New Scholar Orientation in Homebase

Homebase is the website that hosts the online course module component of the Scholar Orientation that you must complete to meet J-1 visa guidelines. This orientation has been designed for you to complete before you arrive in the U.S. and goes over the critical information that you need to know to maintain your U.S. immigration status.  The platform is easy to use and should take you about 30-60 minutes to complete.  

In addition to this online module on Homebase, you must also attend a Zoom orientation session where you will get a chance to meet some of the OISS advisers and ask any questions you may have after reviewing this online module. We also recommend that you sign up for an in-person New Scholar Meetup to meet other new scholars at Yale. Signup links for both events may be found in the 'Your Next Steps' section of the Homebase online module. Please register for both sessions. While you can register for both before you leave, please schedule them for AFTER you have arrived in the U.S. 


How to Sign Up for Your Scholar Orientation on Homebase

Creating an Account

  1. Go to https://english3.com/homebase/register
  2. In the 'Select your institution' field, select 'Yale University' 
  3. In the 'Access Code' field, for the J-1 New Scholar Orientation, enter 'YaleJ1SO' as shown below. Please note that this code is NOT the program code that appears on your DS-2019.
    Homebase create an account screen
  4. Fill out the rest of the fields with your information
  5. Click the Create Account button

After You Have Created an Account

Once you have created an account, go to https://homebase.english3.com/ and log in with the email address and password you used to create the account to access your Scholar Orientation.


Using the Homebase Scholar Orientation

  • Read through each page in the module, and click the button at the bottom of the page to continue to the next section.
  • For pages that contain quiz questions, you must answer the question(s) correctly before continuing to the next page. All answers to the quiz questions may be found on that page. 
  • To answer a question, select the checkbox or circle to the left of the correct answer(s) and click the Submit button.
    • When you answer the question correctly, you will see a green checkmark.
    • If you answered the question incorrectly, you will see a red X. Click the Try Again button and try to answer the question again. You may do this as many times as you need until you answer it correctly.
  • Once you have answered all question(s) on the page correctly, you may click on the button on the bottom of the page to continue to the next page or section.

Completing the Homebase Scholar Orientation

You will need to complete all of the sections, which includes answering the question(s) on each page correctly. To receive credit for finishing this orientation, you will enter the completion code found on the last page ('Complete This Orientation') in OISS Connect when submitting your 'New Scholar Check In' request.  Submitting this request allows us to validate your immigration record and allows you to perform many of the necessary tasks during your first two weeks at Yale and beyond, like completing your I-9 and applying for your SSN.