Jan. 4—The University of Oklahoma has launched a new online system to better support international students, as well as students who are seeking international opportunities.

Interstride is a support services company for institutions in higher education, and it serves as a tool to help students locate jobs abroad, among other things.

The company was created by international students who found a need in academia, said Debbie Boles, OU Career Center senior assistant director and career adviser for the government, law and international affairs career community.

"They have a tagline: 'success beyond boundaries.' At Interstride, their mission is to close the opportunity gaps for international students," Boles said.

She said Interstride serves as a pipeline for 80,000 users across 130 universities, and that it has been around for about four years.

Robin Huston, OU Career Center director, said international students experience challenges in academia.

"In navigating the job market, we have found that some companies do not sponsor or accept employment for international students," Huston said. "That goes for U.S. born searching for opportunities overseas or students born abroad seeking for employment in America. We recognized these challenges and sought out a solution."

Boles said infrastructure is needed to give international students the same opportunities as American students.

"One of the things that is important to understand is that international students face some unique challenges, and so no matter what our role is, Interstride really helps us to better support international students," she said.

Interstride offers one-on-one advice to students, webinars, job opportunities and other services for international students. Boles described it as an all-in-one platform that also keeps students informed on evolving travel requirements.

"It streamlines everything you need to support and gets rid of unneeded resources, and shows that we are committed to their success," she said.

Students can access Interstride by going to ou.edu/career, then clicking on the "students" tab. They should then click on "resources," and then "online resources" to make the Interstride link available.