The General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report last week that evaluated the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an effort by DHS to collect and record key data on foreign students, exchange visitors and their dependents prior to their entering the Untied States, upon their entry and during their stay.  The GAO reviewed system performance, actions to improve performance and plans for collecting the fee to be paid by foreign students and exchange visitors to cover SEVIS costs.

According to the GAO’s report, SEVIS performance is improving.  Program office reports for some key system performance requirements show that these requirements are being met, although it was found that not all key performance requirements are being monitored or reported.  Without formally monitoring all key performance requirements, DHS cannot adequately assure itself that potential problems will be identified and addressed early.  It was also found that other, less formal indicators of performance, such as daily system use by program officials and unsolicited user feedback, indicate that the system is meeting requirements.  The GAO’s analysis of new requests for system changes, including changes to address reported performance problems, shows these requests are declining.  Additionally, officials representing educational organizations generally see performance as having improved.

The DHS has taken specific actions to improve SEVIS performance, according to the GAO’s report.  In particular, it has installed a series of new software releases and increased Help Desk staffing and training.  In addition, program officials are holding regularly scheduled meetings and are asking user groups to test new releases.  Despite DHS’s efforts, educational organizations continue to report problems.  The GAO outlined SEVIS’s most common complaints and methods in which DHS attempted to accommodate.

When educational organizations complained about the inability of users to download data to create custom reports, DHS evaluated the software options to provide custom report capabilities.  In response to reports of slow Help Desk responses in the form of inconsistent answers to technical questions and incorrect answers to policy questions, SEVIS increased Help Desk staffing as of March 2003 and training is given to Help Desk on a continuing basis.  DHS changed the SEVIS software in January 2004 after complaints of incomplete transmission of data to the State Department database. 

In order to strengthen SEVIS, the GAO in its report made recommendations designed to improve DHS’s monitoring of key system performance requirements, address educational association performance concerns and expedite collection of the fee.  While DHS agreed with most findings, conclusions and recommendations of the GAO, it did not fully agree with two findings and their associated recommendations.