Professional Staff Profiles
Donomic Potorti
Domonic Potorti is one of four International Student Advisors at IU Bloomington, and the primary International Student Advisor designated for the Kokomo, East, and Northwest campuses. As an International Student Advisor, Potorti assists the IU international student population with issues surrounding visa and immigration concerns, as well as cultural adjustment to life in the US. He also assists with programming both for the international students and for the IU campus to raise awareness of international student issues.
Potorti earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology from the University of Maine in 2002. As an undergrad, he spent a semester studying in Turkey, and loved the country’s culture and language enough to pursue his Master’s Degree at Indiana University in Central Eurasian Studies, specializing in Turkish Studies.
“I got into the field accidentally in some sense,” said Potorti. “When I returned from Turkey, I worked as a Peer Study Abroad advisor for the International Office at the University of Maine. When I arrived at IU, I applied to work at the Front Desk at the Office of International Services as an hourly, and fell in love with the work. Helping international students as I was helped when I studied abroad makes me feel like I am giving back for the most wonderful time of my undergrad career.”
The Office of International Services provides comprehensive assistance and support for approximately 5,500 international students and 1,500 international faculty and staff, representing more than 130 countries, on all campuses of Indiana University. IU Bloomington ranks 13th among U.S. colleges and universities for the number of international students enrolled.
A typical day for Potorti includes four to six advisor appointments (many more during Fall orientation time!), conducting research and completing paperwork for student issues, and working on programming initiatives. In addition to his Professional Staff position at IU, Potorti is the Faculty/Staff advisor for the Asian Student Union, and a founding member of the IU World’s Fare planning committee.
The biggest challenge, according to Potorti, is “helping students and the community get over their (many times) inherent distrust of each other. International students often feel that they are being watched or monitored because of immigration restrictions. Fortunately, Bloomington is a community that values diversity and internationalization, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.” In his position as an International Student Advisor, Potorti feels as though he is doing valuable work to this end. “Making people here at the University aware of the needs and desires of internationals – advocacy – is a wonderful way to connect two communities of people.”
“Working with international students has always been an interest of mine, and this position made perfect sense,” said Potorti.
