Studying Abroad over Thanksgiving Break?

As many know, I post a daily "Study Abroad Tweet of the Day" over on IHEC Blog's Facebook page (which is really the place to be right now as my schedule has been so busy that I haven't posted here on IHEC Blog for a long time and I'm using the FB page as a micro-blog).  Today I selected the following tweet"

"Got an email about study abroad in Cuba thanksgiving break"

There are a couple of reasons why I selected this to be the tweet of the day.  The first reason is because last week the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the U.S. Treasury Department began to renew people-to-people licenses.  Second, and more importantly, I was struck by the use of the term "study abroad" during Thanksgiving break.

To be sure, there are many unknown variables about this Cuba study abroad program such as how long would this program be?  Would it be 4-5 days and does this include travel?  What is the itinerary and the number of academic contact hours?  You could fit 30 contact hours into this type of short-term program.  You get the picture...I don't need to list more.

A question I have is:  Is this really study abroad?  In other words, can you really have a study abroad program over Thanksgiving break?

There are many opinions on this short-term study abroad programming and I would love to hear what you think in the comment section below!

For the sake of argument let's say that this visit to Cuba is five days long and is indeed a study abroad program where the participants receive academic credit (thus making them eligible to be counted in the annual Open Doors data collection effort).  These study abroad participants return to campus with grades and academic credit in hand, they join the study abroad alumni club and hopefully integrate this experience into future academic work such as writing a paper or BA on Cuba.

As these returned study abroad students enter their fourth-year (aka Senior year) they learn that highlighting a study abroad experience one's resume or working it into an interview may provide an advantage over other applicants who did not study abroad (according to some research).

Questions I have about this scenario include:

How should a student list a five day study abroad trip to Cuba on their resume?

Would recruiters/employers view this time in Cuba as a study abroad experience?

Could listing a five day academic experience in Cuba on a resume as participation on a study abroad program actually hurt one's application?

What are your thoughts?

International Higher Education Consulting Project Work and Services Going on Brief Hiatus

Things for me and International Higher Education Consulting are a bit on the busy side to say the least.  Family life (three young children in school who all love playing soccer), work, dissertation, to name a few of the bigger things, are demanding so much of my time right now that I am unable to dedicate any time to focus on side consulting project work and related activities.  

I will return to normal programming soon and perhaps refocus International Higher Education Consulting into something bigger and better or I might just go away for a bit and dream it all up again...

You can still find me micro-blogging over on IHEC Blog's Facebook page if you want to join the fun!

IHEC Blog will Return to Regular Programming Soon!

I've been out of the blogging game for a bit.  Work is crazy busy, I fit in a short family vacation, I'm trying to work on (and finish) my dissertation, work became even more crazy busy upon return from vacation and my full-time job as father (and husband) is always in constant motion and demands the most valuable time so posting to IHEC Blog was and remains on hold.

I'll be back soon...at least that is the plan!

Photo credit:  lethaargic

Question about Advanced Degrees for International Educators

Back in 2003 I began researching advanced degree options to advance my career in the field of international education.  After much research I narrowed my choices down to an MBA program and a Ph.D. program and in the end I chose to pursue a Ph.D. in Comparative and International Education at Loyola University of Chicago.

Did you complete or are you pursuing an advanced degree (beyond a Master of Arts or Master of Sciences degree)?  What did you choose and why?  Did it (or do you think it will) make you a better International Educator?

Photo credit:  psyberartist

How Studying Abroad in Florence, Italy and a Vacation in Mexico Lead Kevin Systrom to Start Instagram

Video Webchat of People-to-People Ties: The Heart of the U.S.-India Partnership

As a follow-up to the U.S.-India Higher Education Summit on June 12, 2012 [see videos below], Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy Tara Sonenshine and Indian Ambassador to the United States Nirumpama Rao met on July 19, 2012 to discuss the importance of and value placed on people-to-people exchanges between these two nations.  This webcast discussion was moderated by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Ambassador Robert Blake.  I have embedded the recorded webast below:



You can read the full transcript of this webcast discussion here.

If you are interested in watching the webcast of the 2012 U.S.-India Higher Education Summit you can do so via the following videos:

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

The Tony Adams Fund: Making a Difference in International Education

The International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) is offering its first grants for staff and academics in international education through the Tony Adams Fund.  The Tony Adams Fund will make annual financial grants available to professionals and students in the field who wish to pursue professional development activity or international education research.  Applications are open to individuals from Australia as well as those overseas and applicants do not have to be members of the IEAA.  Grant funds may be used for the following:

Professional Development
These grants are open to staff who wish to pursue professional development activity related to international education. Individual grants are available for up to AUD$1,500.

Research in International Education
Research grants are available to those undertaking research in international education. Grants are available for up to AUD$3,000 for research projects; and AUD$1,500 for each year of a doctoral study (up to three years)

More information about The Tony Adams fund is available at http://www.ieaa.org.au/tonyadamsfund.

I didn't know Tony very well but have met, dined and e-mailed back and forth with him about research matters in the past and was deeply saddened when he suddenly passed away a little over a year ago. The field lost a great leader and I think it is great that the IEAA is honoring Tony in this way!

More about Tony via The Australian.