Connecting to the Generation Study Abroad Initiative

Gary Rhodes
Associate Dean, International Education & Senior International Officer,
College of Extended & International Education
Director, Center for Global Education
California State University at Dominguez Hills

An increasing number of U.S. colleges and universities are signing on to the Institute of International Education (IIE) Generation Study Abroad Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to double the number of students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities that go abroad. According to IIE:

The baseline for Generation Study Abroad is data from the Open Doors 2013 Report, which reports that in academic year 2011/12, 283,332 students participated in credit bearing and 12,758 students participated in non-credit bearing programs. While that may sound like a lot, it in fact represents less than 10% of the 2.6 million students graduating with associates or baccalaureate degrees each year.

Our target is 600,000 U.S. students studying abroad in credit and non-credit programs (Open Doors 2019, which reports on 2017/2018 data). (https://www.iie.org/Programs/Generation-Study-Abroad/About/Todays-Numbers).

Many in the field have been pushing to count non-traditional international experiences, including international internships, work abroad, international research, international development projects, volunteer abroad, non-credit international study tours, and other international opportunities that provide a significant international learning experience but do not provide academic credit.

Timing: Act by October 15, 2014

IIE has set five specific targets to help achieve their goal of doubling the numbers:

500 institutions who pledge to significantly expand their own study abroad numbers.
10 U.S. colleges and universities who pledge to require study abroad of all their students.
10,000 alumni and students joining the initiative.
1,000 high school teachers who pledge to make their students aware of study abroad.
External financial support for scholarships.

Those who join the commitment will be invited to participate in annual Generation Study Abroad meetings and special events, such as webinars and National Conference Calls on expanding study abroad. Commitment members will also be recognized for their efforts and provided a special badge so that they can announce their commitment to their networks.

The deadline to submit Generation Study Abroad Commitments is October 15, 2014 in order to be recognized by IIE during International Education Week.

IIE has regularly pushed the field to do more to submit study abroad participation numbers. This has become more of a regular process for many colleges and universities. However, some still have a difficult time putting together all the details on student profiles and other information beyond total numbers of students studying abroad for academic credit. Many colleges and universities do not regularly keep records of student activities that do not count for academic credit. As a result, along with making an effort to increase participation, institutions will need to do more to maintain records of non-credit international activities on their campus as well as background data on the students who participate in those programs.

As users of Terra Dotta Software, I’m sure you have found the process of reporting Open Doors data on study abroad for credit to be an easier and regular process as a normal part of the role of study abroad program administration. IIE Open Doors reporting is now including a simple number of students participating in non-credit programs abroad. My guess is that many more than 12,758 students participated in non-credit international programs in 2011/12. However, getting additional data is dependent upon reporting at colleges and universities across the country.

While study abroad for credit data has been centralized at many colleges and universities (with the help of Terra Dotta Software), the offices that support non-credit international programs are spread across campus. Coordinating the collection of that data may require time and effort that the study abroad office staff may not have.

Returning to Health and Safety Issues to Get Resources

While collecting data for IIE Generation Study Abroad may seem like a good practice from an idealistic standpoint, accrediting agencies don’t require that data and most campuses haven’t historically been asked to collect or disseminate that data. I don’t think institutions will provide additional resources to a study abroad office for the purpose of collecting additional data.

However, I think this raises a larger issue… that of health and safety and study abroad. As discussed in previous Terra Dotta Newsletter articles, many institutions have provided higher levels of health and safety support for their study abroad programs, including administrative support (over 25 universities and study abroad providers have a full-time health and safety staff member), more comprehensive health and safety review of program sites and on-site resources, better training of faculty and staff, better pre-departure and on-site orientation programs, more comprehensive insurance, emergency response planning and 24 hour assistance, mental health support, etc.

The increase in the numbers of non-credit programs has been connected to inconsistent health and safety practices. While for-credit programs have increased health and safety resources and support, many non-credit programs do not follow a consistent health and safety support model. There may be cases where a for-credit program may be operating in the same city and at the same time as a non-credit program, but the non-credit students may not have the same support services nor the same information to make appropriate decisions to support their health and safety.

This may be happening for various reasons. Some non-credit programs are run by student organizations or staff or faculty with limited international health and safety training. There may be limited resources available to operate the programs because of the lack of funding support through tuition dollars. Policy may only require insurance when it is a for-credit program and students may have the option of getting insurance for non-credit programs.

I think this is a policy problem that could result in both a higher risk to the student going abroad and a possible liability challenge if the student is injured or dies abroad. It is hard to believe that if there is an accident or injury to a student, a jury would believe that services and support would be expected to be any less just because the student is not earning academic credit while abroad.

Centralized Support

Some institutions have brought together administrators from across campus involved in all international initiatives to develop a set of minimum standards and support services as well as a central database for tracking of all students who go abroad.

For institutions that have implemented centralized support and record keeping, taking next steps in supporting consistent insurance and 24 hour emergency assistance should not be complicated. Adding those students into the Terra Dotta Software and having those students complete content online in signature documents to ensure that they have reviewed U.S. Department of State as well as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Country-Specific Information, as well as completed and turned in documents seen to be important about conduct abroad, alcohol, foreign laws, mental health issues, and other health and safety issues and confirming that they have been completed suddenly becomes a more simple task than it would be if the campus were dependent on each department or office developing similar materials and information for each issue that could come up. While there could be a consistent set of policies and procedures and documents, individual for-credit and non-credit programs can also add additional content specific to their program and needs. This includes a variety of content from the SAFETI Clearinghouse of the Center for Global Education on the TDCL.

Collection of Good Practices

For those of you who have spent time and energy on your campus to centralize health and safety support with for-credit and non-credit programs, I would look forward to hearing from you about your most effective strategies that others can learn from. We will work to collect and disseminate some of those good practices to ease the process for others.

Along with central support with a focus on health and safety, enhanced support before, during, and after non-credit international programs can enhance the quality of those programs and increase the impact on students who participate. Connecting the experience back to the home campus can also impact more integrated international learning across campus… making the program count more for the student and the institution.

Beyond Collection of Data for Generation Study Abroad

While supporting students and limiting institutional liability, institutions can ease the process of collecting campus wide data on participation in for-credit and non-credit international activities.

This can support the field and increase understanding of the various types of international learning opportunities for U.S. college and university students. Centralized support may ease the process of implementing non-credit programs while also providing an opportunity to inform students in short-term non-credit programs about the opportunities in for-credit study abroad after their initial time abroad.

I know that those involved in the IIE Generation Study Abroad efforts look forward to your campus commitment to increase for-credit and non-credit international programs. As noted earlier, the connection to data on non-credit programs can focus the institution on more consistent health and safety practices, which may also result in additional resources for a central office that provides consistent support to all international programs.

I look forward to your feedback and to seeing many of your institutions on the IIE Generation Study Abroad list that will be disseminated during International Education Week 2014 in November!