OISS Staff

Sarah Cockcroft, Acting Director

Sarah serves as UMBC’s Principal Designated School Official (PDSO). She oversees all aspects of the Center for Global Engagement’s Office of International Students and Scholars, including development, management, and continuous improvement of a portfolio of programs supporting co/curricular success, immigration compliance, retention, and wellbeing of international students and scholars.

Sarah is originally from Charleston, SC, but has lived in Paris, London, Suzhou, and Buffalo, NY. She has worked in international higher education since 2020.

Sarah Wong, International Student Support Manager

Sarah serves as the International Student Support Manager working closely with UMBC’s Global Ambassadors and other campus partners to provide support to prospective and current international students. Originally from Illinois, Sarah lived in Tennessee and Hong Kong before settling in Maryland.

Diane Zeenny Ghorayeb, International Scholar Coordinator

Diane serves as a Responsible Officer (RO) for UMBC’s J-1 Exchange Visitor Program and coordinates H-1B petitions for specialty occupation workers. She obtained her Master of Arts in Intercultural Communication from UMBC. Diane was born in Beirut, Lebanon; lived in Paris, France, for more than 20 years; and moved to the U.S. in 2006. Diane is fluent in English, French, and Arabic.

Victoria Sung, International Student and Scholar Advisor

Victoria Sung serves as a Designated School Officer (DSO) at UMBC. She assists international students and scholars with the process of studying in the U.S. and helps answer immigration questions and concerns. Victoria enjoys taking spontaneous hiking trips and has backpacked across Europe during her study abroad at the London School of Economics.

Brionna Stokes, International Student and Scholar Advisor

Brionna serves as a Designated School Official (DSO). She assists international students and scholars with immigration questions and concerns. Brionna is originally from Mansfield, Ohio, and graduated from the University of Toledo with a major in Global Studies and a Japanese minor. She enjoys reading and playing video games in her free time.

Danielle Bolden, International Student and Scholar Advisor

Farhan Nadeem, International Student Career Advisor

Farhan serves as a Designated School Official (DSO) at UMBC. He has a shared role as the International Student Career Advisor at the Career Center. He also assists international F1 students with the process of studying in the U.S and helps answer immigration questions and concerns. He previously worked abroad on refugee resettlement and Global Human Rights issues.

Mariia Usova, International Student and Scholar Advisor

Lauren Mister, International Student and Scholar Advisor