Five Colleges and Universities Competitively Selected to Host U.S. Department of State Workshops on Building Capacity for Americans to Study Abroad

Five U.S. colleges and universities have been competitively selected to host daylong workshops for approximately 50 U.S. study abroad advisors each from colleges and universities across the country. The workshops will share best practices on study abroad capacity building topics as identified by the U.S. study abroad community. These workshops are supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Capacity Building Program for U.S. Study Abroad, also known as the IDEAS Program (Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students Program). The IDEAS Program provides small grants, in-person trainings, and digital resources to help U.S. colleges and universities increase and diversify their study abroad programs for U.S. students.

On January 24, California State University, Bakersfield in Bakersfield, California, will host a workshop on study abroad campus outreach and recruitment.

On January 31, University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, will host a workshop on best practices in faculty-led study abroad.

On February 28, the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, will partner with Savannah State University, Middle Georgia State University, and Georgia State University to host a workshop on best practices in faculty-led study abroad.

On May 1, St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, will host a workshop on recruiting and supporting study abroad students from underrepresented groups.

On May 1, Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, will partner with Goucher College and University of Massachusetts-Amherst to host a workshop on study abroad program assessment and evaluation.

Digital resources from these workshops and on related topics will be shared with the wider higher education community at studyabroadcapacitybuilding.org.

“When U.S. students study abroad, they build cross-cultural relationships and gain 21st century jobs skills that strengthen U.S. national security and economic prosperity,” said Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce. “It is a strategic imperative of the United States that we have more U.S. students studying and interning abroad in more destinations, and we could not accomplish this without our great U.S. higher education partners.”

The IDEAS Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by World Learning. For further information on the IDEAS Program and to register for a workshop, visit studyabroadcapacitybuilding.org or email IDEASProgram@worldlearning.org.