staff!
  • We look forward to introducing new faces to you in the coming months as we begin to add staff back to our teams.
 
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
 
Holiday Hours
Please note that CIEE Office will be closed for the Holiday Break from Thursday, December 23th, reopening on Monday, January 3rd.
 
Summer 2022
  • Hiring is already underway. Most of the summer hiring will happen in the first three months of 2022.  Please watch your email after the New Year for updates!
  • If you want to connect with the team to discuss your hiring needs and set the strategy, please use think link to schedule a call with us.
 
On behalf of the entire CIEE community and those participants you have directly impacted, thank you! Your support and partnership have kept us inspired and lifted through these challenging times and we are excited to celebrate our shared wins with you! As always, please contact us at camp@ciee.org with any questions.
 
Kind Regards,
Olga 
​

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CIEE: Council On International Educational Exchange
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  • Welcome
    • About CIEE
    • Advocacy
  • Work & Travel USA
    • Summer 2023
    • Winter 2022-2023
    • Work & Travel USA Resource Library
  • Camp Exchange USA
    • Camp Summer 2023
  • Professional Exchanges
  • Participant Experience & Support
    • Pre-Arrival Resources
    • In-Country Resources
    • Post Program Resources