Although Sen. Dianne Feinstein has backed off from her proposal for a six-month moratorium on student visas, she is still working closely with the California State University?s Chancellor to implement a tracking system for foreign students.

CSU spokesperson Colleen Bentley-Adler said the Chancellor?s Office is continuing to work with Feinstein?s camp to find a practical tracking system for the 15,000 students in the CSU system and 698 here at Sacramento State, on student visas.

“We like what she has drafted at the moment, which drops the moratorium and focuses on the visa tracking and reporting system,” Bentley-Adler said.

One of the conditions of Feinstein dropping her moratorium proposal, Bentley-Adler said, was getting assurance from universities and colleges from around the country that they would implement the tracking system.

Feinstein?s proposal wants to fast-track the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems program, which has been in the works since 1996.

The program was developed by the Immigrant and Naturalization Services after the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility act of 1996 was passed.

The program was originally called Coordinated Interagency Project Regulating International Students and Scholars. The pilot program began in June 1997 and ended in October 1999.

According to information provided by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers, INS Commissioner James Ziglar told Congress Oct. 11 that with government funding the program could be ready a year earlier then expected.

“With appropriated funds up front, we can deliver the system one year in advance of the current deadline of December 2003,” Zigler said.

Feinstein?s proposal is asking the government to give the INS $32.3 million in appropriations to fund the implementation of the program.

Feinstein?s representatives said the proposal is currently being put into legislative language and is subject to change.

Ziglar said that disagreement over the fee collection system by academic institutions and Congress have delayed the implementation of SEVIS.