camp exchange usa program updates
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summer 2022 |
general program updates |
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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:
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:
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:
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
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:
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
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: 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:
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!
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
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 |
