Approving Study Abroad Programs

Approving Study Abroad Programs By Dr. Sandi Sm i t h, Di rect or of I nst i t ut i onal Rel at i ons, G l obal Learni ng Sem e st er s, 2009.

It is not effective for either the student, nor the program to ha ve a student participating in a study abroad program that is not a good match for the individual student. Thus, although a specific study abroad program may have been a good fit for a previous student, even an outstanding program is not necessarily appropriate for every student. Thus, the role in advising students about study abroad programs is essential on any ca mpus that encourages students to st udy abroad. Effective advising must be based on st andards that allow us to apply established criteria in matching individual student needs and study abroad program options. It is i mportant that t he advisor has the tools and the skills to guide a student in the process of finding a relevant and meaningful study abroad program that fits the student’s needs and characteristics. W e must ask if the advisor understands the criteria for approving a relevant and meaningful study abroad program. I s it important that a study abroad progra m has a minimu m gpa of 2.5? Is it important that a study abroad progra m utilizes host family acco mmodations? Is it important that all students are assigned a cell phone during the program? I s it impor tant that the student earn a transcript from the host institution? There are a lot of subtleties in matching one of a dozen see mingly perfect programs and the student’s individual academic and personal needs. In this article I would like to discuss the need for standards and professionalization of approving study abroad programs. Unfortunately, too many U. S. colleges and universities do not hire qualified professionals to provide advising services to students exploring study abroad options, but more often utilizes a well-meaning staff me mber or professor [ who loves to travel] to advise students about study abroad. Because Global Learning Se mesters of fers pre miu m student support services for study abroad, we take e xtr a steps to make sure students are choosing to participate in a program th at is relevant to his/her academic pursuits, and can be approved for transfer credit to the student’s ho me institution. Less than 2% of students who have participated in a Global Learning Semesters progra m has not r eceived transfer credit from the student’s ho me institution. And so me of these cases have been because we allow students up to one year after graduation from an undergraduate degree to participate in our programs. W hen Global Learning Semesters receives an application from a student we che ck our institutional database to see if we have had previous students fro m that s chool, check to see if we have study abroad © 2 00 9, S an d i S mi th , G l ob al L ear n in g S em es t ers

advisor(s) from that school listed in our database, and look up the school’s institutional policies and procedures for study abroad. If we do not know fro m previous co mmunications with that institution if a student will be allowed to transfer credit from our program, we contact the student’s ho me institution and verify that the student will be allowed to earn transfer credit after participating in our program. If we find that an institution will not approve transfer credit, we reco mmend that the student find another program that will earn credit toward the student’s degree at the ho me institution. I often speak with college and university personnel about institutional policies and procedures for approving a study abroad program and I have often heard the answer, “ we wait until a significant amount of our students have participated in a particular program, and if we get good feedback fro m the students, only then will we consider an affiliation agreement [or “approving” a program for our students ].” I have heard this perspective enough times to kno w that this practice is not co mpletely unusual for U.S. colleges and universities. There are several concerns I have about this oft used process. One, if we based the offering of academic programs and courses solely on student de mand, we would see fe w students ch oosing to take “liberal arts” courses of their own accord. But doe s that mean that “liberal arts” courses are not credible and relevant? Few U. S. institutions allow students to choose only courses they want for an acade mic degree. Likewise, if students expressed over whel ming and continued interest in a degree program in skateboarding, would the institution establish that as a degree option? Let’s face it, there are still a few things that acade me kno ws better than the student. Every acade mic institution adheres to established policies and procedures, whether those policies and procedures are overwhel mingly cheered by students or not. Although a certain program ma y be an outstanding international experience for an art history ma jor, is it appropriate to allow a business ma jor to spend a full se mester of study abroad at an art inst itute? Second, what is the validity and credibility of the student feedback an institution is collecting about a specific study abroad program. Are students co mplaining about a certain program and will “not recommend” a program becau se students were required to attend classes 4 or 5 days a week instead of only 2 or 3 days which they would prefer? Are students “highly recommending” programs in wh ich students are pretty much left to party hearty and not challenged academically? Are students sufficiently indicating the level of intercultural interactions they have with locals and the level of influence to integrate into the co mmunity instead of living in an “American student ghetto”? Are the criteria used in evaluating a study abroad program si milar to the criteria used to evaluate any other acade mic progra m or course on the ho me ca mpus? And be yond the © 2 00 9, S an d i S mi th , G l ob al L ear n in g S em es t ers

acade mic evaluation, is there a credible evaluation of the “administration” of the study abroad progra m as there would be on a ho me ca mpus looking at the quality of administrative and student support services. Third, it continues to amaze me that a university would rely on casual and anecdotal student feedback to approve an acade mic progra m. Although I could imagine a statistically significant evaluation model that could make student evaluations valid and reliable, I more co mmonly see institutions using unreliable, inappropriate, and/or casual feedback from students. It see ms to be so mething si milar to hiring professors contingent upon a trial basis and student feedback. But really, how many colleges and universities use student feedback as the primary source of credibility for a professor? Likewise, almost e very university in the U.S. gets “poor” student ratings for Financial Aid services and Parking services. Does that mean that we should not reco mmend a ll these universities because they get consistently “poor” ratings in several categories of student evaluations? Adversely, there are institutions that use an “approved list” of study abroad programs and only allow stude nts to participate in those prevetted progra ms. Legal exa mination of this policy has determined that if an institution has established criteria for approving programs, provides relevant options for students with various acade mic needs, and adheres consistently to reviews and approvals of programs, institutions have been allowed to limit the study abroad options of their students. I a m not sure that legal exa mination of a policy that entrusts trial-based student participation in programs to establish approval for future students would stand scrutiny. If a student wer e to return from a study abroad program and sue the ho me institution because they reco mmended a program in which the student feels wa s not acade mically sound, can the ho me institution win the argument by s aying, “well, 15 previous students said they loved the program and would highly recommend it to other students”. I reco mmend a list of questions an institution might consider when reviewing and approving study abroad programs. 1. Do we allow students to participate in any study abroad progra m they like, or do we individually approve student choices for study abroad programs, or do we allow onl y participation in program on an “approved list”? 2. Do we have criteria for reviewing and approving study abroad programs? If yes, - is our criteria based on institutional distinctions and characteristics, and/or general study abroad standards? © 2 00 9, S an d i S mi th , G l ob al L ear n in g S em es t ers

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what are/ were the professional qualifications of the person or group that established these criteria? on what professional standards do we base our criteria (exa mples: ht t p: / / gl obal ed. u s/ saf et i / audi t chkl st . ht ml ht t p: / / www. f orum ea. org/ docum ent s/ F orum EASt andard sG o odPrct March 20 08. pdf ht t ps: / / www. i e sabr oad. or g/ I ES/ Adv i sors_ and _F acul t y/ i esMap. ht m l )?

how often are the criteria reviewed and approved? does the criteria take a comprehensive exa mination of a program (acade mic, cultural, administrative, student support, safety, etc.)? - are the criteria approved, published, transparent, and relevant? - have we applied these criteria consistently in reviewing and approving programs? - have we denied approval to programs not meeting our criteria? - have we denied approval to programs t hat do meet our criteria? - how often are progra ms reviewed? - have programs ever changed approval status after subsequent review if conditions have changed? - is the criteria rated qualitatively and/or quantitatively? If not, - can we justify approving transfer credit toward a degree if we do not have sufficient evidence of acade mic appropriateness? - do we have parallel polices for transfer credit from other U. S. institutions which may apply to study a broad? - do we have parallel policies for accepting transfer credit or degrees fro m foreign institutions when we enroll international students? W hat justification do we have for denying approval of certain programs? Do we have a broad portfolio of approved study abroad options to meet the needs of various student char acteristics (ma jor, language, upper/lower division, geography, progra m style, urban vs. co mmunity based, immersion vs. intercultural adaptability, etc.)? Do we have a published, transparent, and supported process for students to petition for other relevant study abroad experiences? Does our institution have any “special relationship” duty to review study abroad programs beyond acade mic criteria? Do we ma ke it mandatory or elective for students to provide us with evaluations of study abroad programs after they co mplete a program? Is the data collected from student evaluations utilized in a meaningful way? -

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9. Does our institution have funding available for professional staff to conduct “due diligence” site visits of progra ms (for initial review and for continued approval)? 10. Does our institution have a standardized and transparent process for site visits and reviews? 11. Are there occasions that a specific progra m ma y be approved for one student, but not for another? 12. Do we utilize professional resources such as NAFSA (www.nafsa.org) and the Foru m on Ed ucation Abroad (www.foru mea.org) to establish our study abroad professionalism? W hy are most U.S. institutions not giving the sa me level of professional review to international education as they would to any acade mic depart ment on ca mpus? W ould you ask the wife of the History Depart ment Chair to review, approve a nd advise pre-vet students about going to Vet school? W ould you expect the secretary in the biology depart ment to be advising students about financial aid? W ould you allow an aging and retiring philosophy professor to do facilities inspections ensuring the safety of students and e mployees? Not unless he/she was otherwise over whel mingly qualified to do so. So why do institutions allow secretaries and faculty wives to advise students about study abroad? W e often find the most well-meaning and engaged staff advising students about study abroad. Ho wever, unfortu nately for students, we also find overwhel mingly those advising students about study abroad are in no way professionally qualified to do so. As we see support for study abroad more co mmonly espoused in institutional dogma, unfortunately man y institutions are putting the cart before the horse with internationalization. They begin to encourage students to study abroad before the institution has built a foundation and infrastructure for study abroad. W e see internationalization efforts rallied by a fe w well-meaning and passionate staff and/or faculty, but the vague project is then dropped into the hands of people who love travel, but may not have the professional qualifications to build an effective study abroad strategy. Unfortunately, it is not only those institutions new to study abroad that are not utilizing appropriate standards for advising students about relevant and meaningful international experiences. Thus, I encourage every U.S. institution of higher education to convene an audit of study abroad policies and procedures to ensure that your students will not experience capricious, ill-informed, and/or irrelevant obstacles to participation in quality international academic progra ms.

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