CGE cancels Italy summer study abroad
The Center for Global Education announced on Jan. 31 that the summer Italy program will not take place due to a lack of on-site in-person academic options.
An active study abroad trip was canceled for the first time this academic year.
The Center for Global Education (CGE) announced on Monday, Jan. 31 that they are canceling the Italy Creative Writing program, previously set to run this summer. The program was no longer viable because the host university was unable to provide in-person classes due to COVID restrictions. An in-person creative writing course with Italian students was the core of the program. A seven-day isolation period by the Italian university was also a factor in the cancellation as the isolation would have accounted for 25% of the month-long trip.
“It is never an easy process [to cancel a trip],” CGE Director Kevin Clancy said. “All of us are involved in international education because we want students to go on global education programs, and we really see the importance of building those bridges.”
Other bridges will still be built as upcoming embedded and summer study abroad trips are set to run, and Clancy does not foresee future cancellations.
The specifics of the Italy summer program—month-long in-person classes with Italian students—that were no longer possible drove the decision to cancel, not the location. Students studied abroad in Italy during fall 2021 because they were not at an Italian university and had a longer time frame.
“While study abroad moves forward, we continue to have to make changes based off what’s happening at a governmental level or changes happening for our partners on the ground,” Clancy said.
The last time an active study abroad trip was canceled was in the Spring of 2021 when no semester-long programs ran. This academic year, CGE has been able to send students abroad for programs in the fall and students are currently abroad on spring semester-long programs.
Only half the normal portfolio of trips are running, however, due to preemptive cancellations of program sites.
Cancellations are never easy, according to Clancy. especially when they are a student’s last opportunity to study abroad.
This was the case for CSB seniors Olivia Hoff and Rachel Leen, both students slated to go abroad on the Italy summer course.
The cancellation marks the sixth time Leen was notified her anticipated study abroad trip was canceled.
“Study abroad is one of the major factors that drew me into choosing CSB/SJU, so it has been tough to deal with getting my hopes up that a program will run only to have it be canceled again in the end,” Leen said.
Hoff shares a similar experience, with plans to study abroad that were dashed by the continued impact of COVID.
“There is something unique about a study abroad program as compared to traveling on your own and I am sad I will not have that experience,” Hofff said.
While their plans to study abroad at CSB/SJU have met a dead end, Hoff and Leen both plan to pursue post-grad travel opportunities.
Clancy hopes students will be able to experience study abroad in the coming years but said COVID is a factor CGE plans to continue monitoring and evaluating.
“I think all of us had hoped that COVID was something that eventually we could just kind of flip the switch and go back to normal,” Clancy said. “I do think the reality is [that] while we continue to remain optimistic about study abroad, it is something we do foresee having to continue to look at…and evaluate.”
