Government to keep close eye on programs

The U.S. Department of State has vowed to institute tighter controls over foreign exchange student programs in response to charges of neglect lodged against a Scranton woman who was a coordinator for one of the programs.

“I definitely think there needs to be more oversight and I think there will be new things that come out of this,” said Miller Crouch, acting assistant secretary for the department’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau, which regulates exchange programs.

The State Department was prompted to act after Edna Burgette, a coordinator for the California-based Aspect Foundation, was accused of placing several students in homes in the Scranton area that were in deplorable condition.

Luzerne County District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll said her office also investigated one case of a student who had been placed by Burgette in a home in Luzerne County. Investigators determined that no criminal chargers were warranted in that case.

The State Department sets regulations exchange programs must follow, but compliance with those regulations has essentially been monitored through a self-reporting program, Crouch said.

A trade organization for the industry, the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel, grades programs as being in full, partial or non-compliance based on an annual management audit. But the State Department does not do its own, independent review of those findings, Crouch said.

“Until now we’ve only had access to the CSIET audit,” Crouch said. “If a program says it’s doing an annual training of all coordinators, we don’t have any way to make sure they are doing it.”

Proposed changes being considered include having an outside certified public accountant conduct those audits, Crouch said.

“We will make things better,” Crouch said. “This is a very important program for the country. We will come up with stronger regulations.”

In the interim, the State Department has taken action against the Aspect Foundation.

Crouch said the department has reduced the number of visas given to Aspect by 15 percent. Exchange programs are dependent upon the visas, which students must have in order to enter the United States. The loss of the visas means a loss of about $540,000 in revenue for Aspect, Crouch said. He said Aspect has submitted a plan of correction, which is now under review.

Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7179

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