Education Abroad

By Shanna Vincent

In the past year, the Education Abroad office has weathered many challenges. After transitioning back to in-person operations last fall, we got to work reminding students that study abroad should be part of their academic experience at OU. Events like the annual Study Abroad Fair, Italy Week, Mexico Week, class visits, information sessions and tabling across campus underscored the importance of study abroad and the opportunities that exist for all students. In fact, our first goal in the CIS strategic plan is to increase access to meaningful study abroad and global learning experiences for all OU students. We are thrilled to see study abroad participation on an upward slope after the pandemic-related disruptions of the past few years, including a record number of students studying abroad at our study centers in Puebla, Mexico, and Arezzo, Italy, this past summer.

This semester we have also begun rebuilding the Global Engagement Fellowship. This program saw a decline in participation during the pandemic, but we are working to revive it not only by inducting 30 new freshman fellows this fall, but also through a renewed commitment to our upperclassman fellows. We have increased support as well as clarified the expectations, guidelines, mission and benefits of the program, with a sense of building a community in which students can feel belonging and pride. In looking to increase access to study abroad for all OU students, we have strengthened efforts to educate students on existing funding and scholarship opportunities.

Our team has also seen quite a bit of change, with half our staff joining since January 2022. As we've been hiring and onboarding new colleagues, we’ve also focused on shoring up administrative processes, reorganizing the structure of the office, and revamping how we serve students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders. One innovative project to better serve students' needs has been developing an online, on-demand, pre-departure orientation through the platform Canvas. This platform offers a more interactive interface and we are confident it will be a more engaging experience for students when paired with an in-person component.

As we look ahead to our strategic plan goals, we will continue to think creatively about how to increase access to study abroad while combatting external challenges such as rising inflation and travel costs, the global energy crisis, civil unrest and unprecedented climate disasters, such as the record heat across much of the globe this past summer. Part of this includes an ambitious fundraising effort to gather funds to support students with high financial need in realizing the opportunities for transformative global experiences.

We are incredibly grateful for the support of the international community at OU and beyond and look forward to another great year supporting global student learning!

Shanna Vincent is the director of Education Abroad.

Photo: Students gather for a meal during the summer 2022 Mediterranean Diet and Culture program in Italy.