On Sept. 15, the Communication Design department (CD) at Parsons School of Design began advertising three jobs for students in the program – BFA CD Student Assistant, CD Student Assistant, and CD Videographer & Senior Student Assistant. The job description for each of these positions notes a preference for applicants already in possession of a Social Security number (SSN) – a practice students have called discriminatory towards international students. 

The CD department lists a preference for students with a “prior record on MyDay/Have an SSN” and notes: “Students without TNS experience or SSN will be considered, but only early applicants as the SSN process can take too long.”

“It reads as – you don’t respect students who [still] need [to obtain] Social Security numbers to work. You don’t respect that process enough,” said Emily Li, a third-year international student in the CD program who works in the Design Lab. “And by ignoring that, you ignore the large number of students who you’re intentionally disadvantaging by saying, ‘if you don’t have [an SSN] don’t apply.’” 

Kelly Walters, the Director of the BFA Communication Design program, shares student’s concerns. “​​When the email [of the job posting] was first sent out in September, we immediately flagged this because it runs counter to our CD Anti-Racist Pledge. CD Leadership did not draft or approve this language before it was sent out by AMT Ops,” Walters wrote in a statement on behalf of the department. Additionally, she stated that efforts to mitigate the issue were raised among the upper administration at TNS. 

According to the Social Security Administration policies and guidelines, international students applying for an SSN must have proof of employment before they apply for a tax number. The administration guidelines clearly state, “We cannot process your application if your on campus or curricular practice training (CPT) work begins more than 30 days from your application date or the employment start date on your work permit from the DHS is a future date.” 

The job announcement states its preference for applicants who are early in the process of obtaining an SSN by explaining that “the SSN process can take too long.” However, the IRS allows companies to hire people who are still in the process of getting a number. The IRS Employer’s Tax Guide states on page 14, “If you file Form W-2 on paper and your employee applied for an SSN but doesn’t have one when you must file Form W-2, enter “Applied For” on the form.” 

An SSN acts as the taxpayer ID and is the only way for students to be on payroll. Regardless of its necessity, students said the process is convoluted and especially difficult to navigate. “I spent six months trying to get my Social Security number when I first came here,” Li said. 

For international students, employment at The New School is a gateway job to getting their SSN. “The biggest advice you’ll hear as an international student in your first year is that you should get an on campus job to get the Social Security number,” Li said. “International students in their first year on campus can’t work anywhere but campus. It’s illegal to work off campus. You can’t do internships, you can’t do any of that.” A stipulation from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services notes that most “F-1 students may not work off-campus during the first academic year, but may accept on-campus employment subject to certain conditions and restrictions.” 

Additionally, while international students are not explicitly protected by Title VII (The Civil Rights Act of 1964), the job postings also discourage new lawful permanent residents, immigrants, and refugees – which Title VII does protect – from trying out for the jobs since they too have to apply for SSNs, bringing the legality of the posting into question. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Enforcement Guidance on National Origin Discrimination states, “A policy or practice of screening out new hires or candidates who lack a Social Security number implicates Title VII if it disproportionately screens out work-authorized individuals of a certain national origin.” 

Themis Kung, a fourth-year international student in the CD program, is a seasoned student employee, having worked three jobs at the New School: at the Design Lab, as a research assistant, and at their first job as a community assistant in the dorms. At this job, they didn’t receive a paycheck at all. “They don’t pay you in money. The compensation was just free board over the summer,” said Kung. 

When they attempted to apply for an SSN through their community assistant job, Kung said The New School’s human resources department argued against them obtaining an SSN because the compensation for their work wasn’t monetary. “It just really confused me on HR’s behalf. You would kind of expect admin working in the university…to show you some sort of support,” Kung said. “But doing this closes so many doors for me…And I really needed this Social Security number because I needed to build my credit here to get an apartment.” 

The SSN process is a significant obstacle for international students, and the lack of information is no help. “When I came here, I didn’t really understand what Social Security was and why having it was important or what it meant,” Li said. “I think we could all stand to be a bit more informed.” 

International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) at TNS provides some guidance for international students in the form of a FAQ page and accessible office hours in person or via Zoom.  ISSS started a petition for Kung to receive the documents needed from the school’s HR services – including a confirmation letter from their employer – to apply for an SSN. “I actually think that the ISSS does probably the best job, any time I’ve contacted them, they’re very helpful,” Kung said.

Obtaining an SSN is an extra hurdle for international students that is often overlooked, by HR specifically, students say. “I was supposed to start that job, [in the design lab] the first day of class of my sophomore year and I ended up starting maybe a month later because HR took so long with the documents,” Kung said. 

Both Li and Kung also expressed that they had their names spelled wrong multiple times on documents by HR, highlighting the alleged disorganization of the office which further slows down the process of onboarding international student workers. According to Kung, working at TNS is the best of very few employment opportunities for international students trying to apply for an SSN. “I think the school should make more of an active effort to hire international students just because the visa basically only lets you work here. And this would be the easiest place for people to get their SSNs. ” Kung said. “We make up such a big part of the student body here and [TNS] advertises that.” As of 2022, 55% of the students pursuing their BFA in Communication Design are international according to university data. “Not to say that Americans can’t work here, but I can’t just walk into a café and get a job,” Kung said.