BIGGER and BETTER
Highlights at this year’s study abroad fair included a spontaneous reunion of sorts for WCU students who studied at ILYC in Granada, Spain, as well for students from Masafumi Takeda’s annual faculty-led trips to Japan. Once again our international students along with many of our study abroad returnees, showed their undying enthusiasm to promote our exchange programs such as the Avans Hogeschool in the Netherlands, Center for Academic Programs Abroad (CAPA) Internships in London, Sydney, and Florence, Portsmouth Business School, in England, the University of Glamorgan in Wales, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, and our UNC-EP Partner universities in New South Wales, including the University of Wollongong, as well as the University of Technology of Syndey in Australia. Shankar Balasubramanian provided information on India, and Christina Thompson Office Manager with the University of North Carolina Exchange Program (UNC-EP), along with her colleague Quentin staffed both the UNC-EP and the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) tables. Other highlights included 1st time participation by Living Routes Study Abroad in Ecovillages, German Casado and Christina Collado of the INFORMA Program in Granada Spain, Lingtao Zang, Professor Dandan Cao, and Dr. James Zhang, representing Chongqing University and other upcoming study abroad opportunities in China, as well as representation by Fantasy Travel in Sylva. On-campus representation included participation by our colleagues form Multi-Cultural Affairs, Career Services, Center for Service Learning, Dr. Jane Nichols from the Interior Design Program, Dr. Michael Thomas who promoted our exchanges in Australia, and Paula Coates from The Financial Aid Office. Additional participants included The American Business School, Paris in France, Edgehill University in England, Lorenzo De Medici in Italy, Bridging Jackson County Communities, which promoted Hispanic Heritage Month Events, Academic Programs International (API) with study abroad programs around the world, as well as AustraLearn with study abroad and internship programs in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and in Asia.
While all our participants did a wonderful job sharing information with WCU undergraduates and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff, a particular note of appreciation goes out to Dr. John Stiles, Dr. Lee, and Dr. Steve Ha, along with our two international students from Hannam University, Je-Hyun Lee, and Ji-Hye Lee, for promoting the 2008 Korean Summer Studies Program (KSSP) at Hannam University. At the fair, the South Korea Team signed up a number of students to study abroad for 3 weeks at Hannam this Summer.
Like last year, this event was a success in no small part due to all the help and support from the Dr. Carter and the Office of the Provost, Jill Lindsay and the staff at the AK Hinds University Center, Tom Frazier and Clint Hardin from the Print Shop, all of the Work-Study Interns with International Programs, Michaila Bryan, the IPS Study Abroad Section Intern, Aramark Food Services, as well as the men of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity and the women of Alpha Chi Omega Sorority who volunteered to bring in students to attend this event.
Once again, plans are in the works for the 3rd Annual Study Abroad Fair for the Fall of 2009. Any WCU faculty planning an international trip with WCU students during the 2009-2010 year or for the summer of 2010 is invited to contact International Programs and Services as well as any study abroad program provider, travel agency, or other international opportunity provider so that we can reserve an information table for each of you at the 3rd Annual Study Abroad Fair…we hope to see you all next year!