IDEAS Capacity Building Initiatives

The IDEAS Program offers a variety of in-person and virtual trainings for faculty and staff at U.S. colleges and universities with the goal of helping to increase their institutions’ capacity to administer study abroad programs. As the field continues to adapt and evolve in response to the global pandemic, the IDEAS Program is committed to offering initiatives and activities that address the most pressing needs of our country’s diverse higher education institutions and key U.S. foreign policy goals.

IDEAS Workshops

Request for Proposals – RFP is now closed, applicants will be notified by April 15th. Stay tuned for more information!

The IDEAS Program invites accredited U.S. colleges and universities to submit proposals to host one of two in-person or virtual IDEAS workshops in Summer or Fall 2023. The goal of these workshops is to provide faculty and administrators at U.S. colleges and universities with best practices and resources to address current challenges and opportunities faced as U.S. student mobility resumes and study abroad programming is rebuilt and adapted, as well as potentially expanded and diversified. Additional details for these events can be found below and in the Request for Proposals (RFP).

Participants: Approximately 50 U.S. college and/or university study abroad administrators and faculty
Length of Training: 8 – 10 hours
Locations: U.S. higher education campus or online
Date: A Friday in Summer or Fall 2023
Budget: Up to $12,000 (virtual) or $20,000 (in-person) per workshop

The topic of the proposed workshop should fall into one of the following areas:

Recruiting and supporting historically marginalized and/or underrepresented students abroad;
Developing financial strategies for expanding study abroad;
Assessment and evaluation;
Preparing for and managing safety, security, and emergency situations;
Creating study abroad programs focused on global health;
Creating study abroad programs in less common destinations;
Developing virtual and/or hybrid program models;
Experiential learning, including service learning and internships.

This competition is open to all accredited U.S. colleges and universities. The program seeks to engage the full diversity of U.S. higher education, including community colleges and Minority Serving Institutions.

Please find the full details of the competition in the Request for Proposals. Successful applicants will be notified by April 15, 2023. Final funding decisions will be made by the U.S. Department of State.

Upcoming IDEAS Workshops

IDEAS workshops are open to study abroad stakeholders from accredited U.S. colleges and universities, including but not limited to study abroad advisors, faculty, and other staff involved with or interested in creating, expanding, and/or diversifying study abroad for U.S. students at their institution. Workshops will take place either virtually or in-person on Fridays. Registration will open one to two months before each event. See below for more information on workshop topics and registration details.

Objectives of the IDEAS workshops are to:

Share best practices on study abroad capacity building topics as identified by the U.S. study abroad community;
Share USA Study Abroad information and other U.S. Department of State and U.S. Government resources; and
Build and strengthen the U.S. study abroad community networks for future sharing of resources and best practices.

Workshop Descriptions and Schedule

Fighting Climate Change Through Connection Between Study Abroad and the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Registration Closed

Host: Prairie View A&M University
Format: In-person, Full Day
Date: April 14, 2023, 8:00-5:00 CST
Location: Prairie View, Texas

Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), in collaboration with The Forum on Education Abroad, will host a full day in-person workshop in early 2023, focused on integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) into the development and delivery of faculty-led education abroad programs. This workshop will bring together a diverse team of facilitators to share their knowledge and expertise on the importance of educating students about climate change and how to mitigate its negative impact on the planet. The Forum will highlight their 2021 Guidelines on Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals through Education Abroad. PVAMU staff and faculty will share how they have implemented strategies to infuse global content into courses as part of their curriculum internationalization. A guest speaker from Penn State University will also share examples and methods for integrating sustainability into global education and programs. Through hands-on activities and peer knowledge-sharing, participants will explore ways to incorporate issues of climate change, natural resources, conservation, and environmental sustainability into their study abroad programs.

Registration closed; please email [email protected] to inquire about available seats.

Schedule

8:00 – 8:30 AM Check-in and Breakfast

8:30 – 9:00 AM Welcome Remarks by IDEAS, Department of State, and PVAMU & Participant Introductions

Goal: Provide an overview of the day and introduce participants to each other, IDEAS initiatives, the U.S. Department of State and PVAMU.

Description: After brief welcoming remarks from each of the hosts and sponsors, and to encourage engagement, networking, and open interaction throughout the day, participants will be led in a brief warm-up activity to introduce themselves to those sitting near them.

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM Plenary Session: The Interdisciplinary Nature of Climate Change and Our Role in Adaptation and Mitigation

Speaker: Dr. Ram A. Ray

Goal: Present a broad overview of climate change with emphasis on its interdisciplinary nature.

Description: The presenter will help the participants see the multiple ways in which their disciplines are connected to climate change.

10:30 – 11:00 AM Coffee Break, Reseating, and Networking Activity

Description: Participants will be instructed to choose a different seat when they return from their break and will be guided in another warm-up activity to encourage them to meet new colleagues and continue building their network throughout the day.

11:00-12:30 PM Workshop: Valuing & Applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Education Abroad

Facilitator/Speaker: Cynthia Arochi-Zendejas, Dr. Elizabeth Frohlich

Goal: Familiarize participants with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and their connections to education abroad; Teach participant to use the sustainability-related Standard of Good Practice for Education Abroad and related guidelines to guide decision-making around sustainable education abroad.

Description: The UN SDGs are recognized as a critical pathway to assuring the long-term maintenance and enhancement of human well-being considering finite planetary resources. They are at the center of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which provides “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.” In this session, participants will familiarize themselves with these goals and do a deep dive on how they relate specifically to education abroad and intersect with the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad.

12:30 – 1:30 PM Lunch

1:30-3:00 PM Workshop Continues: Valuing & Applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Education Abroad

Facilitator/Speaker: Cynthia Arochi-Zendejas, Dr. Elizabeth Frohlich

Goal: Guide participants to propose specific ways of integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals into new or existing faculty-led education abroad programs and share resources for enhancing sustainability in program content, execution, and in support of institutional planning.

Description: After a break, the morning session will continue to explore the application of the UN SDGs to education abroad programming specifically. During this portion of the session, participants will engage in small group discussions and hands-on activities aimed at helping them design an action plan for advocating for and applying the UN SDGs in the education abroad efforts.

3:00 – 3:30 PM Coffee & Networking Break

3:30 – 4:30 PM Workshop: Including climate focused UN SDGs in study abroad programs and developing multidisciplinary teams to develop study abroad courses that address climate change

Facilitators: Dr. Godlove T. Fonjweng, Dr. Kwaku W. Addo, Dr. Noel M. Estwick.

Goal: Explore strategies for including climate change focused content in new or existing courses.

Description: Participants will hear presentations from PVAMU faculty that have led study abroad programs that address issues of climate change. They will then go into breakout sessions in groups sorted by discipline and discuss the various approaches to climate change in their discipline and how they can incorporate those educational strategies in study abroad courses. Participants will then go into interdisciplinary breakout rooms to discuss ways in which interdisciplinary teams can partner on the same study abroad program addressing various aspects of climate change. They will return from breakout sessions and share their thoughts on implementation in a general session moderated by Dr. Godlove Fonjweng.

4:30 – 5:00 PM Closing Remarks by Forum and PVAMU representatives: Thanks & An Eye toward the Future

IDEAS Webinars

IDEAS Webinars are hosted virtually and open to study abroad stakeholders from accredited U.S. colleges and universities and other organizations who are involved with or interested in creating, expanding, and/or diversifying study abroad for U.S. students at their institution. New webinars and registration details are posted in this space regularly.

There are no IDEAS webinars scheduled at this time. Please see the Past Initiatives section below for recordings and resources past events. Additional resources can be found in the Library of Resources.

The IDEAS Program looks forward to welcoming you to future webinars in 2023. Stay tuned!

Past Initiatives

See below to explore past IDEAS Initiatives and recordings. Check out the Library of Resources for resources from these events.

2022

Webinar: Rural Students Across the Globe: Recruiting and Supporting Rural U.S. Students Abroad (Recording)
Workshop: Developing More Impactful Experiential Learning: Best Practices for Faculty-led Study Abroad (Resource Hyperdoc)
Workshop: (Re)creating a Campus Culture of Study Abroad After a Global Programming Pause (Resource Hyperdoc)
Workshop: Jumpstarting Education Abroad at Community Colleges in a COVID-19 World (Resource Hyperdoc)
Webinar: Expanding Access and Inclusion: Developing Holistic Strategies for Recruiting and Supporting Students from Underrepresented Groups (Part I, II, III, IV)
Webinar: What do institutions need to know about the updated U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories? (Recording)
Webinar: Priorities for a Return to Student Mobility: IDEAS Resources for Supporting Underrepresented Students (Recording)
Webinar: Incubator Session: When One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Analyzing Data for Diverse Student Populations (Recording)
Webinar: When One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Analyzing Data for Diverse Student Populations (Recording)
Webinar: Priorities for a Return to Student Mobility: Financial Strategies to Maximize Your Office’s Budget (Recording)

2021

Webinar: Assessing Student Growth and Development Abroad (Recording)
Webinar: Theory of Change: Translating Study Abroad Program Goals and Priorities into Assessments (Recording)
Webinar: Priorities for a Return to Student Mobility: Working with Partners to Assess and Manage Risk (Recording)
Webinar: Building Diverse Programs to Support Diverse Students: Best Practices from St. Cloud State’s Cultural Heritage Programs (Part I, Part II)
Workshop: Best Practices in Study Abroad Program Assessment and Evaluation – A 2-part workshop with Mount Holyoke College
Webinar: What the State Department and U.S. embassies can and can’t do in a crisis (Recording)
Webinar: Virtually Abroad: Expanding our idea of what study abroad looks like (Recording)
Webinar: What do institutions need to know about U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories? (Recording)

2020

Webinar: The Future of Study Abroad: Risk mitigation in a COVID world (Recording)
Webinar: The Future of Study Abroad: How to decide when it is safe and ethical to begin again (Recording)
Webinar: Maximizing your study abroad resources: Faculty-led best practices for program flexibility (Recording)
Webinar: Maximizing your study abroad resources: Supporting underrepresented students in study abroad (Recording)
Workshop: Faculty-led Study Abroad Best Practices: Addressing Grand Challenges in Faculty-led Study Abroad at UGA
Workshop: Faculty-led Study Abroad Best Practices at UNC, Charlotte
Workshop: Study Abroad Campus Outreach and Recruitment at CSU, Bakersfield

If you have questions about any of these IDEAS Initiatives, please email [email protected]worldlearning.org