Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the inaugural Education Abroad Program e-newsletter
for faculty! Through this newsletter EAP hopes to keep you informed about initiatives
and opportunities for you and your students.
As most of you will know, EAP is the premier program through which UC engages its students in substantial educational experiences abroad. Through exchanges with some 120 of the best universities around the world, our students have unprecedented opportunities available to them. Since its beginning in Bordeaux in 1962, over 50,000 UC students have availed themselves of the chance to expand their educational horizons through EAP.
EAP differs from most other study abroad programs in the way it has insisted on the preeminent role of the faculty in all its programs. UC faculty review and approve for UC units all courses taken by EAP students at partner institutions abroad. EAP’s “UC-construct” programs are designed, implemented, and overseen by faculty and all EAP programs are approved by the Academic Senate. Faculty serve as on-site Study Center Directors abroad, they head up the Campus EAP Offices where students apply, and they serve on various committees that provide academic oversight and strategic direction.
In the past several years EAP has initiated a process of academic integration (AI). AI seeks to engage UC academic units in making international study a more prominent, accessible, and integral component of the UC curricula. To this end, we are working with many departments to produce advising materials targeted to EAP study in their disciplines. The goal has been to help students fit study abroad appropriately and seamlessly into their academic programs.
In the current year, some 4,500 UC students will be studying abroad through EAP. Although these are predominately undergraduates, we are making efforts to increase participation of graduate and professional students. The majority of EAP students are enrolled in formal course work at our partner institutions; however, nearly 350 students also participated in out-of-classroom, research, and internship opportunities last year. Reciprocally, 1,300 students from our partner institutions abroad will be in our UC campus classes and labs for periods of time ranging from one UC term to the full year. We believe that these students enrich our academic lives; at the same time, we’re giving them a taste of what UC has to offer.
This e-newsletter aims to inform you about the faculty role and faculty opportunities in EAP. For additional information, I invite you to peruse the EAP website. I welcome your feedback and look forward to continued collaboration in the important endeavor of making global citizens of our students.
Sincerely,
Michael O’Connell
Interim Universitywide Director of the Education Abroad Program
Professor of English, UC Santa Barbara