{"id":18164,"date":"2012-10-15T08:58:26","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T08:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/?page_id=18164"},"modified":"2026-02-05T22:11:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:11:28","slug":"staff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/isss\/staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Our Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are here to help and support you during your time at Â̲èÖ±²¥. Feel free to set up an appointment with Rus via Navigate (Inside Augsburg) or drop by Science 112.<\/p>\n

\n

Leah Spinosa de Vega<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Executive Director of Global Initiatives\/DSO\/RO<\/strong>
\nEmail: devega@augsburg.edu
\nPhone: (612) 817-2830<\/div>\n
\n

\"\"<\/a>Leah Spinosa de Vega<\/strong> joined Â̲èÖ±²¥ in July 2008. In her role as Executive Director of Global Initiatives, she oversees academics and operations for the Center for Global Education and Experience, as well as International Students affairs.<\/p>\n

She has over 20 years of experience working in higher education in international education, academic advising, executive education, alumni relations, and Spanish-language instruction. \u00a0Leah has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Linguistics, and a Master\u2019s in Hispanic Linguistics, both from the University of Minnesota. \u00a0In addition to these degrees, she is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory and holds a\u00a0diplomado<\/em>\u00a0in Client-Centered Therapy from the\u00a0Instituto de Gestalt in Cuernavaca, Mexico.<\/p>\n

Contact Leah for: <\/strong>Risk management, campus globalization efforts such as curriculum integration, [Augsburg] faculty-led program proposal process, and exchange agreements.<\/p>\n

Leah uses she\/her\/hers<\/a>\u00a0pronouns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Rus Kiser<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Director of International Scholar and Student Services\/PDSO\/ARO
\n<\/strong>Email: kiserr@augsburg.edu
\nPhone: (612) 330-1659<\/p>\n

\"Rus<\/a>Rus Kiser<\/strong> joined Â̲èÖ±²¥ in September 2025.\u00a0 As Director of ISSS and the PDSO, Rus is responsible for Augsburg’s international\u00a0 non-resident (F-1 and J-1) students.<\/p>\n

Rus has been in international education for over 20 years as an educator and administrator. Over the years, he’s served students in six states and several countries with a focus on balancing student needs with regulatory reality.
\nOriginally from Oklahoma, Rus has a BA in Political Science, an MA TESOL, and an MBA along with a teaching certificate in Secondary Social Studies and has completed TESOL’s Leadership Development Program. He’s also served in several TESOL and NAFSA leadership roles.<\/p>\n

Contact Rus for: <\/strong>International Students affairs (health insurance, maintaining status, employment, travel, etc,) USCIS\/SEVIS\/F-1\/J-1and other Non-resident Immigration regulations and questions, and local outreach opportunities for our international students.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are here to help and support you during your time at Â̲èÖ±²¥. Feel free to set up an appointment with Rus via Navigate (Inside Augsburg) or drop by Science 112. Leah Spinosa de Vega Executive Director of Global Initiatives\/DSO\/RO Email: devega@augsburg.edu Phone: (612) 817-2830 Leah Spinosa de Vega joined Â̲èÖ±²¥ in July …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18164","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/isss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/isss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/isss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/isss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/isss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18164"}],"version-history":[{"count":189,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/isss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26023,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/isss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18164\/revisions\/26023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/isss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}