Deborah Livingston
Snellville
Summary
Organized and dependable candidate successful at managing multiple priorities with a positive attitude. Willingness to take on added responsibilities to meet team goals.
Overview
26
26
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior International Student Advisor
Georgia State University
Clarkston, GA
02.2021 - Current
- Advise departments, students, & employees on policies and procedures related to non-immigrant visas, including I-20 document issuance, travel advice, program transfers, extensions, SEVIS registrations and terminations
- Process appropriate documentation for obtaining, maintaining and extending F-1 visa status for students and scholars. Ensures adherence to immigration guidelines for the processing of non-immigrant visas
- Organize and attend outreach programs to the international and university community, including immigration orientation sessions, cultural programming and informational brown bag presentations on current immigration topics
- Update databases, generate reports and/or create updates to forms, handouts and website as appropriate
- Attend relevant immigration meetings and conferences to remain current with trends and changes in laws impacting international students and scholars.
- Worked with students to help understand and overcome personal, social or cultural adjustments.
- Empowered students through skill-building exercises and leading International Peer Assistants
- Lead ISSS Tech Team
- Lead/Oversee Sunapsis (immigration database compliance software)
- Deliver support for problem identification, diagnosis and issue resolution for Sunapsis
- Tested software remotely and onsite to maintain operational readiness: Sunapsis
- Contributed to development, administration and testing of disaster recovery plans for Sunapsis
- Detail upcoming software upgrades and system updates to ISSS team members regarding Sunapsis
- Diagnose and resolve hardware and software issues: Sunapsis
- Plans and implement upgrades to system hardware and software
- Resolve customer support issues and escalated problems as needed to GSU IT support ensuring to resolve technical problems quickly
- Maintain flexible schedule and responded to after-hours and weekend emergencies
- Worked with staff to develop and implement policy and procedures
- Created the eLearning process during COVID: still in use presently
- Set up and control user access levels to protect data.
International Student Advisor
Georgia State University
Clarkston, GA
02.2016 - 02.2021
- Advise departments, students, & employees on policies and procedures related to non-immigrant visas, including I-20 document issuance, travel advice, program transfers, extensions, SEVIS registrations and terminations
- Process appropriate documentation for obtaining, maintaining and extending F-1 visa status for students and scholars. Ensures adherence to immigration guidelines for the processing of non-immigrant visas
- Program Supervisor for International Peer Assistant Program Clarkston, Decatur and Newton campuses
- Organize and attend programs to the international and university community, including immigration orientation sessions and cultural programming
- Manage Sunapsis database for Perimeter College campus
Senior Degree Program Specialist
Georgia Perimeter College
Clarkston, GA
09.2005 - 02.2016
- Admission application processing for international student applicants including academic transcripts review and test score review to determine if student met admissions criteria
- Processed admissions decisions to the college
- Reviewed eligibility for I-20 issuance to attend the college
- Monitored, counseled, reported a population of 500-600 international students attending Georgia Perimeter College each fall and spring semesters
- Reviewed all petition applications for in-state tuition for the 5 campuses of Georgia Perimeter College
- Assisted with course registration for courses for international students
- Monitored, counseled, reported a population of 500-600 international students attending Georgia Perimeter College each fall and spring semesters
- Created standard operating procedures
- Supervised support and student worker staff
Customer Support Specialist
Georgia Perimeter College
Clarkston, GA
09.2002 - 09.2003
- Maintained customer satisfaction with forward-thinking strategies focused on addressing customer needs and resolving concerns.
- Helped large volume of students every day with positive attitude and focus on customer satisfaction
- Responded to customer calls and emails to answer questions regarding admissions, tuition and immigration regulations
- Multitasked to handle diverse customer needs in high-volume educational setting, prioritizing tasks to keep up with challenging deadlines.
Help Desk Technician
Gwinnett Technical College
Lawrenceville, GA
02.2000 - 02.2002
- Assisted team with Banner web registration for Gwinnett Technical College
- Responded to support requests from students and other end-users and patiently walked individuals through basic troubleshooting tasks
- Explained technical information in clear terms to promote better understanding for non-technical users.
- Analyzed issues to identify troubleshooting methods needed for quick remediation.
- Monitored systems in operation and quickly troubleshot errors.
- Researched and identified solutions to technical problems.
Administrative Assistant
Gwinnett Technical College
Lawrenceville, GA
02.1998 - 02.2000
- Answered multi-line phone system, routing calls, delivering messages to staff and greeting visitors and students
- Restocked supplies and placed purchase orders to maintain adequate stock levels
- Scheduled office meetings and appointments for staff teams
- Received and sorted incoming mail and packages to record, dispatch, or distribute to correct recipient
- Maintained databases to track and record customer data
- Processed admissions applications for the college including reviewing transcripts and test school to determine eligibility to the college
- Processed admissions decisions to the college
- Assisted with course registration
Education
No Degree - Business
Gwinnett Technical College
Lawrenceville, GANo Degree -
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GADiploma - Business Management
Southeastern Technical College
Vidalia, GA05.2004
GED -
Shiloh High School
Snellville, GA05.1993
Skills
- Student Services
- International Student Support
- University Admissions
- Immigration
Accomplishments
- NAFSA Member
- NAFSA: F-1 Student Advising: Beyond the Basics
- NAFSA: F-1 Beyond the Basics Employment and Training
- SEVP : Intro DSO Training 10/2023
- SEVP: Advanced DSO Training 10/2023
- SEVP: F-1 Employment Training 10/2023
Timeline
Senior International Student Advisor
Georgia State University
02.2021 - Current
International Student Advisor
Georgia State University
02.2016 - 02.2021
Senior Degree Program Specialist
Georgia Perimeter College
09.2005 - 02.2016
Customer Support Specialist
Georgia Perimeter College
09.2002 - 09.2003
Help Desk Technician
Gwinnett Technical College
02.2000 - 02.2002
Administrative Assistant
Gwinnett Technical College
02.1998 - 02.2000
No Degree - Business
Gwinnett Technical College
No Degree -
Georgia State University
Diploma - Business Management
Southeastern Technical College
GED -
Shiloh High School