Group of International Organizations Send Letter to President Bush to Lift Restrictions on Academic and Family Travel to Cuba

On February 25, 2008, in the wake of the first change in Cuban presidential leadership in almost 50 years, NAFSA: Association of International Educators Executive Director and CEO Marlene Johnson wrote a letter on behalf NAFSA and the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, the Latin America Working Group, the Latin American Studies Association, the National Foreign Trade Council, USA*Engage, and the Washington Office on Latin America to President Bush calling for the lifting of restrictions. Specifically, the letter calls for the lifting of restrictions the Bush administration imposed in 2003 and 2004 on academic and family travel. The letter requests that the Bush administration restore the availability of licenses for the following academic endeavors:

• Short-term study and teaching in Cuba;
• Study in Cuba under third-party programs—i.e., programs other than those of degree-granting higher education institutions;
• Study in Cuba under programs other than those of the institution in which the student is enrolled;
• Academic travel to Cuba by any bona fide professor or researcher, including, e.g., adjunct faculty;
• People-to-people exchanges unrelated to academic coursework; and
• Programs of secondary schools for study in Cuba.

Link to letter:

http://www.nafsa.org/press_releases.sec/press_releases.pg/cubaletter22508

U.S. Heritage-Seeking Students Discover Minority Communities in Western Europe

This research article examines quantitative data relevant to an increasingly multiethnic Western Europe and investigates European opportunities for U.S. minority heritage-seeking students. In addition to analyzing the demographic data of Western Europe, a review of U.S. higher education enrollment demographics derived from current national education statistics as well as a look at the racial and ethnic makeup of U.S. students studying abroad will be conducted.

Journal of Studies in International Education, Vol. 12, No. 1, 29-37 (2008)http://jsi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/12/1/29

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Passes the Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act (H.R. 1469) today, Wednesday, February 13, 2008. The bill will now go on to the full Senate for vote. The bill has strong, bipartisan leadership from Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) who introduced the Senate version of the bill. The bill was introduced in the House by Representatives Tom Lantos (D–Calif.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R–Fla.) last year. On Monday, February 11, 2008 Representative Lantos passed away at 80 years of age.

NAFSA Task Force on Institutional Management of Study Abroad

On January 16, 2008 NAFSA released the Report of NAFSA’s Task Force on Institutional Management of Study Abroad. The report, Strengthening Study Abroad: Recommendations for Effective Institutional Management, is intended to prompt discussion and reflection at the highest levels on university and college campuses about how each institution can effectively integrate, sustain, and strengthen study abroad.

This report is endorsed by six Higher Education Associations:
· American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)
· American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)
· American Council on Education (ACE)
· Association of American Universities (AAU)
· National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU)
· National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC)

Task Force Members:
· John K. Hudzik (Chair), Vice President, Global Engagement and Strategic ProjectsMichigan State University

· Karen Hunter Anderson, Vice President for Adult Education and Institutional Support Illinois Community College Board

· Joseph Brockington, Associate Provost for International Programs Kalamazoo College

· Robert A. Corrigan, President San Francisco State University

· Everett Egginton, Dean, International Border Programs and NAFSA President-elect New Mexico State University

· Pamela Brooks Gann, President Claremont McKenna College

· Marlene M. Johnson, Executive Director and CEO NAFSA: Association of International Educators

· Pamela Jolicoeur, President Concordia College (Moorhead, MN)

· Kavita Pandit, Senior Vice Provost, Academic Affairs The State University of New York

· Kathleen Sideli, Associate Vice President for Overseas Study Indiana University

· Thelma B. Thompson, President University of Maryland-Eastern Shore

· Humphrey R. Tonkin, President Emeritus University of Hartford

The full report is available on the NAFSA website at: http://www.nafsa.org/knowledge_community_network.sec/international_education_4/chief_international_education/practice_resources_14/internationalizing_the/imsa_epub