iSchool Capstone 2021
Important notice for public and future capstone groups!!
Effective June 1st, 2021, Internationary will be transitioning to an open-source project. Anyone who shares the same passion to help international students can continue working on this and expanding the scope of this project to other campuses and universities(expecially, future iSchool capstone groups) The code is in the public github repository by sukhmand and we will be open to discuss and provide other handoff documentation about the project and our research if we are contacted. You can reach us at the contact info provided.
Problem
The UW is home to nearly 8,000 international students representing more than 100 countries.
There is a lot of information that international students need to be able to adjust to this new place. Coming from a totally different education system and an entirely different culture, an international student needs to feel confident about where he/she is going and how to have a successful life there, and even while at college, they should be able to access and know about resources which are available to them. Researching and collecting information is a cumbersome process and students might miss some useful information or get the wrong information which might hurt them in the long run.
Problem statement
How can international students easily obtain necessary information to ease their transition at the University of Washington without getting confused?
Stakeholders
Our key stakeholders are
- International students at the University of Washington –This includes anyone who is not a US resident and is either enrolled or even planning to potentially join UW.
- ⦁ International Student Services, UW –. In the future, Internationary is open to integrate information about immigration and visas from ISS to become an even more comprehensive resource.
Target Users
The main target user group will be international students at the University of Washington, but this may extend to resident students too in some cases as some information might be useful to them as well.
Solution - Project Overview
Internationary is a one-stop website with answers to most questions that international students have. It aims to help students adapt quickly to the life at the University of Washington, which in most cases is totally different from the one they had before. This is done by providing essential information about transportation, finances, healthcare, and housing in an organized manner and connecting students to external resources when needed.
Impact
The first impact of our solution is on the international students. If they can adjust well, they will perform well in school and gain more knowledge and even secure better jobs and. This in turn will also protect theirs’ and their families’ mental and financial stability.
Additionally, this solution also impacts the US universities and economy. International students spend a lot on education and more and this helps bring in money to the US.
Future
We would like to expand it to other UW campuses and other universities too. Also, we will open our project and resources to anyone who would like to continue this project for their capstone next year.
Demo
Our Team
Suyash Ahuja - Project Manager
Jasmeen Kaur – UX Researcher/Designer
Chandrashree Karnani –Developer
Sukhman Dhillon – Developer