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Faculty Initiatives

FACULTY GUIDELINES
FOR NEW STUDY ABROAD & EXCHANGE PROGRAMS
AT QUEENS COLLEGE

In order to accomplish the President's mission of developing more international education opportunities for our students, the faculty must begin to play a critical role. Therefore, the Study Abroad Office encourages faculty support for study abroad in general. In an ideal setting faculty would be excited about this new venture. They would support and promote overseas programs and they would also help students to obtain transfer credits for the work they do abroad.

Faculty should be involved in a variety of ways:

  • Faculty need to design new programs and associated curricula.
  • They need to suggest possible sites based on their own research connections.
  • They need to conduct on-site evaluations of host institutions.
  • They need to be prepared to teach Queens College catalogue courses in institutions abroad or to work with faculty at these sites.
  • They need to be willing to be mentors and advisers to students who go on overseas programs.
  • They need to conduct in-depth pre-departure orientations.
  • Each department needs assign at least one faculty member who can evaluate coursework done abroad in that department.
Faculty must also keep in mind that for a student a study abroad experience is different from studying at an American campus. They need to accept the fact that a non-academic experience in another country can be as valuable as a purely academic one. Sometimes faculty members spend too much time trying to replicate the exact requirements of catalogue courses taken here. They need to recognize that students who go overseas will not always be able to satisfy these requirements. The possibility for learning about another culture can broaden students' intellectual perspectives and enhance their lives, and this more than makes up for the fact that the academic content of the courses taken are not exactly those found in the courses taken at home. The fundamental point of these programs should be to ensure that our students return with a more global perspective of political, social and economic issues -- views that are informed by their exposure to ideas that may be different from those espoused by the mass media of the U.S. and which they will become aware of by living in a different part of the world.

It is important to get collaborative partnership between faculty and the Study Abroad Office. Ideally, our new programs would be developed by faculty who are totally committed to international education. Administrators and staff (registrar, bursar, financial aid and advisement personnel) should also be included in the planning of programs.

GUIDELINES

The following guidelines will help faculty interested in initiating overseas opportunities for the students at Queens College for a semester, summer, and intersession. The first step that interested Faculty should take is to discuss plans with department chairs to ensure their prior support. Once this is obtained, contact should be made with the Study Abroad Office to discuss the feasibility as well as the objectives of the proposed program since these take at least two years to get off the ground.

If a faculty member has a contact with an individual or institution overseas or plans to do a site visit for the purpose of initiating a new program, the following information is needed by the Study Abroad Office.

There are three distinct types of programs, each with their own set of requirements. The first decision should be to identify which type of program is being considered.

TYPES OF PROGRAMS:

I. Study Abroad Programs (defined as a program with a host institution of higher education in the overseas country with which Queens College has an official agreement.

II. Exchange Programs (with recognized foreign universities with which we have an official agreement.

III. Faculty-Led Programs (Queens College courses taught by faculty overseas)

GENERAL INFORMATION REQUIRED: NEW STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS
Country Description:
Location: City Description
Safety: Before we consider sending students overseas we must assure the students' safety. We must keep in mind the world is undergoing political, criminal and health and safety issues. Therefore, before initiating a program we must be aware of all the risks involved to our students and our institution's liability.

ISSUES TO CONSIDER:
Health
Medical Availability
Crime
Terrorism & Political Violence

ACADEMIC:
Description of the University or Institution
Academic Programs
Faculty
Course syllabus
SA Program structure
Accreditation or quality and of the institution
Language of instruction
Language classes
Calendar
Courses: credit hours per course
Course schedule
Field trips
Campus activities

AGREEMENT:
CUNY programs can not be conducted without the requested CUNY agreement with the Host Institution and a CUNY Board Resolution.

NON-ACADEMIC CONSIDERATIONS ACCOMMODATIONS:
What types of affordable student housing is available? Housing needs to be assessed with regard to its cleanliness, safety, and accessibility to the university and city center, if applicable.

FIELD TRIPS
Costs of trip
Hotel, meals, entrance fees, guides, ground transportation
Safety

STAFF SUPPORT AT HOST INSTITUTION
Is there an office and staff member available to study abroad students?
Does the staff speak English?
Emergencies
Medical assistance: do they have doctors who speak English? Hospitals within readily reachable distance

FACILITIES
Library
Cafeteria
Sport facilities

COSTS
Costs should be broken down to indicate "included" or "not included"
Tuition: semester, summer or intersession
Airfare
Accommodations: families, residences, apartments, or hotels
Meals
Books
Medical Insurance
Field trips
Ground Transportation
Living expenses
Passports, visas, program administrative fee

BILLING:
Discuss form of payment with Host Institutions. CUNY requires invoices to be in Dollars based on an established exchange rate. Ther can always be a clause "subject to change".

PRE-DEPARTURE ORIENTATION
A presentation, minimally three hours in length, with attendance required by all student participants should be organized and attended by the faculty coordinator of the specific program and a staff member of the Study Abroad Office. This presentation should cover all of the above information. It should also encourage participants to get to know one another before the departure date. Veteran students (i.e, alumni) of the program should be invited as well as others with special knowledge of the country. Students should be encouraged to ask as many questions as possible at this time.

ORIENTATION BY HOST INSTITUTION
There must be a guarantee that the host institution will provide a detailed orientation to arriving students which introduces them to the city as well as the university.





E-mail: Study Abroad

Write, call or visit at:
Study Abroad Office
Kiely Hall, Room 147
Queens College - CUNY
Flushing, New York 11367-1597
718-997-5521
718-997-5055 (FAX)