Dear Provost's office of The New School

The Strategic Design and Management course at Parsons School of Design is very unique - in the nature of its systems and impact focused curriculum, its inclusivity towards a diverse group of students from various backgrounds, and its integration of theoretical and practical curriculum.

Around 70% of this program currently consists of international students. We come from all over the world, and bring in a diversity of thought, culture, mission and professional expertise, making the program a unique experience for everyone. Although we differ in our reasons to do this master's program, all of us are united through our goal to stay and work in the US after graduation as strategic design practitioners, be it a few years or for longer period of time, for the following reasons:

1. Opportunities to work in the niche space of strategic design are abundant in the US, in contrast to the regions where we belong where this field is still in it's very nascent stage

2. Many of us have taken on huge financial burdens (on ourselves and our families) to attend this program, and our best chance to regain some of those investments is to work in the US for at least a few years after we graduate

3. Many of our dream companies are located in the US and we would not have an opportunity to develop our career in the way we wanted to, if we have to go back to our respective countries

4. Many of us have entrepreneurial goals that we would like to pursue in the US, owing to the highly mature ecosystem of startups, legal provisions, mentors, incubators and investors not found in other parts of the world

The current one year OPT provided for us to acquire real world experience extremely limits our chances to stay in the country and grow professionally.

1. A major part of building one's career is applying the skills and methods which are learned at school in the real world for at least a few years after graduation, and the current OPT duration of a year is quite insufficient for us to get an opportunity to do that.

2. Companies are also unwilling to hire us if we can only stay for a year, since it does not make sense for them to train us, hire us and then take the risk of us leaving the country after just a year of working. Many companies are unwilling to sponsor visa's if we do not have STEM OPT.

3. The H1B visa system is extremely competitive and is purely based on chance. The current one year OPT duration gives us only one shot at the lottery system, thereby limiting the probability of getting this visa.

Taking all these into consideration, the international students and alumni of this program urge the provost's office to grant a STEM status for this program by March 2020, which would allow international students from the 2019 batch onwards to apply for a 24-month extension to the typical 12-month optional practical training (OPT) period. This would give us enough time to work and apply our skills in this field, and also enable us with more chances to get the H1B visa through the lottery system.

The course is perfectly aligned to the following CIP code which qualifies for STEM:

30.0601 - Systems Science and Theory.

MS-Strategic Design and Management is a program with a multi-disciplinary approach to the analysis and solution of complex problems, requiring a combinatorial approach using data and models from the natural, social, technological, behavioral and life sciences, and other specialized fields.

The program is academically rigorous and practice-oriented. Students are trained to study and analyze complex systems, use quantitative and qualitative methods of research inquiry, design behavioral solutions and use business practices to develop economically viable propositions. Students from diverse professional background group together to find desirable, viable and feasible solutions to distress in various ecosystems, be it natural, social, technology, behavioral and life sciences. By merging the expertise in our respective fields, the solutions are informed through various perspectives and analogous inspiration.

We believe that a STEM status for the MS - Strategic Design and Management program will be of benefit to all of us, not just for the hundreds of international students and their families, but to companies looking to hire talented international students, for the university to promote the STEM status of the program and attract better talent, and ultimately to the society as a whole through collective efforts.