UniWorld is a U.S. Department of State–designated J-1 sponsor that runs an exchange program today. We are preparing to offer a J-1 Teacher program, and we are looking for school districts to partner with as we build it.
Three reasons a school district can rely on us: we know U.S. public schools, we know overseas recruitment, and we know what a sponsor is responsible for.
Dr. Dai, UniWorld’s founder, has ten years of teaching and leadership experience in U.S. public schools, and has collaborated with the Ohio Department of Education on a number of projects, including the two below.
Teaching and leadership experience in U.S. public schools, with Ohio professional teaching and principal licenses.
Member of both the Advisory Committee and the Working Group that revised Ohio’s Learning Standards for World Languages and Cultures, adopted by the State Board of Education in 2020. See the Ohio Department of Education document.
Teacher evaluation assessor for Ohio’s Resident Educator Summative Assessment (RESA), the performance assessment that Ohio’s resident educators complete to qualify for a professional license.
Our team brings decades of combined experience in international recruitment and student services, on both sides of the exchange.
Members of our team have advised students overseas on U.S. education, prepared study-abroad documentation for American institutions, and recruited international students for U.S. high schools and universities.
Members of our team have worked with more than 70 international recruiting agencies around the world, and have led international recruitment and enrollment strategy.
Candidates are supported by staff who have worked in international student services for years, and who have studied, taught, or worked abroad themselves, so they understand what a teacher goes through on both sides of an exchange.
UniWorld is a current sponsor designated by the U.S. Department of State. A sponsor answers to the Department for every participant it brings in, and we know the rules that come with that.
Screening and selecting participants, issuing the DS-2019, reporting in SEVIS, and monitoring every placement. Each is a duty the regulations place on the sponsor, not on the school.
A J-1 teacher placement comes with federal requirements for paperwork, timing, reporting, and yearly activities. We know them well, so your HR office does not have to become expert in exchange regulations. We keep the placement compliant and keep your district informed.
Our Responsible Officer and an Alternate Responsible Officer are on the team, and our staff have personally served as PDSOs, DSOs, and AROs.
Our designation covers the Camp Counselor category. We are preparing our application for the Teacher category.
The J-1 Teacher category exists so that U.S. classrooms and teachers from other countries learn from each other.
Districts often struggle to fill roles in areas such as STEM, special education, and world languages, for classrooms that need a full-time teacher. An international candidate pool widens the field you hire from.
Exchange teachers participate in cross-cultural activities in schools and communities, and they return to their home school to share their experiences and increased knowledge of the United States and the U.S. educational system.
Candidates must have at least two years of full-time teaching experience and satisfy the standards of the U.S. state in which they will teach. You interview candidates and make the hiring decision.
The category governs exchange visitors who teach full-time in accredited public and private U.S. primary and secondary schools (K-12). Programs in it promote the interchange of U.S. and foreign teachers and enhance mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.
Sources: 22 CFR 62.24 and the U.S. Department of State’s BridgeUSA Teacher page. We will confirm the specifics for your state and district with you as the program takes shape, rather than promise details today.
This is a way to find candidates, not a way around how you hire.
Your district keeps its normal hiring process and makes every hiring decision. Nothing in a conversation with us obliges you to hire anyone.
We help find candidates. Your team interviews them the way it interviews anyone else, and you choose the ones you want.
A teacher has to satisfy the teaching eligibility standards of the state where they will teach, including any required criminal background or other checks. We will go through those with you early, so you know what a qualified candidate looks like before anyone is interviewed.
This is the split we expect. It will be agreed in writing before any teacher is placed.
Compensation, dates, fees, and responsibilities are set out in the partnership agreement before either side commits.
From a first conversation to a teacher in your school.
Your district, the roles you need, and your hiring calendar.
Founding partners tell us what works for a district. We build around it.
UniWorld completes designation in the Teacher category. Placement starts only after approval.
We send screened candidates. You interview, choose, and make a written offer. The DS-2019 is issued only after the teacher accepts it.
Visa, orientation, arrival check-in, and monitoring through the school year, on the U.S. academic calendar.
Tell us about your district and the positions you find hardest to fill. We can set up a short call with you and anyone else you would like to include. A conversation commits you to nothing, and if it does not fit for now, that is fine.