Photo Gallery from the #GenerationStudyAbroad #IIESummit2016

Following are some of the photos I took from the recent IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit held in Washington, DC held October 23-25, 2016.

Wagaye Johannes, Project Director, Generation Study Abroad, 

Institute of International Education (IIE)

Evan Ryan, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, 

United States Department of State speaking at the opening plenary

Allan Goodman, President and CEO, Institute of International Education

speaking at the opening plenary

Obligatory selfie with one of my GoAbroad.com hats!

Finally met Eduardo Contreras, Director of Studies Abroad, University of Portland and co-author of a book chapter we are writing, along with Lily Lopez-McGee who is lead on the chapter, on diversity in education abroad.

 Gary Rhodes of California State University of Dominguez Hills asking the panel a question during the U.S. Government Initiatives to Advance Study Abroad session

I wrote my dissertation on an aspect of the National Security Education Program!

Rajika Bhandari of IIE, Christine Farrugia of IIE, Brett Berquist of the University of Auckland and Steve Nerlich of the Australian Government Department of Education and Training at the start of their What are We Counting and Why: Trends in Non-Credit Education Abroad and Global Best Practices for Tracking Non-Credit Students session.

Lisa Loberg of California Lutheran, Ann Hubbard of the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) and Gary Rhodes of California State University of Dominguez Hills at the start of their the Data-Driven Decision-Making: Documenting Study Abroad's Impact on Academic & Career Success session

Allan Goodman, President and CEO, Institute of International Education

speaking at the closing plenary

Holly Hudson of the University of South Alabama accepting award from Allan Goodman for her institution meeting their institutional Generation Study Abroad goals within two years!

Mala Adiga, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs, 

United States Department of State speaking at the closing plenary

My name badge

Updating one's resume before studying abroad, while abroad & after returning from abroad! Idea out of #GenerationStudyAbroad #IIESummit2016

A week ago, I was attending the 2nd annual IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit in Washington, DC and as I indicated in previous posts it was an excellent experience on many levels!

Last Friday, I posted about my favorite session at the Summit entitled Data-Driven Decision-Making: Documenting Study Abroad's Impact on Academic & Career Success presented by Lisa Loberg of California Lutheran, Ann Hubbard of the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) and Gary Rhodes of California State University of Dominguez Hills.

While speaking during the session, Gary brought up a very interesting idea that I really like.  In short, he suggested that students update their resumes before studying abroad, while they are studying abroad and after they return from study abroad.  I think this is an excellent idea and valuable exercise for study abroad students should consider doing!

Have you done something similar with students you work with who are heading abroad?

Photo credit: @UC_Global

All the International Education literature I picked-up at #GenerationStudyAbroad #IIESummit2016 for Bury Book International Education Library & Archive

You can learn more about my Bury Book International Education Library & Archive via my International Higher Education Consulting website

Data-Driven Decision-Making to meet Institutional and Organizational Generation Study Abroad Goals

Earlier this week I was at the IIE Generation Study Abroad 2016 Summit in Washington, DC and I attended many great sessions.  For me, the most informative and valuable session was the Data-Driven Decision-Making: Documenting Study Abroad's Impact on Academic & Career Success session presented by Lisa Loberg of California Lutheran, Ann Hubbard of the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) and Gary Rhodes of California State University of Dominguez Hills.

To be sure, I have a strong interest in and respect for the research side of the field.  I firmly believe that making decisions to advance study abroad on your campus or in your organization should be informed by data and research results.  Some of the questions that guided the presentation and discussion follow:

• What are the most compelling findings?
• How do we make them common talking points?
• How can we use these data more effectively to show that study abroad is not only beneficial, but essential?
• How can the case for study abroad be more powerfully made to administrators, trustees, faculty, students and families?

Numerous research studies in the field have demonstrated that study abroad has a positive impact student academic and career success.  All three of my colleagues presented strong evidence on the positive impact of study abroad and were very engaging during their talks.  If you have a chance to attend a future conference session that Lisa, Ann or Gary are presenting at I highly recommend joining their session!


What study abroad data and research results have you found to be most useful in helping you advocate the benefits of study abroad to students or institutional leadership/decision makers?

Student Loan Forgiveness For Students Who Study Abroad - A #GenerationStudyAbroad #IIESummit2016 Idea By Sanford Ungar

The past three days I was at the IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit 2016 in Washington, DC and it was excellent!  I strongly encourage you and your colleagues to consider attending the 2017 Summit and if your institution or organization hasn't already done so please consider joining the 700+ Commitment Partners from across the globe who have joined the Generation Study Abroad initiative to double the number of U.S. students studying abroad.

There were too many great sessions at the Summit to choose from but the ones I attended were informative, engaging and thought provoking and I plan to post some thoughts I left with from the Summit.  One idea I found to be very interesting came from Sanford J. Ungar during the closing plenary.  Sanford Ungar is a leading proponent of study abroad and during his tenure as President of Goucher College he set forth a policy in 2006 requiring all undergraduate students at the school to study abroad before they graduated.  He also wrote a great essay in Foreign Affairs magazine entitled 'The Study-Abroad Solution: How to Open the American Mind' in March/April of this year and I encourage you to check it out.

During the closing plenary of the Generation Study Abroad Summit yesterday, Mr. Ungar suggested that there should be student loan forgiveness for students who study abroad!  While there are many variables that need to be sorted out should such a policy take hold but I fully support this idea.  Student loan forgiveness for students who study abroad would have broad reaching implications and this idea is certainly worth further exploration.

What are you thoughts on student loan forgiveness for students who study abroad?

Leave a comment below with your thoughts or, better yet, if you are on Twitter please tweet your thoughts using the following hashtags: #GenerationStudyAbroad  &  #IIESummit2016

IIE #GenerationStudyAbroad Voices Video Challenge Winners Announced at #IIESummit2016

Last night at the IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit in Washington, DC the winners of the #GenerationStudyAbroad Voices Video Winners were announced/.  Great videos!  Congratulations to Colette Ghunim and Devin Sommer.  You can see their videos below:

Follow the Twitter Backchannel from the 2016 IIE Summit on Generation Study Abroad in Washington, D.C. from October 23-25, 2016 #GenerationStudyAbroad @IIE_Summit

#GenerationStudyAbroad Tweets

New Generation Study Abroad video by IIE debuted today at the ‪#‎GenerationStudyAbroad ‪#‎IIESummit2015