hile the details outlined here are also available in other articles, this is a comprehensive guide to the NH18 Hosting Application Distribution Process. While the system isn't perfect, it is intended to help ensure that all teams have the opportunity to place easier-to-place students and that our weakest teams aren't left to place our hardest-to-place students. If you have questions or suggestions for future changes, please contact your TDS. Thank you!
For a summary of the changes for the 2018-2019 school year as well as the hoped-for benefits of these changes, please click here. There are some big changes this year compared to last year!
NH18 Hosting Application Management in Global Link
Key Dates
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March 1 |
Teams may begin to Community Place students who are in Regionally Available starting at 7pm local time in the gateway city. |
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April 10 |
Nationally Available students (excluding YES and CBYX) will begin to be assigned to gateway regions and made Regionally Available. Teams may begin to CP one YES student per team starting at 7pm Eastern time (4pm Pacific). |
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May 25 |
Community Placed students may be moved back to Regionally Available today only. Teams must determine whether to Community Place students who are School Placed or move them back to Regionally Available. Unplaced YES and CBYX students assigned to gateway regions. Teams may no longer enter AT Hold, Community or School Placed requests for YES/CBYX students |
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June 1 |
Community Placement draft for 100% of remaining YES/ CBYX students Teams’ number of Placed + CPed students must equal 85% of their hosting goal. |
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July 18 |
1st arrivals FPC deadline (for non-YES students). |
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Aug 8-9 |
First Arrivals |
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August 31 |
Final U.S. Department of State placement deadline |
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September 5 |
FPC Deadline for 2nd arrivals |
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September 12 |
2nd Arrivals |
Overview of Placement Process
Unless otherwise noted, all placement process guidelines and dates apply equally to Sponsored Programs (CBYX and YES) as they do to Core Program participants.
Once Hosting Operations Staff have reviewed and accepted applications, the applications will be made Regionally or Nationally Available in Global Link and visible on MyAFS. Click here for more information on finding students.
Students from larger partner countries (defined as partners that send 50+ students to the U.S.) will be assigned to international travel gateways (New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, Seattle, and Los Angeles) and made Regionally Available. The following countries will have their students assigned to their gateway regions right away: Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, and Thailand.
Students from all other countries (including YES and CBYX students) will initially be made Nationally Available and can be placed with a family in any team. School Placements are allowed if the conditions outlined below are met. Starting on April 10th, Nationally Available students (excluding YES and CBYX) will be assigned to gateways and made Regionally Available. Once Regionally Available, these students can be Community Placed. YES and CBYX students will be assigned to gateways on May 25th ahead of the Sponsored Programs draft on June 1st.
By June 1, all teams must Place and Community Place enough students to be able to meet 85% of their annual hosting goal (for example, a team with a goal of 40 students should have 34 students assigned to them by June 1st (CP + PWP + FPC). Any team commitments above 85% of the goal must come from placing a student rather than from CPing additional students.
Placing a Student on Area Team Hold (AT Hold)
Hosting Volunteers and Team Development Specialists (TDS) may request an Area Team Hold for a student that is Regionally or Nationally Available to give volunteers time to reach families and to give families time to decide about hosting that specific student.
Only two students may be on Hold at one time for any given family. Thus, the family name must be included in the Hold request. One AT Hold request may be submitted per student per Area Team per day, even if multiple families are interested in the same student.
Holds will automatically be released at 11:45pm Eastern on the third day.
If a queue of Holds forms for the same student, each Hold request will be processed in the order in which it was entered.
Volunteers and staff are expected to release Holds as soon as it is apparent that the intended family will not be hosting the student. To release a hold, submit a “Release AT Hold” placement request in Global Link.
Placing a Student with a Family (Placed without Papers, PWP)
When a family commits to hosting a particular student, a PWP request should be entered. If additional approval is needed before accepting the PWP request, such as school or nontraditional approval, the TDS should add a comment to the “Comments” box here:
If a Team wants to place a student who is on Hold for another Team, the PWP request will not be honored until the AT Hold has expired. If there are "New" (unaccepted) AT Hold and/or Community Placement requests in the queue prior to the PWP request, the Team with the PWP request should contact each Team with a Hold/CP request in queue to ask them to allow the PWP request. Your Hosting Coordinator should contact the Hosting Coordinator(s) of the other team(s) (and notify your TDS) or your TDS should contact the TDSs of the other team(s). If any teams are unwilling to allow the PWP, they will all have the same 48 hours to finalize a placement; the first team to place the student will get the student. This is the Area Team Hold/CP Request Release Rule. Start time (with time zone) should be communicated clearly to each team and added to the Comments box in the student’s service case to know when the 48 hours will expire. . This is the Area Team Hold/CP Request Release Rule. Start time (with time zone) should be communicated clearly to each team and added to the Comments box in the student’s service case to know when the 48 hours will expire.
Once a family is fully screened, Hosting Operations staff will assign the student a Family Placement Confirm (FPC) status, and the host family application will be transferred to the partner country to share with the student.
Placing a Student Directly in a School (School Placed)
The School Placed status will be used when a school guarantees acceptance of a particular student with a signed Placement Acceptance Form uploaded into Global Link on the student’s Placement Detail page.
School Placed Students count as part of a Team’s Community Placed pool even though they are designated for specific schools.
If the school fails to find a family for the student by May 25th, the Team must decide either to Community Place the student or return the student to Regionally Available.
School Placement requests for Sponsored Programs students will be reviewed and accepted on a case by case basis. Contact your Sponsored Programs Hosting Coordinator if you wish to School Place a YES or CBYX student.
Selecting Students for Your Team (Community Placing)
Students in Regionally Available may be Community Placed starting on March 1 at 7pm local time in the assigned gateway:
- New York & Washington DC– 7pm EST (will show as 7pm in Global Link)
- Chicago & Minneapolis & Dallas – 7pm CST (will show as 8pm in Global Link)
- Seattle & Los Angeles – 7pm PST (will show as 10pm in Global Link)
Between March 1 and June 1, teams must CP + Place 85% of their hosting goal. Once a team’s pool of students (CPed + Placed) adds up to 85% of the team’s goal, the team will not be allowed to CP any additional students, but they will still be allowed to place regionally or nationally available students with a family. TDS staff will help ensure that each Team has taken the proper number of Sponsored Programs, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, and Thai students.
Starting on April 10th, Nationally Available Students (excluding YES and CBYX) will be assigned to gateways. Once Regionally Available, they can be Community Placed.
Also beginning on April 10th, teams hosting YES students may choose to Community Place one YES student. Teams will not be allowed to Community Place more than one YES student even if they have more than one Sponsored Programs cluster. Once that YES student is placed, the team will be able to Community Place another.
If a Team requests to CP a student for whom there are Hold requests pending, all outstanding holds on the student will be honored before the student is CP’d to the requesting team. This still holds true even if the team that wants to CP the student has an active Hold on the student.
Only on May 25th can previously CP’d students be returned to Regionally Available.
On May 25, all YES and CBYX students will be assigned to a gateway and there will be a moratorium on Hold requests, School Placements, and Community Placements for YES and CBYX students.
On June 1, there will be a mandatory Sponsored Programs draft for each gateway. The draft will include all unplaced CBYX and YES students. Teams will be required to Community Place 100% of their Sponsored Programs goal.
After June 1, any remaining Core program students in Regionally Available will be Community Placed to teams to ensure that distribution of final students is as equitable as possible across both strong and weak teams and that each student has a placement champion.
Interested in Placing a Student CPed to Another Team?
If your team wants to place a student CPed to another team, your Hosting Coordinator should contact the team’s hosting coordinator or your TDS should contact the team’s TDS asking for permission to show the student. If the team does not have a lead for the student, they may be willing to release the student or facilitate a trade for one of your students.
Starting on July 1st, if the Team is not willing to release the student your Team would like to place and school permission can be obtained, the Community Placed Release Rule may be invoked. In these cases, the Team where the student is CP’d has 48-hours in which to place the student or the student must be released to the new team for placement.
The Team that relinquishes the student will be encouraged—but not required—to select a replacement student from the team that made the placement (except in the case of a gateway change). Teams that place students from other teams are still expected to place 100% of their own CPed students.
The Community Placed Release Rule applies to welcome, semester and permanent family placements.