The 2016 IIE Summit on Generation Study Abroad will take place on October 23-25, 2016 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The Summit will bring education, government and business leaders together to discuss how to ensure international experience is a key part of a 21st century education. It is more important than ever that U.S. students graduate with the international, intercultural, and language skills that they will need to help solve today’s global challenges. 

The 2016 IIE Summit is part of IIE’s Generation Study Abroad®, a five year initiative to double the number of U.S. students studying abroad by the end of the decade. Generation Study Abroad seeks to significantly increase and diversify participation by bringing higher education institutions, employers, governments, K-12 teachers, associations, and others together to build on current best practices and find new ways to extend study abroad opportunities and resources to tens of thousands of college students whose needs are not currently served by existing study abroad programs. Join the initiative today to become a part of this vital conversation!

Many thanks to all who participated in the #GoStudyAbroad student campaign. The campaign, launched by IIE and  Go Overseas in partnership with AIFS Study Abroad, CET Academic Programs, IFSA-Butler, and STA Travel, aimed to raise awareness of study abroad and asked everyone who has ever studied abroad to encourage U.S. college students to undertake an international experience by the time they graduate.  Thanks to your help over 15,000 students entered to #gostudyabroad!  Four lucky students will receive a scholarship to support their study abroad and five alumni will be recognized with a travel prize for their mobilizing efforts.

 

A special thank you to the following top participating institutions for their exceptional outreach efforts:

Arizona State University

Bentley University 

California State University Fullerton 

California State University Long Beach 

New York University 

Ohio State University

Temple University 

University of California- Irvine

CIEE has pledged 100 percent of all exhibitor fees related to its Annual Conference 2016, 2017, and 2018 to support study abroad scholarships for students from Minority Serving Institutions. CIEE and CMSI expect the first-year scholarship pool to total at least $50,000.

Funds historically used to support conference expenses will now be earmarked for the most financially challenged students attending the nation's nearly 600 Minority Serving Institutions. Each year for the next three years, the scholarship funds will cover 100 percent of program fees and travel costs for 10 students of color from 10 MSIs. Each cohort of 10 students will take part in a summer study abroad program designed to enhance their leadership and intercultural skills in one of three locations: London, England (summer 2017); Cape Town, South Africa (summer 2018); and Seoul, South Korea (summer 2019).

The first scholarships will be awarded on November 1, 2016 by Penn's CMSI, one of the nation's leaders in elevating the educational contributions of MSIs, increasing the rigorous scholarship of MSIs, and strengthening efforts to close educational achievement gaps among disadvantaged communities. The deadline for students to apply to become Frederick Douglass Global Fellows is October 1, 2016. Details for applying will be available soon. For more information, contact pesmieu@gse.upen.edu.

The International Summer School at National University of Ireland, Galway is pleased to announce three tuition scholarships of €500 each for its Ecology: Living Landscapes in the West of Ireland Summer School program. These scholarships are being offered as part of the University’s commitment to the IIE Generation Study Abroad initiative and will be available for U.S. students travelling to Ireland in summer 2016. For additional details and application criteria visit the NUI Galway website.

Under the banner of Generation Study Abroad, ITESO, the Jesuit University in Guadalajara, offers one scholarship for full tuition each semester to students from U.S. universities. The Generation Study Abroad scholarship is awarded based on academic and social merit.  Please note that there is no language requirement and, preference will be given to students applying from universities with which ITESO does not have an exchange agreement. 

• The World is the New Classroom: Non-Credit Education Abroad Webinar: Thursday, April 14, 2016 from 2:00-3:00pm EST – Register Here
• Schwarzman Scholar Program Overview for Generation Study Abroad Network: Tuesday, April 26, 2016: 1:00-2:00pm EST and 9:00-10:00pm EST
• Five Tips for Recruiting Students From the United States, With Megan Brenn-White, Managing Director, Brenn-White Group: April 28, 2016, 9:00–10:00am EST – Register Here
• Study Abroad and Local Community Engagement – Meaningful programming with mutually beneficial results: Tuesday, May 3, 2016, 11:00 AM - 12:00pm EST

To support continuing efforts to increase collaboration for study abroad in California, the Spring 2016 California Study Abroad Town Hall Meeting will be taking place at California State University at Dominguez Hills (CSUDH, City of Carson, Los Angeles County) on Friday, May 6, 2016. The event will focus on important issues to help expand cooperation and support for study abroad between colleges and universities in California. The program will include presentations, small group discussions and open dialogue to share ideas and best practices.  Following the recent tragic events in Brussels, Belgium, and the U.S. Department of State Travel Alert for Europe, health and safety issues will be an important topic of discussion. You can find the current draft of the agenda on the CalAbroad website. Space is limited so please RSVP as soon as possible to:  Racheal M. Wangui at rwangui@csudh.edu.

IIE’s Center for International Partnerships is pleased to launch three partnership programs for 2016 featuring New Zealand, Mexico, and Cuba. All three applications are open now! Please visit the official IAPP website for more information or to get started on the application process. All three programs follow the IIE International Academic Partnership Program (IAPP) model, which has assisted more than 200 institutions around the world to develop strategic academic partnerships since 2009. Over the course of each program, institutions participate in a number of training activities focused on implementing sustainable partnerships and developing a strategic plan to increase academic collaboration with the select focus country. Featured programs include:

     1.  U.S. – New Zealand Partnership Program

          Register for the New Zealand Informational Webinar.

     2.  Mexico Partnership Program: Redefining the Dialogue on Academic Collaboration 

     3.  2016 U.S. – Cuba Partnership Program

 

This year’s programs each offer unique experiences to explore academic partnership opportunities in three diverse locations. Eligible institutions are invited to apply to more than one program using the same application and each application will be assessed on an individual basis. For more information about all three programs and details on the selection criteria used by IIE to assess applications, please refer to the IAPP website. A special webinar will be held on April 18 at 1:00 p.m. EDT to explain and answer any questions about the new online application process: Register for IAPP Application Informational Webinar.

As new media continues to shape today’s academic experiences, so too has it found a place in the world of international education. The idea of virtual exchange has become a reality for countless institutions around the world, and continues to gain momentum as we see how it can provide deep and interactive learning experiences. These exchanges are technology-enabled programs allowing for the sustained sharing of ideas through a people-to-people education approach. 

The purpose of this issue of the IIENetworker magazine is to delve deeper into the ever-evolving landscape of virtual exchange in order to explore, share and continue the dialogue around this emerging educational model. If you are interested in submitting an article for the fall 2016 issue of IIENetworker please let us know as soon as possible. Submissions are due by April 29, 2016 and should be between 1000 and 1500 words. Address all inquiries to Courtney Lind at clind@iie.org and for more information on IIENetworker, please visit: www.iie.org/iienetworker.