It's not just a database: SEVIS, the federal monitoring of international graduate students post 9/11

The Patriot Act legislation, passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, contained a series of regulations pertaining to international students studying in the United States. SEVIS, a database designed for the federal monitoring of all international students and scholars in the United States was one piece of the Patriot Act legislation.; This study explores how institutions of higher education interpret and implement SEVIS regulations and how international graduate students make meaning of SEVIS and other visa-related regulations. A Foucaultian knowledge-power theoretical framework is employed, situating federal regulations, institutional policy, and international graduate students in a Panopticon of surveillance. Discussions relating to the internationalization of higher education and globalization also contribute to a contextual framework.; A comparative approach is applied with a focus on two institutions of higher education: one a large, research institution and the other a private faith-based institution. Using qualitative methods, data were collected through individual and focus group interviews, listservs from offices of institutional international student services, and observations of international student orientation programs. Interviewees included federal immigration officers, Designated Student Officers (immigration administrators in higher education), other institutional administrators, and international graduate students. Student participants represented two fields of study.; Categorical analytic themes include: advocacy, fear, criminalization, prejudice, surveillance, and docile bodies. The findings document a relationship between institutional context and how SEVISand other visa-related regulations are interpreted and implemented. Campus immigration officials in the public, research institution demonstrated an authoritative approach when interacting with students, while the private, faith-based official tended to be more authoritarian. Themes pertaining to how international graduate students make meaning of SEVIS include: how personal information in SEVIS is used and how long it is maintained; fear of leaving the U.S. prior to program completion, and then not being permitted to return for degree completion; financial issues; separation from family members; and experiences of prejudice and criminalization.; Keywords: International Graduate Students in the U.S.; SEVIS; U.S. Higher Education post 9/11; Federal monitoring of international students; Foucault and U.S. higher education surveillance.