OISS staff member honored with Rice MILE award

Rice staff member Sandra Bloem-Curtis was honored with the RICE MILE Award in November.

Bloem-Curtis, the director of international compliance and administration in the Office of International Students and Scholars, was commended for managing the workload related to the increase in incoming international students, from visa issues to governmental mandates.

In a letter nominating Bloem-Curtis for the award, she was praised for always acting with integrity and compassion for Rice students.

“She is clearly committed to the well-being and positive experience of international students at Rice, advocating for them in her quiet way,” the nominator wrote.

Bloem-Curtis has been the architect of several infrastructure projects that have helped streamline processes, speeding up the crucial visa application process and making it clearer, more transparent and more efficient for students and graduate program faculty and staff. Most recently she has implemented a new platform for submitting immigration documents electronically.

“This new process tremendously helped everyone (students, departments, OISS staff) involved and as a result Rice now offers a fast, secure and modern way for international students and host departments to submit and process immigration documents electronically,” according to the nomination letter.

All levels of staff are eligible for consideration for the RICE MILE Award and can be nominated by peers, colleagues, co-workers or supervisors as long as they have at least one year of service and are in good standing. Nominations must be submitted through the RICE MILE Award online form and require approval from senior leadership in the nominee’s school or division.

For more information on the award, visit http://people.rice.edu/careersrice/awards-and-recognition/the-rice-mile-award/.