2008 Woodie Awards
MU announces study abroad initiatives
Creation of China Semester Program coincides with new funding opportunities for students
Stacey Skotzko
Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: Front Page
Miami University is announcing two "revolutionary" study abroad initiatives Tuesday, hoping to further the First in 2009 goal of having 50 percent of the student body participate in a study abroad program, up from the university's current 30 percent.
The announcement of these two initiatives also coincides with U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education's International Education Week.
The first two initiatives will allow Miami students to apply their current scholarships to more than 175 semester-long study abroad "co-sponsored programs," such as the Institute for International Education of Students (IES) and the School for International Training (SIT)-potentially impacting around 250 Miami students a semester.
The second is the announcement of the Miami University China Semester Program, which will allow students starting in fall 2008 to attend the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai in a structure similar to the current Miami University Dolibois European Center (MUDEC) in Luxembourg.
"I came here, in part, because I thought the university had set what I thought was absolutely the right goal-but it needed to be executed," said Provost Jeffrey Herbst, who is behind both of the initiatives. Herbst was appointed provost in April 2005. "I really do believe that study abroad experience is going to be one of the most important credentials in the 21st century."
Scholarship program for semester abroad Herbst and David Keitges, director of international education at Miami, explained that this new program will allow, starting in fall 2008, students who receive Miami-provided funding to directly apply this money to a number of semester-long study abroad opportunities.
The programs approved by the university for this initiative currently number 175, yet Herbst and Keitges both believe that this number will increase as departments will be allowed to petition their current programs through outside universities, such as the department of German, Russian, and East Asian languages' program in Munich, Germany, administered by Wayne State University.
The announcement of these two initiatives also coincides with U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education's International Education Week.
The first two initiatives will allow Miami students to apply their current scholarships to more than 175 semester-long study abroad "co-sponsored programs," such as the Institute for International Education of Students (IES) and the School for International Training (SIT)-potentially impacting around 250 Miami students a semester.
The second is the announcement of the Miami University China Semester Program, which will allow students starting in fall 2008 to attend the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai in a structure similar to the current Miami University Dolibois European Center (MUDEC) in Luxembourg.
"I came here, in part, because I thought the university had set what I thought was absolutely the right goal-but it needed to be executed," said Provost Jeffrey Herbst, who is behind both of the initiatives. Herbst was appointed provost in April 2005. "I really do believe that study abroad experience is going to be one of the most important credentials in the 21st century."
Scholarship program for semester abroad Herbst and David Keitges, director of international education at Miami, explained that this new program will allow, starting in fall 2008, students who receive Miami-provided funding to directly apply this money to a number of semester-long study abroad opportunities.
The programs approved by the university for this initiative currently number 175, yet Herbst and Keitges both believe that this number will increase as departments will be allowed to petition their current programs through outside universities, such as the department of German, Russian, and East Asian languages' program in Munich, Germany, administered by Wayne State University.
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Charles Berg
posted 11/13/07 @ 11:08 AM EST
You've got to be kidding. Any second grader will recognize immediately that this "study abroad" program only has two real purposes: (A)to empty out enough dorm rooms to make room for the sophomores, and (B) to undermine the ability of the smaller fraternities to earn enough rent income to survive. (Continued…)
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