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What is a Faculty-led
Program?
A Faculty-led program is type of study abroad experience that
consists of one or more credit-bearing, study-travel courses
along with a sequence of group activities, organized excursions,
and cultural encounters. Faculty-led programs are led by college
professors and usually last between one to eight weeks.
Benefits of
Faculty-led Programs
This study abroad model exposes students to a variety of environments
and fosters strong mentoring relationships between faculty
and students. Faculty-led programs are used as tools for internationalization,
and to greatly increase the number of students who study abroad.
To learn about the benefits of faculty-led programs, click
here.
Is it right
for me? (time, risk, etc.)
Are you adventurous, flexible, adaptable, and willing to devote
time and effort to the program’s making? Do you enjoy
spending time with and helping students beyond the classroom?
Do you have a sense of humor, as well as good organization
and time management skills? If so, then you're probably the
right person to lead a study abroad program.
Key
Considerations
Location-Location-Location You should limit your proposal
to locations where you have lived and/or traveled and would
feel comfortable leading a group of students. Many colleges
and universities offer funds to faculty who wish to go abroad
and develop a program. A quality program will make use of
people and resources available in the host country.
Target Population Will your course topics and chosen
locations be attractive to a sizeable audience? If so, do
you think you can draw from that audience the minimum number
of students the program will need to run? If not, consider
a recruitment plan that extends beyond your campus, and consider
listing your program on AbroadScout.com.
Financial Feasibility Will the cost of the program
be reasonable? Is is competitive with other similar programs?
The bottom line is how much students are willing to pay. A
competitive program fee and a realistic budget will make your
program more attractive and feasible for students, especially
if you're recuiting accross the nation.
Best
Practices & Guidelines
A quality study abroad program makes use of people
and resources in the host country. The Forum on Education
Abroad recently developed Standards
of Good Practice for Short-Term Education Abroad Programs.
These standards cover nice areas:
(1) Mission, Objectives, and Purpose
(2) Student Learning and Development
(3) Academic Framework
(4) Extra-Academic Framework
(5) Preparation for the Learning Environment Abroad
(6) Student Selection and Code of Conduct
(7) Organizational and Program Resources
(8) Health, Safety, and Security
(9) Ethics and Integrity
Cultivating
your Program Idea
So you have an idea. Is it unique? Does it have appeal? If
so, to whom and under what conditions? While no program is
ever a guarenteed success, below are the guidelines for a
winning combination.
(1) Know your Students: Knowing your student
recruitment pool is the most important step in this process.
- Who can participate? Before you cultivate
your idea, you should know who can participate. Are you
permitted to enroll students from only your institution
or from other institutions also? Are you permitted to enroll
non-students (other faculty, staff, or members of the community)?
Once you know and understand the scope of your reach, you
can determine where you must draw the majority of your participants
and focus your marketing and recruitment efforts on this
pool.
- What are the obstacles? You should make
an attempt to understand the obstacles of your target audience.
Maybe your target audience consists of school teachers,
and the obstacles are time away and family commitments.
Maybe your recruitment pool is low income students, and
the obstacles are financial. After you identify the obstacles,
you should do your best to minimize them or remove them
entirely, and then let your audience know.
If you can keep this guideline,
Know your Students, at the forefront of your program
development efforts, then you will greatly increase your
chances for a competitive and successful faculty-led program.
(2) Location: Think about where
students might be interested in going, in view of the competition
(or lack thereof) among other faculty-led study abroad programs
in your discipline. Does this location make sense with the
subject matter or topic of the course? Would another location
make better sense, knowing the obstacles that your recruitment
pool faces? The more you can distinguish your location,
the less competition you have from other programs.
(3) Subject: What is your rationale for
developing and proposing this faculty-led program? Is there
purpose and need for the course topic? What kind of requirements
and prerequisites are necessary? Is the chosen location
the best fit for your course topic, or is there another
location that might better suited? Is there anything you
can add to your course syllabus that might make it more
attractive? (ex. "Green" is an important and "hot"
topic)
(4) Structure: How will your program be
structured? Will you be stationary or travel to different
places? What institutions, organizations, and companies
will you be working with? What (if any) services or assistance
will be provided? Is your study abroad program relevant
to particular majors, minors, general education, non-traditional
students, graduate students, research interests, professionals
in the field, etc.? Can students get valuable credit?
(5) Timing: Think about how long and when
students might want to study in the locations you are considering
for your faculty-led study abroad program. Think about what
works with your academic calendar. If in the summer, try
to schedule your study abroad program so that students aren't
missing all the on-campus sessions. How will financial aid
interplay with your study abroad program, considering the
timing, credit hours offered, etc.?
(6) Professor: What is
your relevant training and expertise? Do your students like
you as a professor and would they be willing to follow you
to the destination you are proposing? Do you like to be
with students and would you enjoy leading them abroad? Happy,
popular professors tend to foster successful study abroad
programs. Professors MUST be involved in the recruitment
process, since it is often the professor that seals
the deal for students. Would you go abroad with someone
you didn't know or didn't like for any length of time? No
way!
(7) Total Cost: While it may not make
a difference at private institutions, cost is usually a
critical factor for publics. Can you keep the cost competitive
and reasonable with what you want to do and with other programs
that do similar things? Find out the average cost of a successful
faculty-led program on your campus, or within your recruitment
pool, and aim lower without sacrificing the quality of your
program.
(8) Package: Think of a catchy title...something
marketable, and something original and new, to brand your
faculty-led study abroad program. What else can you include
in your program (excursions, service-learning, activities)
to make it more attractive? What makes sense from a cultural
standpoint and an academic standpoint? What gives you the
most bang for your buck (consider distance, time, and expense)?
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