For many international students, the I-20 timeline affects everything—visa appointments, travel planning, housing, and the ability to start the semester on time. When processing depends on disconnected systems and manual steps, delays can happen even when students submit the right documents.
That’s why we have introduced a new, streamlined way for admitted undergraduate international students to submit required financial documents: the ISSS Portal, powered by Terra Dotta (TDS). This change is designed to reduce back-and-forth emails, speed up review once documents are complete, and give students a clearer path through the process.
“As someone who works directly on improving systems and workflows for Global Engagement, I focused on redesigning the process so students can submit what we need in one place and staff can review it without unnecessary delays,” said Adwoa Arhin.
What’s changing—and why it matters
Previously, documents and status updates could live across multiple tools, and staff often had to reconcile information manually. That can lead to avoidable delays—especially when a missing step is discovered late in the process.
With the ISSS Portal, students upload documents directly into the system used for international student processing. Staff can review submissions within the same workflow, which reduces manual handling and helps the team identify what is complete and what is still needed.
Impact: Faster I-20 cycle time for undergraduates
In the first undergraduate cycle using the ISSS Portal approach, the I-20 cycle time (case start to case completion) improved from 7–10 days to 2–3 days—about 70% faster on average.
“When documents come in through one place and the workflow is structured, we can move requests forward without unnecessary delays,” Arhin said.
Who can use the ISSS Portal now?
The portal-based financial document submission process is currently available for undergraduate international students.
Graduate student access is planned next. Global Engagement and ISSS are preparing to extend the same portal-based approach to graduate workflows so more students can benefit from the same clarity and consistency.
How to submit your documents (step-by-step)
- Log in to the ISSS Portal using your UNCG credentials.
- Answer a few questions.
- Upload all required documents clearly and completely.
- Scroll to the bottom and click Submit so ISSS can begin review.
Common issues that can slow processing
- Uploading documents but not clicking Submit at the end of the request.
- Missing, incomplete, or unreadable documents.
Need help?
If you have portal troubleshooting questions, contact: isss@uncg.edu.
About the Author
Adwoa Arhin is a Business Analyst supporting Global Engagement Office at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She led the workflow redesign and Terra Dotta (TDS) implementation that modernized financial document collection and I-20 processing for undergraduate international students. Her experience spans higher education and the telecommunications sector, including work as a CRM Business Analyst, with a focus on workflow optimization, reporting/analytics, and compliance-driven process improvement.
