ASU’s International Expansion

If summer 2008 is any indication, ASU’s plans to expand its international programs are on the right track.

In its first year of offering the new Carr International Scholarships, ASU’s Center for International Studies sent 115 students to summer study abroad programs, up from 54 in 2007. All but four of those students qualified for and received an international scholarship that dramatically reduced the cost to participate.

“We are very pleased with what the scholarship money has allowed us to do,” said Dr. Sharynn Tomlin, center director. “There were students with me that it was obvious, if it was not for the scholarships, they could not have taken advantage of an opportunity like that.”

Fueled by that success, the center is further expanding its study abroad options for the 2008-09 academic year, including its first-ever program in China during the winter break. Participants will spend 12 days studying Chinese business practices.

“We already have six or seven students signed up for that program,” Tomlin said. “They will get three hours of credit for that particular course and we are anticipating a minimum of 10 students will go, which is a bit smaller than normal since it is our first trip to China. We will be visiting Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.”

More new programs are also lined up for next summer, including a music, visual arts and Great Books program in Scotland, an international business program staged in Italy and Greece, and a history of biology program that will visit sites in England, France, Germany and the Czech Republic. There will be eight total summer study abroad options in 2009, the most ever, and Tomlin estimates they will have about 160 students participating.

“We are trying to expand our offerings to include some options for students in disciplines that have lacked opportunities before,” Tomlin said. “We are doing more with biology and the sciences and we are looking for more programs in the liberal and fine arts. We need to develop options for our students so there is a wider variety of courses they can take for study abroad.”

But, it is not only the summer programs that are seeing an increase in student participation. The center’s semester and academic year study abroad programs are also showing signs of growth with an average of 10-15 students now taking part, up from only one or two per year as recently as 2004. A new agreement with the Rotterdam Business School in the Netherlands is available to ASU students for next spring and is already bringing Dutch students to San Angelo.

“We actually have five students from the Netherlands who will be attending ASU this fall,” Tomlin said. “We will most likely send our first group there to start this spring. This program has some really interesting opportunities, particularly for business students.”

More faculty are also getting involved. This summer, Dr. Mike Dixon and Dr. Terry Maxwell from the Biology Department went through the center’s new Faculty International Enrichment Program (FIEP) with study abroad groups in Costa Rica and Scotland to prepare to lead their own trips next year. Other faculty leading trips for the first time next summer will include Dr. John Glassford, Dr. Jamal Husein and Dr. David Scott (Scotland) and Dr. Norman Sunderman (Germany). Sunderman has also received support through the FIEP for curriculum development.

Since assuming the ASU presidency last summer, Dr. Joseph Rallo has initiated several positive changes in the university’s international programs, including the creation of the Center for International Studies and the Carr International Scholarships. His plans are coming to fruition as students now have more opportunities than ever to study abroad.

“It’s an amazing experience for them,” Tomlin said, “and the scholarships are allowing us to put our money where our mouth is in terms of preparing these students to really be globally aware and knowledgeable individuals.”

On a related note, the center is also stepping up its efforts to bring more international students to ASU. During the 2008-09 academic year, center staffers will be making recruiting trips to Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Japan, Korea and China.

For more information on available study abroad opportunities, check out the Center for International Studies Web site.