Global Learning For Students With Disabilities: Review Your Practices

by DA Global | Oct 18, 2019 | Articles

Posted: Friday, October 18, 2019 
By: Dr. Thandi Dinani, Director- Office of Study Abroad, Belmont University
Sarah Langston, Senior University Relations Manager, SAI Programs
Michelle Morris, Program Assistant, Howard University
Jenny Sullivan, Director of Education Abroad and International Fellowships, Rochester Institute of Technology

Over the last decade, the field of education abroad has recognized and acknowledged the significant discrepancy in the diversity of study abroad participants studying abroad each year.  The Institute of International Education’s (IIE) Open Doors Report revealed that 8.8% of the 325,339 students who studied abroad in the 2015/16 reported studying abroad with a disability. This percentage was an increase of 3.5% from 2014/15. Even more interesting, the percentage of students studying abroad with reported disabilities has increased from 2.6% (1006 students) in 2006/2007 to 8.8% (5,641) in 2015/2016. Similarly, institutions reporting students with disabilities who are studying abroad has increased from 1006 institutions in 2006/7 to 5,641 institutions in 2015/16.

Consequently, institutions have increased commitment to not only review their respective enrollment, but to implement policies and practices that reflect an institutional commitment to increase the diversity of students who have access to international opportunities. The increase of diversity amongst students with disabilities requires institutions to implement policies and practices that increase recruitment, provide support, and ensure resources are available to students, education abroad offices, and international partner institutions.

In this article, we encourage institutions and education abroad offices to think beyond simply ensuring access and resources to students with disabilities. We introduce the concept of developing “inclusive design.” Consider ways that your services and programs can be inclusive of as many needs and abilities as possible. This concept and practice goes beyond accessibility or making special considerations for people with disabilities. It challenges institutions to fundamentally redesigning policies, processes, communications, programs and resources so that fewer barriers exist from the outset. Where accessibility aims to fill in the gaps left by exclusionary design practices, inclusive design aims to surpass conventional definitions and change standards of practice. For example, making it standard practice to upload transcripts and audio descriptions of lectures is one inclusive strategy that benefits deaf participants, blind participants and everyone else. Considering all students when initially designing materials and processes ensures all students are able to access materials as opposed to providing transcripts for specific students after-the-fact. When advising students with disabilities, try to think beyond how special considerations can be made for them, and how programs can be redesigned to provide a different-but full- experience for all participants of all abilities.

While many institutions have a foundation for supporting students with disabilities who study abroad, it is important to continually refine practices and processes. The essential questions institutions are asking are: How can we provide equal access to all students and encourage all students to participate in high impact opportunities like study abroad? How can we enhance their experience abroad and measure success?  In this article, we hope to present a framework for thinking about how you can intentionally make strides and adopt strategies that will increase the participation and quality of experience for students with disabilities and all students who study abroad.

Supporting students with disabilities to study abroad is a complex topic because every student’s situation is unique. There is no one prescriptive solution for all students. To assist in identifying and developing inclusive practices, we propose the following framework to make progress toward identifying more useful and universal best practices. The framework may also help institutions and offices organize and prioritize initiatives. Making continual efforts, however big or small, in each of these areas will have a cumulative effect on the overall assistance and support provided to students with disabilities who study abroad.

The framework suggests five areas to research and review at your institution: policies, processes, communications, programs, and resources. For each of these areas, we encourage institutions to be intentional and thorough to complete five steps: 1) identify the situation, 2) evaluate possible solutions, 3) strategize ways to proceed, 4) implement your actions, and 5) assess your efforts.

Framework Section One: Policies
Consider whether your current policies are helping or hindering the student experience? What new policies might you need to better support students? We encourage you to evaluate your policies related to:

• If/how/when a student should self-disclose
• Role and expectations of interpreters/aides during “off-hours”
• Office definition of “reasonable accommodations”

Framework Section Two: Processes
Review how processes in your education abroad office and other offices at your institution support students with disabilities? How can you improve or create new supportive processes? Consider examining your processes related to:

• Accessibility of current advising and presentation materials
• Evaluation of a location, partner or program for accessibility
• Accessibility of how and where you meet with students
• Training for staff and faculty for working with students with disabilities

Framework Section Three: Communications
Next, we encourage you to review your print and online materials. Are students with disabilities represented in your marketing materials? What kind of language are you using in your communications? How do you communicate with students about their experiences abroad? For example, do you:

• Intentionally market to and recruit students with disabilities
• Offer advising and pre-departure training that prepares students for experiencing stereotypes or discrimination in another culture
• Have a plan for communicating with family members who may have different opinions about a student’s needs

Framework Section Four: Programs
Think about the various programs your office manages. Are the programs manageable for a person with disabilities? If not, are there appropriate alternatives you can manage? Consider the following:

• Utilize partners who are based in-country and have experience with local laws and practices
• Conduct program run-throughs with attention to accommodations that students may require
• Survey your partners regarding their accessibility and services
• Ask your campus disability services office to review the program schedule

Framework Section Five: Resources
Lastly, we encourage offices and institutions to investigate opportunities that may be available through your campus, state, or federal government. Is there a campus funding pool available to support student accommodations abroad?

• Consider federal sources such as Vocational Rehabilitation funds, and encourage students to apply for scholarships such as the Benjamin A. Gilman Award and Diversity Abroad
• Explore professional support staff on your campus such as captionists, note takers, interpreters, mobility trainers, personal care assistants, and others who may be able to travel
• Include a margin in program fees that can be used for accommodations, if needed

As you are reviewing your policies and practices, we encourage you to connect with external resources as well. In addition to the Diversity Abroad network, the following organizations provide helpful information related to working with students with disabilities: Mobility International: National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange, Forum on Education Abroad Standards of Good Practice Toolbox, NAFSA’s “Promoting Inclusion in Education Abroad: A Handbook of Research and Practice.”

Increasing the diversity of participants requires continual review of existing practices to ensure that we are providing quality programming for all students. By considering the framework’s practices and ideas, your office can work toward offering more inclusive programming for all students on your campus. By offering services and programs that are inclusive of students with disabilities, we are, in turn, enhancing the experience for all students. Having diverse participants on programs not only provides an opportunity for the individual student, but also brings a new lens to the program, expands perspectives of all participants, and results in a more robust global learning experience.

Losing (or Gaining?) My Religion

by DA Global | Oct 18, 2019 | Articles

Posted: Friday, October 18, 2019  
Contributed by: 2017-2018 Diversity Abroad Religious Identity Task Force members:
Vivian-Lee Nyitray – Univ of California System; Lillian Read – Institute for Study Abroad, Butler University; Ira Kirschner – Rothberg International School, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ashley Metz – University of Minnesota, Learning Abroad Center; Daniella Lubey – University of San Francisco

It is safe to wager that most students studying abroad in recent, current or future years are not familiar with the 1991 R.E.M. song referenced in the title of this article. While the song’s lyrics are not actually about losing one’s religion (in fact, it is a southern saying akin to ‘being at the end of one’s rope’), like all good art – it can be about anything you want it to be about. Appropriately, the song’s lyrics (such as “…life is bigger… than you, and you are not me…”) can be relevant and significant to the religious identity experience many students go through while studying abroad.

For many people, religion is an invisible identity, unless they choose to wear clear religious symbols or religious dress. Those who don’t ‘show’ their identity, can also choose whether to ‘out’ themselves as religious (or as secular, if they are in a religious society). The choice to visibly identify as religious is just one choice that many people can make regarding identity throughout their lives. It can be a challenging decision due to anticipated perceptions about the reaction from others – will my identity be disrespected? Will I be ridiculed for believing, or not believing, in a higher power?  Is my religious practice legal in my current location? For others, it is not so much a concern, but more that they consider religion a private or personal matter and not something they need or want to share with others.

Religious Identity in Study Abroad

While studying abroad, students are faced with establishing support networks in a new environment that can feel far from the comforts of home. This can place students who want to explore a religion in a situation they haven’t experienced before – do they out themselves and risk being, at best, acknowledged as “the (non)religious one”, or at worst, ridiculed as “the (non)believer”? This question echoes even stronger for students coming from a country where they were a religious majority, and are studying abroad in a country where they are a religious minority – such as Christian American students studying in a predominantly Muslim, Jewish or Buddhist country. Being in the religious minority abroad raises questions about accessibility to religious services and resources, personal safety, and more. Being perceived or treated as a “minority” while abroad can be a valuable learning opportunity for students who may have no prior experience being “othered” at home. Although this is a unique experience for students to better understand the everyday challenges of their peers from minority or underrepresented communities, it can still be a jarring experience for students who have never experienced a minority status before. Many of these experiences were indicated on a recent student survey distributed by Diversity Abroad and members of the Diversity Network Religious Identity Task Force. An American Christian student who studied abroad in a diverse religious community in South Africa reflected on her time as a religious minority stating: “[studying abroad there was] a learning and humbling curve for me to realize that I ought to also be tolerant to other people’s religions and not feel so superior and conceited.”

Exposure of religious identity is also a critical issue for students with other visible identities, and raises the topic of intersectionality and legitimacy of dual identities. Due to the way that some religious leaders treat those who identify as LGBTQ, there are members of the queer community that are not comfortable around religion. Does this mean that an LGBTQ observant Muslim will be unwanted in an LGBTQ group due to their religious beliefs? There are also implications for race and ethnicity. In Israel it is not uncommon for a person of color to be Jewish. However, outside of Israel, Judaism is not a religion often associated with a person of color. Will that person not be believed to be Jewish, simply because of the color of their skin? Additionally, students may find that their ethnicity means that their host culture assumes they practice a certain religion. A Christian student studying abroad in India reported, “I am Indian by heritage, so when I went abroad many people assumed I was Hindu since majority of Indians are.”

Supporting Students in the Religious Minority

These are not easy questions, and often require bravery from the student to insist on the legitimacy of their intersectional identity. In regard to “outing” one’s self as non-religious/religious, it is important to keep personal safety in mind and the specific country the student is in. Sometimes, people are curious about those that are different than they are and other times, they may be afraid of those that are different than they are. Open communication about faith, or lack of faith, is extremely conducive to learning about the other, building bridges and dismantling fears. Additionally, students going to a country where religion is a dominant and highly visible part of the host culture may need advice on how to interact with that aspect of society while abroad. A Christian student who studied in Oman stated, “I felt comfortable with what I am (Christian), but I was more worried on how to show I do not judge religion of any sort and I am open minded, while being in the Middle East.”

The same is true about becoming a religious minority while studying abroad. No one should be afraid to ask about finding resources and a religious community. Religious minority students will often find a desire to support their religious needs because they are a religious minority – as opposed to denying them access to resources because of that.

Religious students also need to be aware that they might be held up as an example for their entire religion, and might be called out if they defy the religious stereotype. For example, a Christian student that identified as religious might be reminded by their roommates not to forget to go to church on Sunday – even if the Christian student wasn’t planning on going. A Jewish student might be called out for eating pork, and a Muslim student might not be invited to a pub crawl because their peers might assume that they don’t drink alcohol or don’t want to be in an environment that serves it. It’s important also to acknowledge Atheist students, who might be criticized for any portrayal of a religious belief, whether intentional or not.

Recommendations            

Ultimately, these decisions are personal, and are up to each student. Individual factors also play a part and include the specific country’s religion and climate, the student’s comfort and level of self-confidence, and more. It is necessary for study abroad advisors to feel comfortable asking students if religious identity is a consideration for their study abroad experience; if students don’t feel comfortable talking about it, they can opt out of the discussion (but at least the responsibility of bringing it up won’t be on them). Staff at the hosting institutions should go out of their way to address this issue by normalizing the topic of religion, making sure that all advisors have a general familiarity with religious identities, and designating a staff member who will help connect students to the relevant resources in their host community. Students should feel comfortable asking all staff, from advisors at their home universities to their host institutions abroad, about resources for their religious identity. The comfort of discussing religion can be created by providing resources for students (that advisors can present to them without having in depth familiarity of specific identities), of alumni discussing their experiences abroad in relation to their identity – blogs, vlogs, interviews, or even a list of alumni who are willing to be contacted by prospective students. We should all remember that making religious identity visible or invisible is a choice that everyone can make, that intersectionality of other identities with religious identity is not only legitimate but common, and that religious journeys are full of ups and downs (not to mention lefts and rights). It is a valuable experience for students to go through the processes of losing, or gaining, their religions while studying abroad.

Achieving Great Study Abroad Diversity Should Begin In Human Resources

by DA Global | Oct 18, 2019 | Articles

Posted: Friday, October 18, 2019 
Contributed by: Adam Freed, University Relations Manager, CISabroad

It is well-documented that most participants in U.S. outbound study abroad programs are white, female, or both. Open Doors data shows that for over a decade, the representation of female students in these programs hovered around 65%, and in the same period, white students accounted for an average of 78% of all outbound study abroad participants (Student Profile, 2017). This “demographic gap” has seen increasing interest from researchers and professionals over the past decade. Universities and international education organizations have devoted significant resources into addressing some of the theorized causes of the “demographic gap” and have found some success. However, there is another clear issue within international education, one that influences participant diversity and if not addressed may slow the progress of diversity initiatives: The same “demographic gap” that is seen in participants is also present among the professionals in the field. Until we take a hard look in the mirror and address our own failings when it comes to diversity, we will do our students a disservice in advocating for their diversification. 

First, it is important to understand where we stand today in terms of how the field of international education understands the “demographic gap”. Across all of the research that has been done thus far relating to student diversity in outbound study abroad, there are a number of common factors that are theorized to impact a students’ decision to participate or not participate in study abroad programs. Some of the most frequently cited factors are: overall student demographics among U.S. undergraduates (Terra Dotta, 2015), course offerings and applicability to graduation requirements (Barclay Hamir, 2011), financial aid availability (Bandyopadhyay, 2015), student predisposition/motivation (Salisbury, et al., 2008, Li, 2013), expectations/perceptions from students and families (McClure, et al., 2010), and marketing strategies (LaCount, 2016).

Professionals looking to address diversity among participants may find it daunting to know where to direct resources in order to have the biggest impact. To more clearly understand where an initiative can be most effective, it is useful to categorize these theorized factors. All of these factors have a subject, which is to say that each places the emphasis on one particular entity. In this case, these two possible entities are the student (the individual participant) and the system (the study abroad office or provider), so every factor is either student-centric or system-centric. Each factor can be more distinctly categorized by whether it comes from inside the entity (internal) or from outside (external). For example, financial aid is categorized as external student-centric because the availability of financial aid is largely dependent on the student but is controlled by an outside force (the university). The factors previously mentioned and others are categorized in the chart below for reference.

      Factors Impacting Students’ Study Abroad Participation Decision 

The X-Factor: Diversity Among Professionals
The chart above is useful for anyone working towards greater diversity in outbound study abroad because it shows where professionals can have an impact and what factors may be out of their hands. However, there is a major gap in the research on one factor that has the widest-ranging impact across multiple other factors: international educators themselves. Using the categorization above, this internal system-centric factor has arguably the widest reach of all. From program development to marketing, international education professionals have an incredible influence over the entire study abroad process. 

For this article, I examined eight higher education institutions and eight study abroad provider organizations regarding the demographic makeup of their staff based on the staff directory pages on their public websites. On average, white women represented 67.5% of staff, with white representation overall averaged 84.9%. When compared to the Open Doors data on demographics of outbound students, it is hard not to note a similarity. If the field sees the “demographic gap” among students to be cause for widespread action, shouldn’t it also
approach its internal “demographic gap” with the same gravity?

Until now, diversity initiatives have largely focused on what is being done. From scholarships to new program models to changing advising/marketing practices, the field has been addressing the “demographic gap” through changing methods. The data suggests that another pertinent and effective area to address is who is directing the efforts, and that in addition to changing the methods, it is also changing the people doing the work that will bring about a lasting impact.

Consider the example of a study abroad office advising staff. If, in the case of many offices, the advisors are all white, a student from a racial minority may find it difficult to resonate with the advisor’s excitement about their own experiences abroad. The sharing of the advisor’s experience may not be useful in drawing that minority student in, as it is a near certainty that the student’s experience will be different because of racial bias or outright racism from which the white advisor may have been entirely shielded. Likewise, the white advisor may not have a good answer to a question like “What can I expect as a black woman abroad?”. Of course, there are myriad resources available online and through organizations like Diversity Abroad, but the best resource is the one that is already in the office and available immediately.

Study abroad staff may also unconsciously influence programs and student participation. If one majority group has control over the design, development, recruitment/marketing, and implementation of programs, it is not unreasonable to suggest that there may be some unintended biases toward members of that same majority group. At the very least, having a field that is visibly dominated by one demographic assuredly feeds the perception that study abroad is for one type of student.

What Can We Do?
The best news is that there are some relatively easy ways to reverse the field’s “demographic gap”. First, we need to elevate diverse professionals in the field and provide them opportunities to share their knowledge and unique perspectives. Secondly, we need to hire diverse staff to fill our study abroad offices at all levels. It isn’t enough to simply organize an annual diversity training for an all-white staff; we need to intentionally change the demographic makeup of our offices. Diversity trainings are important and should not be minimized, but no amount of training can replace the value of multiple perspectives and experiences being present daily.

There will undoubtedly be reasons cited for why the field looks the way that it does, just as there are reasons given for why outbound programs lack diverse groups of participants. Over time, it’s possible that some of these trends will reverse as more and more non-white undergraduates enter our offices, but until then, how many students will be left without the chance to study abroad? Either the field is committed to diversity or it isn’t. If we are, then we must look in the mirror and admit our own failings if we are to make any sort of an impact at all.

References

Bandyopadhyay, S., & Bandyopadhyay, K. (n.d.). Factors Influencing Student Participation In College Study Abroad Programs. Retrieved August 5, 2018, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1060059.pdf 

Hamir, H. B. (2011). Go Abroad and Graduate On-Time: Study Abroad Participation, Degree Completion, and Time-to-Degree. Retrieved August 5, 2018, from Go Abroad and Graduate On-Time: Study Abroad Participation, Degree Completion, and Time-to-Degree

LaCount, E. (2016, April). Gender Gap in Studying Abroad. Retrieved August 5, 2018, from https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/195813/LaCount, Emily (The Gender Gap in Study Abroad)Capstone2016.pdf?sequence=1 

Li, M., Olson, J., & Frieze, I. (2013). Students’ Study Abroad Plans: The Influence of Motivational and Personality Factors. Retrieved August 5, 2018, from Students’ Study Abroad Plans: the Influence of Motivational and Personality Factors 

McClure, K. R., Szelényi, K., Niehaus, E., Anderson, A., & Reed, J. (2010). “We Just Don’t Have the Possibility Yet”: U.S. Latina/o Narratives on Study Abroad. Retrieved August 5, 2018, from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgiarticle=1038&context=cehsedadfacpub 

Salisbury, M. H. (2008, June 20). Going Global: Understanding the Choice Process of the Intent to Study Abroad. Retrieved August 5, 2018, from Going Global: Understanding the Choice Process of the Intent to Study Abroad Student Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved August 5, 2018, from https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Student-Profile 

Tackling the Gender Gap in Study Abroad. (2015, March). Retrieved August 5, 2018, from
http://www.terradotta.com/articles/article-Tackling-The-Gender-Gap-In-Study-Abroad-3-15.pdf

Game Time: Engaging Student-Athletes Abroad

by DA Global | Oct 18, 2019 | Articles

Posted: Friday, October 18, 2019  
Contributed by 2017-2018 Diversity Abroad Athletes Task Force members:
Louis Berends – Syracuse University; Tara Michael – Global Players Study Abroad for Student-Athletes; Susie Duke – Grinnell College; Erin Polnaszek Boyd – University of Wisconsin Madison; Robert Bennett III – The Ohio State University; Chris Haynes – University of South Florida; Eboni Preston – Laurent – US Lacrosse 

As a sequel to Pre-Game Changing the Conversation with Coaches, the 2017-2018 Diversity Abroad Athlete Task Force sought to provide more insight on how to actually engage with student-athletes while abroad. Therefore now it’s game time, and we will shed some light on successful program models and resources to reach this target demographic. First and foremost let us debunk some myths around student-athletes studying abroad.

Myths

Myth #1: Coaches generally do not support study abroad
According to a recent survey which garnered the responses of 830 coaches across all sports and divisions, 49% ‘agree or strongly agree their athletes should go abroad during their collegiate experience.’  These champions would most likely understand that studying abroad provides student-athletes a unique opportunity to further distinguish themselves and make them more competitive in a global economy. They understand the value in international experiences and the positive impacts these experiences can have on their student-athletes and their futures. 

Myth #2: Coaches are more concerned with training and team cohesion than studying abroad
In a personal survey, coaches were more concerned with the cost of a study abroad experience than an associated training regimen. Again, coaches want student athletes to succeed anyway they can. Coaches are just as concerned with the financial feasibility of a program than they are with a training regimen that aligns with their current program. Coaches need to be educated on these options for students to help them guide students towards programs that best fit their financial and team needs.

Myth #3: Athletic departments are money makers and can assist student athletes study abroad.
It is extremely rare to find an athletics department that makes more than it spends. In fact, according to a study by the NCAA, only 24 FBS schools made a profit off of athletics in 2014. In smaller DIII schools, general enrollment is highly dependent on athletic programs available.  These major concerns of coaches preoccupy their time. This is where the aid of other stakeholders comes in to assist coaches and athletes alike not only study abroad, but find ways to support it financially.

Myth #4: Coaches are the gatekeepers to all student athlete decisions
Coaches know their practice schedules, rosters and recruitment itineraries like the back of their hands leaving academics and other university related items to others including advisors, enhancement officers, peer leaders and yes…study abroad offices. These stakeholders hold massive influences over student athletes and can guide them through processes and conversations with coaches.

Program Models

Faculty-Led Programs (with or without Athletic Programming): Many schools offer education abroad programs for academic credit led by faculty and staff whom are identified as resident directors. These courses often include in-country instruction to further enhance the international experience giving learners a unique firsthand experience. Courses can be designed present students to different themes like sport management, educational access, marketing, and sports law. These types of topics provide students with a sense of how sport is ever-changing in a global context. Further learning can be enhanced with workshops, class discussions and activities, along with site visits.

Internships (with or without Athletic Programming): Many students seek internships to prepare them for the rigors of their respective fields after the completion of their baccalaureate degree. Build a network and relationships that will benefit them professionally with on-site training. As is common with internships, students will garner skills and experiences that will set them apart from their peers while engaging communities and cultures in an international context. Thus, global competencies are gained in the area of language acquisition, problem solving, self-awareness and the development of self-reliance and problem-solving skills.

NCAA Foreign Tours: For schools looking to engage international communities the NCAA supports foreign tours but there are regulations member institutions must be cognizant of as they make arrangements to ensure their students comply with the governing body’s guidelines. The optimal time for coaches and administrators to consider travel with foreign tours is during a vacation period that involves no classes or exams. There are also restrictions on the number of contests that can be held. In all, foreign tours allow student-athletes to participate in athletic competition in an international context. Learners can promote their sport as part of a goodwill effort.

Mission trip/ volunteer/service: Service learning and volunteering have long been deemed critical components to the educational experience. Such activities mix classroom learning with hands-on experience with community members in the respective country. Such opportunities along with mission trips can lead to personal, academic, and professional development. Courses that utilize such learning opportunities allow learners to have a historical sense of life in the communities visited. Students also develop communication, civic, and leadership skills through these particular excursions.

Co-Curricular Option: Expand the menu of short-term offerings by encouraging faculty to collaborate with coaches. Consider producing co-curricular opportunities that combine an academic concept with an element of sport. These co-curricular courses would embed a travel experience within a course. Coaches who are also current faculty may be more apt to integrate this model to combine their academic and athletic interests. In the same way, faculty who conduct research in a particular discipline related to athletics could form a strong partnership with a coach to generate this sort of model.

On-campus course work would be bolstered by travel to carefully selected destinations, and the travel component may or may not include training- or game-time. Dependent upon the time available as well as time of year, these options could be limited to 1-2 credits — still they give participants valuable time abroad. Not only that, but the participants need not only be student athletes. Improve group dynamics by integrating athletes with other students who are simply interested in the course topic. Co-curricular options could include students who are interested in sport but who are not involved in a team sport. The key is that the co-curricular model can give more student athletes more avenues to engage in a successful experience abroad.

Engaging Stakeholders

Academic Advising Staff
It is common for coaching staff to be pulled in many different directions making it difficult to discuss opportunities your office/organization might be able to offer. If you are encountering this situation, you may want to consider the other support staff working with the athletics department. Typically there are many people involved in supporting student athletes, ranging from advising teams to development teams. These other staff members are great resources as they are in frequent communication with the students and are usually tasked with ensuring the students are engaging with campus in ways beyond their sport. They know their schedules, availability, and other details that can assist you as you prepare materials to share with the student athletes. These support staff members can help you funnel marketing materials through their pre-existing list serves, newsletters, etc. using language and resources that the student athletes are already connected to on campus. They can also serve as strong liaisons between your office and the coaching staff to assist in messaging that you want to share.

Alumni Support
Build events around athletic contests on campus and allow alumni to connect with your current players.  Have your current students talk about study abroad opportunities or have a former player share the value of their global education experience.  A personal touch is invaluable. It’s all about connecting former student-athletes back to your program in a unique and meaningful way.

Infographic

Global Players — in conjunction with The Athlete Network — distributed a survey to coaches and received 800+ responses among all divisions to collect info about coach’s perspective on study abroad & team travel among student athletes.Top 2 expressed priorities: performance (49%) & life skills (46%); life skills could include internships, time management, as well as other skills facilitated through an abroad experience. Approx 50% of coaches believe student athletes should participate in study abroad; 68% believe they should compete and train while abroad. 

Learning Disabilities: How to Prepare Students to Succeed Abroad

by DA Global | Oct 18, 2019 | Articles

Posted: Friday, October 18, 2019
Contributed by the 2017-2018 Task Force on Access for Disabilities Abroad
Randi Butler – Institute of International Education; Laura Kaplan – University of Texas at Austin; Marnie Nelson – Univ of Nebraska; Lauren Schuller – Bentley University; Erika Wise – Texas A&M University

The wellness and success of students who have learning disabilities or neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. ADHD) should always be a consideration for any professional who works in education abroad. According to the 2015-2016 Open Doors Report conducted by the Institute of International Education, participation in study abroad by students with disabilities has increased by more than 6% in the last decade. Data shows that the majority of students with disabilities who study abroad had either learning (34%) or mental health (27%) disabilities. While physical and mental health disabilities can impact a student’s experience outside the classroom during study abroad, a learning or cognitive disability can impact a student’s academic experience while abroad. Once a student has disclosed their disability, that should trigger a process for the education abroad advisor and student disability service office to begin preparing the student for their international experience. This includes addressing customs barriers a student may face pertaining to medication they take, communicating the student’s disability with the foreign institution or program provider, and determining how accommodations the student typically receives at their home institution may translate to their learning experience abroad.

It is important for education abroad advisors to understand the resources and services offered at their partner institutions for students with disabilities. Being prepared and informed allows advisors to set students’ expectations about the differences they may experience and adjustments that may be necessary. Diversity Abroad Network member institution, Bentley University, recently surveyed all of its international partner universities, and of the 15 responses, 86% of them reported offering accommodations to students with physical and/or cognitive disabilities. While this number is encouraging, each foreign institution is different in terms of the level of support provided and the accommodations that can be offered to students. Many institutions, particularly in Western Europe and Oceania, have an office of Services for Students with Disabilities and information accessible on their websites.

Some examples from foreign institutions of higher education include the following:

• University College Dublin – Access & Lifelong Learning
• The University of Sydney – Disability Services
• Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona – Disability Services
• Uppsala University – Support for Disabilities

In other regions including Latin America, Asia, Middle East and Africa, access to accommodations will vary depending on the institution. For example, public universities may not offer the same level of student support services as private universities. While in the United States, typically it is the public institutions that provide a more streamlined level of support for students with disabilities.

Advisors should encourage students to disclose any disabilities that may require accommodations, and should consider creating a formal process through which students can discreetly disclose disabilities and request accommodations (see specific examples in Diversity Abroad’s Education Abroad Advisor Manual: Access for Disabilities Abroad). Furthermore, advisors should be prepared to work directly with students and exchange partners to determine which accommodations can be offered. In some cases, affiliate providers may be able to offer additional or work with home institutions to create unique accommodations for students with learning disabilities. For example, at Texas A&M University students are encouraged to disclose their disability multiple times throughout the process of applying to a study abroad program. The opportunity to disclose is presented multiple times throughout the application process (e.g. initial application, health survey, orientation meeting) to ensure that students know they have an obligation to disclose and to encourage students to be open about their accommodation needs.

One specific challenge advisors face in working with students with learning and cognitive disabilities is that students often consider the academic component of study abroad as an afterthought. Much of the culture of study abroad from the student perspective comes from curated social media images and stories of adventure from peers. Academics are often omitted from the story altogether. As a result, some students feel they do not need their medication, academic accommodations, and/or medical care while abroad. This can be a dangerous mindset, and students often find themselves in a panic once they begin classes abroad and realize how heavily they rely on the support measures they were accustomed to back home.

A current study abroad student from a Diversity Abroad member institution found himself in this situation when he arrived at his host university in Europe. He recounts the struggles he faced when he began his classes and reflects on the mistakes he made in preparing to study abroad. He writes,

The primary reason for which I decided against bringing along my medication relates back to the overall reputation on campus of the ‘study abroad experience’ being less than academically rigorous. Many of us have friends who return from their time abroad, recounting wild stories of parties, extensive travel, and extraordinary life experiences. However, almost never did I hear any of my peers talk about their time actually spent in class or even at school in general. This type of conversation on campus lead me to believe there would be a decreased level of academic rigor abroad, and thus I would have no need to bring along my meds. This conclusion, however, I can now say is entirely false.

The student goes on to say that “upon arrival at the [host] university and after actually obtaining the class outlines for the first time, I realized I had made a grave mistake. By failing to bring along my medication, I was left in a foreign country, with little knowledge of the language, no access to my prescribing doctor, no ADHD medication, and no obvious resources to obtain what I needed.” This student also comments on the difficulty of acquiring an adequate quantity of medication to bring with him abroad. Finding an online, comprehensive list of countries that allow certain ADHD medications is difficult. However, providing students with resources like government websites can be helpful. The CDC website has several articles relating to safety abroad, and the United States Department of State website allows students to search for medical and health-related information specific to the country(ies) they will be visiting. The International Narcotics Control Board website (incb.org) provides lists of drug/medicine regulations organized by country.

With all of the competing priorities students have, the strenuous process of obtaining medication to bring abroad can be extremely overwhelming. This, coupled with misconceptions about academic rigor abroad, cause many students to elect to forgo the process altogether and try their luck at a med-free semester abroad. As advisors, we must help students understand that academics will be a significant component of their experience abroad. We must reclaim the narrative and remind students through one-on-one advising, pre-departure orientation and peer-to-peer mentoring that study abroad is an academic experience and that putting their health on the back-burner will only cause them more stress and difficulty in the long run.