Becoming a Visiting Undergraduate Student (VUGS)

The Department of Computer Science hosts numerous visiting undergraduate students throughout the year. Most commonly, our faculty will invite an undergraduate student who is enrolled elsewhere to do research with them for a period of several months, up to a year. If you seek an appointment, also known as an invitation, you are welcome to contact a faculty member with whom you’re interested in doing research to explore this possibility.

Should a CS faculty member wish to invite a VUGS, they must first contact Senior Academic Program Coordinator Lyn Doan and provide the information necessary to initiate the invitation process by submitting this form. With this information, Lyn will create an invitation letter and reach out to the VUGS to provide next-step guidance.

The process of inviting a high school (minor) student is similar to that of inviting a VUGS. There are two key additional requirements for anyone working with or supervising a high school student: an in-person fingerprinting appointment and the completion of a short training course.

Faculty should inform Senior Academic Program Coordinator Lyn Doan of who will be working directly with the student (faculty only or if the appointment will include work with PhD students); she will coordinate with the Whiting School’s Human Resources representative to initiate the necessary background check process for all JHU parties involved.

Within a few days of accepting your offer, department staff will put in a request for the Office of International Services (OIS) to issue you a DS-2019. You will receive email prompts to complete a few e-forms. Once these are submitted, you will receive instructions within about 10 days to access your DS-2019 electronically and prepare for your visa application.

Within one week of entry into the U.S., please complete the J-1 Scholar Orientation and check-in e-form through iHopkins. See all J-1 pre-arrival information here.

  • JHED ID: This is your login ID to most Hopkins websites, including the myJH portal, home of the Johns Hopkins Enterprise Directory. It typically includes the first letter of your first name, your last name or part of your last name, and one or more digits. Your JHED ID is a maximum of 8 characters. Shortly after you accepted your admissions offer online, you should have received an email from the Registrar with your JHED ID. Instructions in that email would have directed you to the Registrar’s Getting Started page, where you will find further instructions on to how to create a JHED login and password. Roughly 2 hours after you create your JHED password, you should be able to activate your Hopkins email address. If you haven’t received your JHED ID yet via email, please contact webregistration@jhu.edu or call 410-516-8080.
  • Hopkins ID: This is the six-digit-and-letter ID that the Student Information System (SIS) uses to identify students. However, you will sign in to SIS using your JHED ID and password that you’ve established per the Registrar’s Getting Started page (see above).
  • Government ID: For American students, this is your Social Security number (SSN). For international students, this is a temporary Hopkins-assigned (988-XX-XXXX) number to use at JHU in place of an SSN, sent to you by the university. If you’re receiving payment for your work, this number will be used to set up your pay. International students receiving payment will apply for an SSN after arrival. Please see further direction about SSNs and how to apply for them here.
  • J-Card ID: This is the 16-digit number located above the barcode on your J-Card, which you will receive upon arrival. This number is read automatically when you swipe your J-Card at a reader. The 14-digit number below the J-Card barcode is your library number and can be used at the Sheridan Libraries.

Get started on this as soon as possible, as it might take a while to come together.

Visiting students are required to meet the university’s pre-entrance health requirements if their research appointment will include on-campus participation. The requirements are outlined on the Student Well-Being website. The influenza (flu) vaccine is also a mandatory requirement for anyone coming to campus. Please click here for specific information on the flu vaccine requirement.

We strongly encourage you to take care of all pre-entrance health needs before coming to campus. If you do not complete these requirements and/or need missing vaccinations or screening tests, they can be administered for a fee at Student Health & Well-Being Primary Care, but you will not be able to enroll or begin your visit activities until this step is completed.

Visiting students who will be on campus are required to follow all health and safety policies as Hopkins students in the Whiting School of Engineering. This includes adherence to the university’s mandatory influenza and COVID vaccine policies and divisional asymptomatic COVID testing expectations.

You can email your questions about health forms to healthforms@jhu.edu.

Domestic VUGSs must enroll in or formally waive the university-sponsored health insurance plan. Unless otherwise specified, students are responsible for the cost of the insurance. More information about the plan and how to sign up can be found on the Student Well-Being website.

International visiting scholars who are here on J-1 visas must enroll in the JHU student health insurance plan on a monthly basis. Waivers of this requirement are not granted while students are in the U.S. Use this contact form to submit additional questions regarding enrollment, billing, and the waiver process of the student health plan. Plan information is available here.

The Department of Computer Science does not arrange housing for its students, but you may find these links helpful while considering your housing options. Most students live walking distance to the university, don’t have cars, and utilize university or public transportation or Uber/Lyft services as needed. You can review information about transportation around campus and within the community here.

See the links and videos below for help on securing housing:

J-Card

When you get to campus, you’ll want to go to the J-Card office and obtain your J-Card (Hopkins ID). Learn more about J-Cards here. A mobile credential is also available.

Malone Hall Access (CS Department Location)

Through your JHED ID and J-Card, department staff can assign you access to the Malone Hall exterior doors for after-hours building access. If your faculty sponsor requires you to have access to other spaces on campus, they can reach out to Lyn Doan for additional assistance.

The Office of International Students (OIS)

International students must check in with OIS when they arrive. If you have visa questions or concerns, reach out directly to ois@jhu.edu.

Finding CS Academic Program Staff

Aside from your faculty sponsor, your best points of contact are the department’s academic program staff. Please stop in the 160 Malone Hall office suite once you’ve made it to campus to introduce yourself. Senior Academic Program Coordinators Lyn Doan and Abby Fanara can be found in 157 Malone Hall within the suite.

CS IT Resources

The department is fortunate to have its own IT staff; they have an immensely helpful wiki here. If you have questions, please reach out to support@cs.jhu.edu. If your research requires access to the department’s Linux server system, please submit an account form (found on the wiki) with your faculty supervisor’s signature, indicating the reason for the account in the “Other” section.

Faculty may request an extension for a VUGS if additional time is needed for their research. To avoid any interruption to JHU account access, please contact the Senior Academic Program Coordinator two weeks before the current program’s end date to complete the necessary extension paperwork. Failure to submit this request in time may result in delays or the temporary deactivation of the student’s JHED ID and their access to university systems.