Dr. Samuel Kwapong, Ed.D

As the Director of the ISSS, Sam provides leadership and vision for all processes and programming related to international students and scholars at Xavier University. This includes oversight for the comprehensive visa, immigration, and other support and advocacy services to international students and visiting scholars under a student-centered mission and advising philosophy. Sam is responsible for the coordination and administrative support of a range of support and outreach services for international students intended to increase retention and student satisfaction. He is the lead contact person for the university J-1 exchange visitor program and serves as the Primary Designated School Official (PDSO) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Responsible Officer (RO) for the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program administered through the Department of State (DOS).

Sam comes to Xavier from Miami University where he was tasked with promoting and sustaining the university’s commitment to inclusive excellence and an equitable, inclusive, and diverse campus culture. He accomplished this by building on existing programming efforts to design, implement, lead, and assess systemic, sustainable DEI programming across the university. He also served as the Director of the Offices of Multicultural and International Student Services at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego CA. With 15 years of Higher Education experience, he has served in multiple roles from Academic Affairs to Student Affairs. As a former international student from Ghana, he is passionate about international education, intercultural competence, leadership development, and racial reconciliation. Sam has a bachelor's degree in Social Work from Western Connecticut University, a master’s degree in Christian Education from Azusa Pacific University and a doctoral degree in Higher Education Leadership from Grand Canyon University. His doctoral research topic focused on finding the intercultural competencies of both domestic and international students in a peer mentoring program.

Sam is a native of Ghana and currently lives in Ross Township with his wife and two kids.