CGE revises study abroad

Study abroad—the oft-called “life changing” experience at CSB/SJU—has received its own changes for the coming school years.

Applications for the semester-long study abroad programs in the 2022-23 school year opened on Nov. 1, and applicants are seeing the effects of a COVID-sparked restructuring at the Center for Global Education. Changes include host city relocations, increased academic offerings and new abroad sites replacing canceled programs.

“COVID caused us to pause and really evaluate what we are doing. Having that whole year without students abroad gave us the opportunity to reimagine what these programs could look like to better support students moving forward,” said Nicole Clements, assistant director of semester education abroad at CGE.

The restructuring comes after spring 2020 where all study abroad trips were brought home midway through the semester due to the emergence of COVID, and a 2020-21 school year where no students studied abroad.

This year, study abroad is up and running again. Eighty-six students are currently abroad in fall programs and 128 are accepted for spring semester programs.

One of the key CGE changes in the coming years is moving the host city in some of the abroad locations to increase the academic programs available to students.

The France study abroad site will move from its longstanding location in Cannes to Montpellier, and Spain will shift from Segovia to Seville. Both of these changes were due to a more intensive academic program offered at the new city as well as more rigorous health and safety protocols in the event of a COVID flare.

The Austria program will also undergo an academic restructuring in 2022 by switching to a new support structure in Salzburg that will increase the course offerings from three classes to over 20 classes.

Internship opportunities will also become available at more abroad locations with the restructuring.

Historically, London and Dublin have been the only semester-long sites with internship opportunities. Next year, Spain, Italy and France will join these ranks.

“[Internships] are really good opportunities for students to engage in the local cultures,” Clements said. “The learning that happens in them is a really tremendous opportunity.”

While there are new additions to existing sites, some programs will not be returning this spring and in coming school years.

CGE made the decision to cancel the Guatemala program and replace it with a new program in Chiapas, Mexico. The reasoning was twofold: Guatemala was in a sustained level three travel advisory and the Mexico location would offer more courses for the Integrations Curriculum.

CGE Director Kevin Clancy explained that if they are already making changes, they are going to make changes that will better match the Integrations Curriculum, keeping students on track for graduation.

The Galway, Ireland program was also canceled. The site location did not have adequate emergency support or the ability to host hybrid classes.

“It’s been a fantastic location, but looking at the world through the lens of COVID, it doesn’t have the criteria to run a program,” Clancy said.

The Dublin, Ireland program will run both semesters to compensate for the loss of Galway. Previously, Dublin had run in the spring semester while Galway ran in the fall.

Additionally, Japan, Chile, Austria and China were canceled this fall, and South Africa and Australia canceled this spring, all due to COVID-related factors. CGE hopes for a resurgence of these programs in coming years and plans to run a full portfolio of programs in 2022-23.

A COVID-induced change that will stick around is the separation of the Greco-Roman semester abroad program.

Until fall 2021, one cohort split their semester between Athens, Greece and Rome, Italy. This year, the program was divided into either Greece or Rome where students spend the entire semester in one location.

The change has been met with a positive reaction.

CSB senior Laura Mitch is currently studying abroad in Athens Greece and said she feels fortunate to be a “guinea pig” for the switch, despite the location swap being part of the initial appeal when she applied nearly two years ago.

The opportunities to get involved in the host community through volunteering and language learning were major pluses to staying in Greece for Mitch.

“We have the time to get comfortable and get involved in Greece,” she said via email. “If it was the split program, we’d be in Italy right now. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to start everything over—learning a new language, starting new classes, adjusting to a new country, neighborhood and culture.”

Students abroad have been having a generally positive experience with expected COVID restrictions and adjustments.

“We are getting lots of happy news and photos, so things are kind of tracking back to normal—with adaptations—just like it is on campus,” said Joy Ruis, associate director of CGE.