EME 620 Problem Statement

Team E (Rosa Mercado & Cris Vicentini)

Problem Statement
Overview
R&C Accounting (R&C) is a small accounting firm located in Tampa, FL. R&C
specializes in tax preparation and compliance, auditing, and bookkeeping. It has been in
business for 20 years and most of their 30 employees have worked there for over 15
years.
R&Cs Director of Human Resources, Peggy Smith, has had a close relationship
with The University of Tampas College of Business (COB) ever since establishing an
internship program for students majoring in Accounting and Finance in 2015. Through
their partnership with The University of Tampa (UT), R&C has hired approximately 5
students to work as Audit and Tax interns every Spring semester. Most of R&Cs hiring
occurs during the Spring semester, when the need for interns doubles due to tax
season.

Current Condition
The majority of the students hired into R&Cs internship program are international
students on F-1 student visas. Students on F-1 visas must abide by U.S. Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) regulations regarding off-campus internships. Under this type
of internship, called Curricular Practical Training (CPT), students must receive class
credit for their internship and cannot work more than 20 hours per week during Fall and
Spring semesters.
However, during tax season, R&C needs their interns to work more than the
authorized 20 hours per week, which has been cause of concern for The University of
Tampas International Programs Office (IPO). The IPO office advises F-1 visa
international students on issues related to maintaining visa status while in the U.S. Their
main goal is for every international student at UT to achieve their academic goals
lawfully.

In order to ensure compliance with DHS rules, during Spring and Fall semesters,
the IPO office sends out surveys to every company who hires UTs international
students for CPT internships. Survey results revealed some possible miscommunication
occurring between R&C Accounting and their interns in regards to the number of hours
worked by international students during the Spring semester.

Ideal Condition
The ideal condition for the international students interning at R&C is to work no
more than 20 hours per week during Spring semester.
To meet this objective, the Instructional Design and Technology (ID&T) team was
put in charge of performing a needs assessment to identify the causes of the
performance gaps between the current condition and ideal condition desired by the
university, as well as identify appropriate solutions to these performance problems. If an
instructional solution is necessary, the ID&T team will be responsible for the following:
-

Creating a face-to-face training module to be given to R&C

employees, where the rules and regulations regarding CPT internships are
presented, along with a number of case scenarios, which will allow for our
ID&T team to assess their learning and remediate any situation that might
arise.
-

Working along with the universitys International Programs Office

(IPO), who will act as subject matter experts during the creation of training
materials and assessment.

Needs Assessment
Planning
The needs assessment will be conducted by the ID&T team based on IPOs felt
need to improve the situation for international students participating in off-campus
internships at R&C. This felt need reflects a performance gap between the current
condition and the desired ideal condition of compliance with DHS regulations regarding

CPT internships. The ID&T team will have full access to the IPO staff of immigration
advisors (subject-matter experts), the HR personnel at R&C, and R&Cs international
student interns. Data collection will consist of electronic surveys. The projected timeline
for the completion of the needs assessment will be one month, which includes the time
it takes to collect and analyze the data, prepare the final report, and design and deliver
instruction (if an instructional solution is deemed necessary).

Target Audience
The target audience for this needs assessment will be comprised of the following:
R&Cs Human Resources staff, which consists of Ms. Peggy Smith and 2 staff
assistants acting as hiring managers for the firm.
UTs F-1 visa international students currently pursuing internships at R&C.

Strategy & Analysis

An electronic survey will be sent to R&Cs Human Resources staff and UT
international students via SurveyMonkey software, because the target audience
consists of active internet users. The surveys will be anonymous to encourage
participants to provide their most honest feedback. After results are collected, the ID&T
team will analyze the data and determine whether R&Cs staff and their international
student interns have been complying with DHS rules.

Participants
For this needs assessment, the ID&T team will be gathering data from the target
audience, consisting of the R&Cs HR staff and current international student interns at
R&C.

Collecting Data
A tailor-made, web-based survey will be developed by the ID&T team with input
from the IPO immigration advisors who will serve as subject matter experts. With
coordination from the IPO, the ID&T team will email the survey to the target audience in
the needs assessment with instructions to complete by the survey deadline.

Sample Size
The data will be collected from a small number of people, which will include all
R&Cs Human Resources staff and all international students currently pursuing CPT
internships at R&C.

Scheduling
The ID&T team will send out the web-based, anonymous surveys via
SurveyMonkey electronic software to all participants in the needs assessment. The
survey will have a closing date of 3 weeks after the date it is sent.
At the end of the first and second weeks, the ID&T team will email a reminder to
all participants who have not yet completed the survey, letting them know the date the
survey will be closed and how important it is for them to submit their answers.
As participants respond to the survey, they will receive an email confirming their
submission and thanking them for their input. Once completed, the survey results will be
compiled automatically through SurveyMonkey and analyzed by the ID&T team.

Final Report
Purpose
Currently, F-1 visa international students at The University of Tampa are required
to follow the CPT Internship approval process established by the International Programs
Office (IPO). This process includes reading a CPT information module on Blackboard,
and submitting a CPT Request form to the IPO immigration advisor and COB internship
coordinator for approval. All F-1 visa international students, including those pursuing
internships at R&C, are expected to be familiar with and abide by the CPT regulations
established by DHS in their places of employment. When it was discovered that
international student interns at R&C were violating the CPT regulations, the ID&T team
was called in to solve this performance problem. The purpose of this needs assessment
was to determine where the communication gap was occurring and develop an
appropriate solution to prevent future violations.

Process
Working with the subject matter experts from the IPO office, an electronic survey
was developed by the ID&T team and sent to R&Cs HR personnel and international
student interns to determine the knowledge level of CPT regulations of all participants.
The data was then compiled and analyzed by the ID&T team.

Results
Results revealed that UT interns have been working more than 20 hours a week
during the Spring semester due to R&Cs need for them to work overtime during tax
season. It is evident that R&C does not seem to be aware of DHS regulations for CPT
internships, which demonstrates a gap in instruction regarding the employment of F-1
visa students during Fall and Spring semesters. The ID&T team will need to create
instruction to solve this problem.

Action
The ID&T team, working along with the IPO office at The University of Tampa,
will create a 4-hour workshop, which will be offered to R&Cs Human Resources staff at
different dates and time slots to allow for the participation of all stakeholders. The
workshop will include case study discussions and a pre and post-training assessment to
determine if instructional goals were met.

Goal Analysis
Aim
The aim of this instructional solution is to make R&C aware of the CPT regulations
established by the DHS so all are in compliance.

Goals
To meet this objective, the ID&T team developed the following goals for the proposed
training intervention:

 Help R&Cs HR staff understand CPT regulations.

Help R&Cs HR staff understand the consequences of violating CPT regulations.
Prevent future F-1 visa violations at R&C
Prevent F-1 visa students from being deported due to immigration violations
Help R&C HR staff understand how DHS regulations apply in different scenarios.
Prevent R&C from being audited by DHS.
Coordinate with the IPO office to develop training to teach R&Cs HR staff about
CPT regulations.
Ensure continued partnership between R&C and The University of Tampa

Refined Goals
After careful review and ranking of the goals, the ID&T team combined goals that had
similar ideas, deleted goals that did not relate specifically to R&C, and refined goals that
had vague verbiage. Following is the refined goals list:
Present CPT regulations to R&C HR staff in order to help them understand the
rules and consequences for violating such rules
Present a number of case studies to help R&C HR staff understand how DHS
regulations apply in different scenarios
Provide training to prevent R&C from committing future F-1 visa violations
Coordinate with the IPO office to develop training to teach R&Cs HR staff about
CPT regulations.

Final Rankings
The refined goals were carefully analyzed, reworded, and submitted to another ranking,
which determined the order of importance for goals that were critical to performing the
tasks to be carried out by the ID&T team. The final ranking is as follows:
Working with the subject-matter experts at the IPO office, develop training to
familiarize R&Cs HR staff with CPT regulations

 In a 4-hour face-to-face workshop format, present CPT regulations and case

studies to all R&C HR staff, in order to help them understand rules, their
applications in different scenarios, and consequences for violating such rules
At the end of the workshop, assess whether R&Cs HR staff is able to comply
with DHS rules without violating the CPT regulations.

Appendix: Survey sent to R&Cs HR personnel and UT international student interns.

Appendix - Survey
The objective of this survey is to assess your knowledge of the regulations for Curricular
Practical Training (CPT). Please answer all questions to the best of your ability. All
survey responses will remain anonymous.
Question 1: What is CPT used for?
a. To get a job, even if it is not required by my program or related to my major
b. For an internship, a practicum, or any other pre-approved work experience
c. For F-1 students to gain work experience for class credit, or as part of their
degree program requirements
d. B and C
Question 2: To be eligible for CPT, a student must:
a. Have a valid passport and I-20
b. Have been enrolled full-time for at least one academic year
c. Be a degree-seeking student
d. All of the above
Question 3: How many hours per week can an international student work while on CPT
during the Fall or Spring semesters?
Your answer: ________________
Question 4: True or False? An intern can work over 20 hours only during tax season.
- True

- False

Question 5: True or False? Students must be enrolled in school full-time when they are
participating in part-time CPT during Fall and Spring semesters.
- True

- False

Question 6: The dates of CPT authorization are:

a. The start and end dates of the semester
b. Whenever the employer needs the student to work
c. The start and end of the calendar year
d. The start and end dates of the students I-20 Form