Center for International Services loses key staff ahead of fall semester
Syracuse University’s Center for International Services acts as the official liaison with United States immigration offices for the large international student body at SU. Leonardo Eriman / Photo Editor
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Just over a third of the staff at Syracuse University’s Center for International Services did not return for the fall semester, leaving an office that oversees the school’s large international student body with reduced support personnel.
As of Aug. 27, the center’s website lists nine staff members, compared to 14 listed in May. Among the staff removed from the website are the former director, the associate director for immigration and student services and the international student and scholar advisor.
The center acts as the official liaison with United States immigration offices for all international students at SU, who make up approximately 20% of the university’s total population. It also supports international “scholars and their dependents as a resource for questions surrounding immigration status/regulations,” its website states.
In June, Juan Tavares, the director; Mary Idzior, associate director for immigration and student services; and Cathy Mantor, assistant director for SEVIS compliance, were no longer listed on the staff website, The Daily Orange found using the Wayback Machine, an internet archive. Their names still appeared on the site in May, the archive shows.
Other staff members no longer listed are Tisiya Rehema and Jared Strecker, both office coordinators.
Tavares’ LinkedIn profile says his time with the office was between July 2019 to July 2025. Annie Dievendorf, who previously acted as the international student advisor, is currently serving as the interim associate director of the office, Sarah Scalese, SU’s vice president for communications, confirmed Tuesday.
Mantor’s LinkedIn still shows that she’s working in the office.
The D.O. attempted to contact Tavares, Idzior and Mantor, but did not receive a reply. Their SU emails are also no longer listed in the university’s Outlook directory.
Under President Donald Trump’s administration, international students have dealt with a crackdown on student visas and multiple travel bans impacting students from 19 countries.
“We want to reassure you that Syracuse University is fully committed to supporting you—both as you prepare to arrive and throughout your time on campus,” Ryan Williams, vice president for enrollment services, and Dawn Singleton, vice president for the student experience, wrote in a June 5 email to international students.
As of July 1, visa support services were transferred to the Enrollment Processing Center, according to the email. After students’ arrival on campus, immigration or visa-related questions were to be directed to international services.
“The center will continue to be your primary resource for international student support, offering services, guidance and programming throughout your academic journey,” the June email states.
When asked if the staffing changes were related to layoffs, university reorganization or federal funding cuts, Scalese referred back to the June email.
The transition of visa support services to the Enrollment Processing Center was intended to provide a “more streamlined and efficient visa process,” according to the email.
On April 23, three SU international students lost their visas, a handful of the more than 1,700 students nationwide who experienced the same. Two days later, the federal government announced it would restore the visas of hundreds of international students.
Most recently, the Trump administration said it’s reexamining all 55 million visa holders in the U.S., looking for any violations that might result in deportation.
In a university update on April 25, Tavares said the office would be “actively reviewing the implications of this development for our current international students” alongside SU’s Office of General Counsel. Tavares encouraged students with questions to reach out to him directly and emphasized that the center would provide “support and guidance.”
SU is entering the 2025-26 academic year “in a position of fiscal stability,” Interim Vice Chancellor Lois Agnew said in an Aug. 20 campus-wide email. To maintain that, Agnew ordered a dean-led evaluation of each school to determine which programs are stable and which need to be “phased out” or “rebranded.”
Both public and private colleges and universities, including Harvard University, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins and Boston University, have announced reduced budgets or layoffs in recent months. The layoffs come in response to federal funding cuts, financial pressures from inflation and concerns around reductions in the number of international students.
During March’s University Senate meeting, Chancellor Kent Syverud said the university didn’t anticipate similar cuts at SU. He said the university tightened its budget last summer and is prepared for any federal aid cuts.
“We are not going to do some of the things you’re seeing elsewhere,” Syverud said in the meeting. “So we’re not going to have large-scale layoffs. We’re not going to have across-the-board hiring freezes. We’re not going to have deep budget cuts or other drastic measures in graduate programs.”
