# »International Trainees «

International trainees are a particularly sensitive group for academic research institutions. Most international graduate and postgraduate students come to the United States under very limited visas that restrict their stays to the time they are studying, and they are dependent on maintaining a satisfactory relationship with the institutions that sponsor them. This can place them in particularly vulnerable situations at times, so it behooves the institutions, departments, and researchers they are affiliated with to be aware of and responsive to their unusual circumstances. For example, a foreign trainee might be hesitant to come forward and report a case of suspected research misconduct that he or she might be aware of for fear of jeopardizing visa status. Exploitation, often by mentors, can be a pervasive problem. In addition, there might be reticence to speak out about issues that are not research-related, such as harassment or landlord problems, but which can seriously affect their development, performance, and quality of life.

Considering the extreme vulnerability of many foreign students, the primary responsibility for developing satisfactory support mechanisms should, in these cases, lie with the institutions that bring them here. The mentor needs to be sensitive to their vulnerable status and not exploit it. Many departments and schools foresee that these situations can occur even in the best of training milieus, and special committees have been developed to handle such circumstances with the explicit understanding that students and postdocs can come to the committee without fear of confidentiality infringement or retribution. Departments in some universities have gone so far as to create special funds that will support foreign students or postdocs when the judgment is made that it is in the best interests of the student and department to move the trainee to another environment. Certainly, it is still incumbent on the trainee to seek the assistance of the committee, but the comfort range for the student can be expanded with a little concerted effort by the institution.