2008 Annual Conference Forum on Education Abroad

1. Training Faculty and Resident Directors: Are We Covering All Our Bases? 2008 Annual ConferenceForum on Education Abroad Jean Kerr, Illinois Wesleyan UniversityMargaret Wiedenhoeft, Kalamazoo CollegeJennifer White Reding, Washington Univ. in St. LouisApril 3, 2008

2. Presentation Overview 8:45-9:15 Training Resident Directors Kalamazoo College Approach – Local Staff Expectations & Training; Management from a distance IWU & WUSTL – U.S.-based and Local Staff Table Discussion 9:15-9:45 Training Short-Term Program Directors IWU May Term Program WU Faculty-led Summer Programs Case studies & Discussion 9:45-10:15 Reporting / Q & A

3. Resident Directors: The Kalamazoo College Approach • Local staff affiliated with host institution • Relationship, not transaction • Experience living/studying in US or significant experience with US students • Part time job • Responsible for all aspects of the program, although may not be directly responsible for each component • On-campus and in-country training sessions

4. Resident Directors Conference: The Kalamazoo College Approach • Bi-annual week long conference in June • Update on campus activities, new staff, new faculty • Opportunity to meet and work with each other • Poster sessions – best practices • Case study review –”state of the student” discussions • Continue connections with faculty and “friends” of the program • Sense of professional renewal • Most popular presentation: visit with the College’s attorney

5. Resident Directors: The Kalamazoo College Approach Annually • Resident Director Report • Review highlights and lowlights • Make recommendations for future • Student survey feedback • Emergency response and crisis protocol procedures • Site visit • Budget review • Curriculum review with faculty input • On-site support staff feedback

6. IWU and WUSTL Approaches: U.S.-based and Local staff • WU semester programs • Institutionally-operated (4) • Faculty from WUSTL (1); Local staff (3) • Consortium with visiting faculty rotation (2) • Teaching responsibilities vs. Program directing • IWU semester programs (2) • Institutionally-operated – both led by IWU faculty • Challenge: communicating institutional priorities to local director / destination knowledge to visiting directors from U.S. • Solutions: site visits both ways; handbooks; training with previous directors; scary stories

7. Table Discussion – pick 1 or 2 topics • What are some of the qualities of a good resident director? • How should cultural differences be taken into consideration when hiring/training/evaluating RDs? Are we imposing an American standard/expectation where it is not fair to have one? What becomes tricky about negative feedback or when you have to let someone go? • Do Expat RDs have a bit of an advantage when it comes to working as RDs or is it more important to have a local person involved? What are the costs and benefits to this decision? • Has the job of an RD changed as a result of a new generation of students?

8. Faculty-led May Term Programs at Illinois Wesleyan University • History of May Term Director position • Rotating 3 year faculty appointment (4 directors so far) • Faculty get one course release for the job • The May Term director does ALL of May Term = on campus, travel courses and event programming • Preparing the faculty travel course leaders • Pre 9/11: no preparation • Post 9/11: micro management • Five mandatory lunch meetings – video taped • Faculty who did not attend were told they could not go • That May Term director read the handouts to the faculty • Results: faculty rebelled and that director was asked to leave

9. Developing Faculty Training Process • First year • Attended NAFSA – the first director to do so. It changed everything. • Redid all the forms for budget, itinerary and contact information; changed 5 mandatory meetings to one for new leaders open to veterans • Separate meetings for new and experienced leaders • Risk management – registration at U.S. embassies, emergency card, defined 3 levels of emergency & response

10. Faculty Training - Progress (cont’d) • Year Two • Many veteran faculty, fewer new leaders • One lunch meeting or individual meetings • Concern: getting faculty to keep the MTO informed of their progress • Email/ Phone calls • Getting the Dean involved on occasion • Year Three • Started writing Faculty Handbook • Created MTAC: May Term Advising Committee • Getting faculty to agree to any forward movement is “glacial”

11. Faculty Training - Progress (cont’d) • Year Four • Preparing handbook • Developing behavior contracts, incident reports, termination forms, etc. at request of faculty • Year Five • Create student handbook • Create parent information pamphlet • Prepare to turn over the job to a new Dean – still under development

12. Logistics – Faculty Responsibilities • Deadlines and responsibilities • Communication with the MTO -- on everything • Choose travel course assistant • Decide whether to use vendor • Create class roster • Know deadlines (and keep students informed) • Conduct pre-departure meetings • Pre-class work • Budgets

13. Summary - What I have learned • Know how to communicate with faculty • Preparation: Individual attention goes a long way • Unique concerns of the course/faculty • Location, Location, Location • Getting students interested • Syllabus vs. Itinerary • Itinerary: the May Term Office • Syllabus: the faculty and department • Risk Management • Meet each Travel course leader in their comfort zone • Levels of Emergency & methods of contact • Prepare for each faculty leader sample student behavior contracts & incident report forms

14. 12 faculty-led summer programs; some predate office Some administered by an academic department, some by Overseas Programs office Created in response to student demand, following faculty interest or academic program growth Program director selection process Organic vs. structured - importance of institutional fit Add max. 2-3 new programs per year WU Faculty-led Summer Programs

15. Start-up Phase • Collaborate on structure: • Price, deadlines, dates • The numbers game: when enrollments fall short • Deadline extension / change admission criteria • Program cancellation • Deciding to operate at a loss

16. Pre-departure training • Faculty training • First formal orientation held last year • Bringing in other campus voices (‘seasoned’ program directors, student health, legal, mental health) • Recognize time/energy faculty have invested in program & provide information they “didn’t know they needed” • Student orientation • Depending on the director’s personality, you may be trying to get a word in edgewise or organizing the meetings yourself

17. Successes: WU Kenya & MADE in France • Kenya Strategy • Moved struggling annual program to biannual program in 2004 • Benefits • Time off for faculty director • Time to generate student interest • MADE (Movement, Arts & Design) in France • Unique program design • Respond to dept request & niche group of students • In partnership with Connecticut College

18. Concluding Thoughts - Constraints • Long-term commitment issues, for individual faculty and departments • Dependent on faculty personality/student following • Applicant pool • Financial aid • Adequate on-site support • Problems abroad return to campus

19. Benefits of Faculty-led programs • Professional development opportunities for faculty • Campus internationalization, research opportunities • Parent comfort level • Curricular oversight • Course content, workload, grading • Departmental & administrative support • Can experiment with program design and directly connect to on-campus instruction

20. Table Discussion & Brainstorming • How are you collaborating with faculty on your campus to develop study abroad programs? • What training processes are already in place? What would you like to develop further? • What crises have you faced in recent years and what did your institution learn from them? What other issues are you facing? • Reporting • Q&A

21. Contact Information Jean Kerr, Director, May Term, Illinois Wesleyan University jkerr@iwu.edu Margaret Wiedenhoeft, Associate Director, Center for International Programs, Kalamazoo College mwieden@kzoo.edu Jennifer White Reding, Associate Director, Overseas Programs, Washington University in St. Louis jwhitereding@wustl.edu