Select study abroad advisors to discover New Zealand’s rich educational and cultural offerings so they can better advise students

GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, a provider of international education programs across the globe, is partnering with Education New Zealand to give North American university faculty and study abroad advisors first-hand knowledge of the many educational and cultural resources available in New Zealand.

Education New Zealand is a newly established Crown Agency that provides leadership and coordination to maximize the impact of international and domestic export education activities. GlobaLinks Learning Abroad assists U.S. and Canadian students to achieve academic, professional, personal, social and cultural discovery in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, and the South Pacific.

“Education New Zealand is a great supporter of our efforts to inspire more U.S. and Canadian students to discover the unique offerings of New Zealand,” said Cynthia Banks, founder and executive director of GlobaLinks Learning Abroad. “By providing airfare and other assistance for site visits to New Zealand, Education New Zealand is helping more faculty and advisors on our side of the world gain a deeper understanding of the quality educational offerings and rich cultural heritage of this island country in the South Pacific.”

Education New Zealand this year sponsored two airline tickets that were announced at the annual GlobaLinks Learning Abroad luncheon at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference in Vancouver in May. The organization also supported a specialized countrywide New Zealand site visit earlier this year that was attended by two GlobaLinks Learning Abroad staff.

“Education New Zealand is thrilled to be able to support the travel of advisors to New Zealand,” said Sarah Cox, PACE Events and Offshore Network senior manager. “After all, the best way to understand the environment of a country is to visit in person. We are very proud of the quality of education available to students in New Zealand; the relaxed lifestyle here makes it a very easy place for international students to settle in.”

The advisor recipients of the New Zealand site visits are:

• Sarah Simmonite, assistant director for the Center for International Education at the College of Charleston. She will attend an advisor site visit in New Zealand, with airfare covered by Education New Zealand and accommodations paid for by GlobaLinks Learning Abroad.
• Caryn Lindsay, director of international programs at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She will attend an advisor site visit in New Zealand, with airfare covered by Education New Zealand and accommodations paid for by GlobaLinks Learning Abroad.

“I am excited about this opportunity to visit New Zealand and see firsthand why students rave about their experience there,” Simmonite said. “By visiting a variety of universities, I hope to gain a better understanding of the academic strengths and individual culture of each campus so I am better equipped to advise our students. I am looking forward to discovering how these universities and host cultures enrich our students’ education – both inside and outside the classroom. I am grateful to GlobaLinks Learning Abroad and Education New Zealand for this unique opportunity for professional development and personal growth, as I have only heard wonderful comments about the country and its people.”

“I’m very grateful for this opportunity to learn more about the expertise found at New Zealand universities,” Lindsay said. “It is not only helpful for my advising work with students, but it also provides me with background and contacts for directing interested faculty members toward opportunities to develop faculty-led programs in New Zealand.”

Nearly 100,000 students come from overseas each year to study in New Zealand, which has eight state-funded universities, all of them respected for their academic and research standards. Known in Maori as Aotearoa, or Land of the Long White Cloud, New Zealand is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts and features varied landscapes and hidden treasures waiting to be explored.

GlobaLinks Learning Abroad offers overseas site visits and educational workshops in New Zealand and other destinations to advisors and faculty. The site visits are designed to deliver a full menu of educational and cultural sites and experiences, including the Bridging Cultures Program, in a short period. The company also supports ongoing advisor education about its pre-program and on-site support services through an Advisor Open House in January and July at its headquarters in Westminster, Colo.

For more information on educational opportunities available for study abroad advisors by GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, visit the Learning About Our Programs page.

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GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, a leading provider of study abroad programs across the globe, today announced its latest donation to the Colorado Carbon Fund to help green student travel overseas. The Colorado Carbon Fund, a program of the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO), is the nation’s first statewide carbon offsetting program.

Colorado Carbon Fund

GlobaLinks Learning Abroad has supported the Colorado Carbon Fund since 2006 to encourage students to offset emissions from air travel, as well as build on several existing green initiatives for students studying abroad. The company makes a regular contribution to the Colorado Carbon Fund for each student evaluation form it receives.

“The impact of our most recent donation is amazing when you consider that $312 can offset 15.6 metric tons of CO2e,” said Cynthia Banks, founder and executive director of GlobaLinks Learning Abroad. “To date, our organization has donated nearly $1,000 to CCF, which in more tangible terms represents the CO2e emissions from 5,354 gallons of gas or the carbon sequestered from 1,221 tree seedlings grown for ten years.”

GlobaLinks Learning Abroad chose to support the Colorado Carbon Fund because it supports clean energy projects developed in Colorado. Portland, Ore.-based Climate Trust, one of the country’s most experienced offset project developers, is a third-party organization helping to select and manage Colorado’s offset projects, which include methane capture at farms or solar water heating for recreation centers.

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Two Universities Strive for International Education Options Tailor-Made for Students in Highly Structured Majors

For many students in majors requiring specific courses taken on a lock-step time line, it is difficult to study abroad without taking some kind of academic detour that can cost time, money and a delayed graduation date.

Even so, these students in the more structured programs of science, technology, engineering, teaching, mathematics, health sciences and most professional fields want to study abroad just as much as their counterparts in more flexible majors.

The desire to study abroad in those fields – what are referred to as ‘underrepresented fields’ in study abroad – is pushed by both faculty and students.

“Our current students understand the importance of a global society,” says Patrick Frazier, director of international education for Quinnipiac University, a private institution in Hamden, Conn., with about 450 students who study abroad each year. “For that reason, they want to study abroad.”

For students in underrepresented majors, a semester or year at a foreign institution can deliver high-value educational experiences, such as for a nursing student, who by studying in another country, learns first-hand how another part of the world delivers health care.

Alicia Loffredo, a nursing student at Quinnipiac University, studied abroad last spring at the University of Queensland.

“I absolutely loved studying abroad,” says Alicia Loffredo, a junior nursing major at Quinnipiac who is from Portsmouth, R.I., and studied abroad in Australia last spring. “It was the best thing I have ever done, and I would do it again if I could. I didn’t expect it to help me so much with my education and experience, but it did. It really helped me to learn how to relate and talk to people from another country.”

The question then becomes: What can universities do to open pathways for students from more structured majors to study abroad within the academic requirements and stay the course toward graduation?

Solution: Curriculum Integration

“Curriculum integration is the best way to do it,” Debra Regan, director of study abroad at Plymouth State University, says of integrating study abroad into undergraduate curricula, a strategy pioneered in the late 1990s by the University of Minnesota.

Regan sees numerous benefits from this approach:

• More avenues for students to go abroad within the confines of their academic program.
• Increased likelihood students can study abroad and still finish in four years.
• Greater chances of cohorts of students from the home university participating.
• Pre-approved courses so students can be certain their credits earned abroad will transfer.
• Enhancement of academic programs by providing opportunities for students to take classes in their majors that they can’t get at their home institution.
• Recruitment appeal for the university with incoming students immediately seeing the opportunity go abroad at a specific time during their college years.
• More time for parents and students to plan and prepare.
• Increased likelihood study abroad can happen during an academic semester when financial aid is more likely to apply.

“Curriculum integration is just perfect for all of those reasons,” Regan says.

At first glance, the solutions for integrated study abroad would seem relatively easy: Select international institutions that teach similar courses and create programs for students to attend.

In reality, however, the process of finding good course matches between U.S. and foreign institutions — especially those in highly structured disciplines — is more like professional tailoring than buying off the rack.

In fact, many international education offices struggle to overcome a variety of obstacles to bring integrated study abroad curriculum options to fruition. Prime among them is the amount of research, time and resources required to pinpoint good curriculum fits.

This is especially true for smaller institutions with fewer resources, which is why some institutions, including Quinnipiac University and Plymouth State University, have chosen to work with a study abroad program provider to smooth and speed the process.

Quinnipiac University’s Search

Frazier started searching five years ago for study abroad options in several countries for Quinnipiac’s health sciences students.

“It’s very difficult to find because most countries have different criteria of what it takes to be in one of these health science fields,” Frazier says. “The second part of it is, they do it at a different time schedule.”

Quinnipiac health sciences majors typically can’t study abroad their junior year because they instead must go to hospitals to do hands-on work. This means the sophomore year is the best time to study abroad. Sophomores, however, are required to take a two-part Anatomy & Physiology course, with the first part in the fall and the second part in the spring. This is the crux of the problem.

“The spring class requires special things,” Frazier says, “such as having to do some dissections, working with microscopes and other aspects you traditionally can’t find in a study abroad program.”

Lynn Price, chair of the nursing department, says the way in which the health professional programs are structured definitely makes it challenging to study abroad.

“It’s disappointing when the nursing students or other health science students feel like they can’t participate fully in study abroad,” she says.

For this reason, Quinnipiac worked to set up study abroad options for the health sciences students in other countries. Plans came together first for Ireland and England. More recently, Quinnipiac worked to find course matches in Australia, where health sciences students also were requesting to study abroad.

“It’s finding the right fit,” Frazier says.

Plymouth State University’s Challenge

Campus internationalization is part of the mission at Plymouth State University, a comprehensive regional university in central New Hampshire.

Currently, about 100 Plymouth State students study abroad annually through direct exchange programs or independently through several program providers.

“We’re in our eighth year of being an international education office,” Regan says, “so we’re relatively new in the game.”

Even so, Plymouth State intends ultimately to offer an integrated study abroad option for each of its majors, Regan says.

“We’re really fortunate our faculty are very supportive of students having an opportunity to study abroad,” Regan says, “so if they can make it work, they do.”

As part of ongoing internationalization efforts, Plymouth State last year began working on the development of a cross-disciplinary program in New Zealand for students majoring in environmental science and policy, anthropology, geography and social science.

“We’re still in the working stage,” Regan says. “The more interdisciplinary we can make it, the more chance of student participation.”

University of Minnesota: Model for Study Abroad Integration

The University of Minnesota is a pioneer in efforts to integrate study abroad in undergraduate curricula.

In the late 1990s, the university began a pilot project to test new ways to achieve this integration with its Institute of Technology. The project was highly successful and doubled study abroad participation by its engineering and technology students each year.

The curriculum integration process requires significant collaboration between key leadership, faculty, academic advisers and study abroad professionals. The University of Minnesota’s model focuses on “the 5 Fs:”

•    FINANCES: financing study abroad by increasing scholarships and ensuring availability of low-cost options, reminding students financial aid can be applied to study abroad, and cost-benefit analysis of the lifetime benefits provided by an international education experience.
•    FIT: locating the right academic fit by working with faculty to match coursework, internships or research requirements.
•    FACULTY: educating faculty and advisers on myths about study abroad and benefits of good study abroad programs for their students.
•    FEARS: addressing student fears about what international education entails.
•    FAMILY AND FRIENDS: assisting students with information to share with family and friends so they fully understand the choice to study abroad.

The University of Minnesota’s model continues to be followed by other universities across the country, but for smaller institutions with fewer resources, the process can seem daunting given the time and resources required.

Universities Seek Out Curriculum Integration Assistance

After deciding which courses they needed to find as part of their curriculum integration plans, both Quinnipiac and Plymouth State turned for assistance to GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, which offers the educational programs AsiaLearn, EuroLearn and AustraLearn, which specializes in Oceanic destinations.

Doing so provided them with significant support when it came to program research, reviews of lengthy curricula, and arrangements for meetings between home and abroad faculty.

AustraLearn’s staff “knows the universities they represent well, and they know us well, so as an intermediary, they’re better positioned to suggest a match,” Regan says. “They already have those great relationships established with the host institutions and with us.”

At Plymouth State University, the search for a program in New Zealand began with meetings with faculty to determine interest in an integrated study abroad option.

From there, AustraLearn helped facilitate the process by examining the offerings of its university partners in New Zealand.

For Quinnipiac, AustraLearn “did the legwork for me so I didn’t have to go to several different universities,” Frazier says. “They provided me with all of that information, which was incredible because the legwork on that one – it’s almost impossible.”

It took about a year to weigh all of the information and materials, Frazier says, but eventually Quinnipiac was presented with several Australian universities with equivalent courses. Ultimately, Quinnipiac determined only one – the University of Queensland – was a tailored enough fit for its curriculum.

“It’s not that those other schools could not teach Anatomy & Physiology,” Frazier says, “but they did not teach the subjects we needed to teach, when we needed to teach them.”

Benefits of Working with Provider on Curriculum Integration

With its Curriculum Integration Partnership (CIP) program, AustraLearn’s goal is to bring together key stakeholders – home university academic department, overseas partner university, and the home university study abroad office – to find a solution so more students can study abroad, says Steve Luther, AustraLearn’s manager of faculty and academic outreach.

As facilitator, AustraLearn assists in numerous ways, Luther says, including:

• Listening to the needs of the home university academic departments and study abroad offices.
• Determining which academic departments at the various overseas universities accept study abroad students.
• Researching possible course requirements and possible matches between a home university and its overseas partner institutions.
• Identifying when courses are offered.
• Gathering syllabi or course outlines and presenting them back to the home university for analysis.
• Arranging meetings between representatives of each university.
• Providing a comprehensive information binder back to the home university that can be immediately reviewed by the international education office and the faculty department.
• Providing marketing support to the home university once it approves a curriculum match, such as classroom presentations, student and faculty information meetings, and helping the study abroad office to promote the approved options on campus.

“It’s a long process normally,” Luther says. “It can take months if not longer.”

Ultimately, however, AustraLearn goes back to the home university “with options we know will actually work,” Luther says, “and that they can actually take to students.”

“The goal isn’t to restrict students,” Luther adds. “It’s to find programs that academically match well with the home institution.”

Finding a match

In Plymouth State’s case, a match was found with the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.

“One of the challenges is finding the courses that seem to match up closely,” Regan says. “What we’ve found is, part of this course matches up, and another part of another course matches.”

The faculty is on board, Regan says, with home university representatives planning to travel to New Zealand to meet with their colleagues to look further into equivalencies in the courses.

“I think having faculty go and have those conversations really moves things along,” Regan says.

Plymouth State won’t be ready to send its students to New Zealand until after those meetings are finished, Regan says, but she is hopeful the program will go forward.

“Australia is our No. 1 destination where our students elect to go abroad, with New Zealand fast growing,” she says, “so that area appeals to our students.”

“Once you get this kind of program in place,” she adds, “it is perfect for your incoming student to know right from the get-go: You have the opportunity to go to New Zealand the second semester of your sophomore year.”

At Quinnipiac, the first group of health sciences students recently completed their study abroad semester at the University of Queensland.

“We recently got the grades back, and they all did well in the class,” Frazier says. “For us now, it’s an assessment: How well did they integrate into the program? We want to make sure they are able to build into the next level seamlessly.”

“If they do fine this semester,” he says. “Then we keep going.”

Alicial Loffredo, who studied abroad in Australia last spring as the result of a curriculum integration program, visits an Australian wildlife park.

Loffredo, one of the Quinnipiac nursing students who participated in the University of Queensland program in the spring, says the courses she took in Australia were more challenging and based on only one or two tests, which made it difficult to get a good grade. She also found her instructors in Australia graded papers differently and expected much more independent work in the anatomy portion of her studies.

The challenges, however, taught her about other learning styles and how to relate and talk to people from another country. Overcoming the challenges gave her confidence she can succeed even when her environment changes dramatically.

“I was so happy when Quinnipiac started the program in Australia,” she says. “Although it involved different ways of teaching and was much harder, that is what going abroad is about.”

Loffredo says she would recommend the program to other health science majors. She also believes her study abroad experience will benefit her when she goes to look for a job because “the employer will know I was able to succeed in another country.”

“I learned more about myself than I have in my entire life,” she says, “and all I think about is going back.”

Editor’s Note: Patrick Frazier, who was director of international education for Quinnipiac University at the time this article was published, has taken a new position with Loyola University in Maryland.

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GlobaLinks Learning Abroad Staff Members Play On Winning Women’s Team at U.S. Australian Football League Championship

Celebration is a daily affair right now for the Denver Bulldogs Women’s Australian Rules Football Team, which last weekend won the 2010 U.S. Australian Football League National Championship in Louisville, Ken.

The 2010 national championship-winning team includes several GlobaLinks Learning Abroad staff members.: Kelli Modica, AsiaLearn assistant manager; Alicia Houghtelling, coordinator, outreach and student services; and Kimberly Tibbetts, manager, short term programs. Alicia Rippen Cone, a former GlobaLinks Learning Abroad employee, also plays on the team.

“It was a great weekend and one we will never forget,” Tibbetts said to her fellow staff members. “It is so great to come back to work and have people really excited for us and our accomplishment.”

To learn more about the championship, the United States Australian Football League, and the sport itself, the GlobaLinks NewsWire asked Lady Bulldogs Team Captain Kelli Modica a few questions.

Q: Tell me about the championship win.

The Denver Bulldogs took three teams with them to the USAFL Nationals in Louisville, Ken. We had a Division 1 men’s team, a Division 4 men’s team, and the women’s team. All three of our teams actually made it to the finals, but only the women’s team was able to pull through with a victory.

We played four games in two days and the final game on Sunday was against the Calgary/Montreal team. We actually had played Calgary/Montreal on Saturday and lost to them 55 to 10, which made our victory over them on Sunday even more amazing. The final game was close, with a final score of 19 to 18, which kept us all on our toes and playing hard the entire game.

It was a very physical game and we all walked away with numerous bumps and bruises, but the fact that we all were able to walk away was an accomplishment in itself.

Our loss to Calgary/Montreal on Saturday may be partially explained by the fact that our coach, Bruce Durrell, knew we did not have to win that game to advance to the semi-finals so he put us all in different positions and rested several of the starting players. Either way it felt fantastic to come out and show them how we truly play and to end up on top.

Q: Most people in the U.S. aren’t familiar with Australian Rules Football. How do you describe the game to those who are unfamiliar?

It’s anything but easy to try and explain Australian Rules Football. I usually tell people it’s a unique mix between American football, rugby, soccer, basketball, and volleyball. Then I throw in that it’s a true athlete’s sport and there are positions on the field for people of all shapes and sizes. It’s fast-paced, skillful, and a blast to watch and play.

Q: Describe your Denver Bulldogs team – it includes how many people and from what backgrounds?

The Denver Bulldogs have been around for 11 years, with the women’s team joining about 3 years ago. We have 20 women ages 23 to 36 and most are young professionals. We have a couple mothers on the team who took last season off while they were pregnant but played this year with full force. Many of the players grew up playing soccer, but several of us stuck to basketball, and others strayed away from sports all together growing up but decided to pick up Aussie Rules Football (aka Footy) as adults.

We are more than just a team and a club.  We are truly a family and look to one another for guidance, support, help, and even more so for a fun time. The entire club has more than 70 people involved, so it’s a gigantic family, but a family nonetheless.

Denver Lady Bulldogs Coach Bruce Durrell.

Q: How often do you practice and how long is your season?

Our season is quite long and runs from April to early October. We practice twice a week and generally travel to 2 or 3 tournaments during the season to play actual games. It’s hard to stay focused throughout the season when you only play a few games a year, but since the closest team is in Arizona we don’t have much choice. To keep things interesting we participate in a coed, non-contact league, for eight weeks in the summer to gain more game experience and to learn from the men’s team. The coed league is a ton of fun and we get a lot more players out who prefer to stay away from contact sports.

Q: Is the sport growing in the U.S.?

Absolutely! The weekend at Nationals brought in almost 1,000 people from across the U.S. and Canada. More and more, I am finding that I don’t actually have to explain what Aussie Rules is because it’s now broadcast on ESPN2 and even some local channels.

The women’s league went from three teams to eight teams in just a few years and the interest continues to grow. The men’s league has around 30 teams.

Q: What kind of an athlete do you need to be to participate at this level of Australian Rules Football?

Any type of athlete can play this sport! There is a position on the field for people who are fast, slow, tall, short, small, big, good at kicking, good at catching, good at tackling, and good at running.

We all have our strengths and weaknesses when playing the game, but by playing together and finding the spot on the field that accentuates your strengths makes it a fun game for almost anyone.

Q: Does your team have any plans to celebrate its championship? Is another tour planned in Australia?

We have not stopped celebrating since we won the championship on Sunday, and we will continue to celebrate for the rest of the week. The week after you win is called “Medals Week.” This means that we must wear our medals every day, even to work, and we meet up at a different pub or restaurant every night to reminisce about the games and enjoy our accomplishment.

The U.S. Freedom Team is planning a trip to Australia again in August 2011 and will play against other teams from around the world. There will definitely be a few Lady Bulldogs on that team, but the final team won’t be chosen until 2011.

Q: The game can be very physical, I understand. What does your team do to stay in shape and stay tough?

Run, run, and RUN! Personally I run five to six days a week and lift weights at least once a week. As a team we engage in a strict and difficult sprinting drills throughout the season to improve our fitness, run hill sprints, and occasionally do distance runs to get our legs used to all different aspects of the game.

We’ve had several injuries on the team from sprained ankles, to torn ACLs, to a broken back, but every single one of the players who have been injured are back on the field as soon as they get the OK from the doctor. It’s an amazing group of women who are truly tough, but when you meet them and talk to them you wouldn’t guess in a million years that they play a full-contact sport!

Q: There are so many sports and activities to choose from. What is it about this sport that has so captured the interest of your team members?

Aussie Rules is addicting, and that’s all there is to it. Every person who plays loves the adrenaline rush they get when they step on the field. It’s such a fun and fast paced game that there is literally never a dull moment. There truly is a place on the field for any type of athlete. The top players can range from girls who are less than 5’ to girls who are well over 6’.

Q: Do you have any team traditions or pre-game rituals?

We don’t really.

Q: Is there a “breakfast of champions” or pre-game meal that you like to eat before a game?

A lot of us eat oatmeal or cereal, bananas for loading up on potassium, and between games a lot of us grab for Beef Jerky to keep our energy up and prepare our bodies for the next game. Pineapple and watermelon are great half-time snacks, although we rarely have time to actually eat anything.

After a game I head straight for the chocolate milk, which I now swear by! For one it’s delicious, and it also is great for muscle recover.

Q: Did you do a calendar this year?

No, not this year. We actually haven’t done much for fundraising.

Q: If your team could play any where in the world, where would it play?

I’m willing to bet everyone would say Australia. That is where the game was born and it is extremely gratifying to play the game on its home soil. It would be even more gratifying to actually beat some Australian teams! I know when I played on the U.S. Freedom team in August 2009 and we played against four different Australian teams I came back a much better player. I was able to learn an amazing amount from these teams who grew up with the sport and was forced to play at the top of my game at all times just to keep up with them.

Q: Anything else you want to add?

Winning a National Championship is an incredible feeling and it is still a bit surreal. My teammates are some of my best friends, and when I look around at each one of us I think, ‘How did we win a championship?!’ We aren’t all ridiculously amazing athletes. We don’t all train every day. We are just normal, everyday people who happen to enjoy the game. But, I think our close relationship and our dedication to the sport and one another is what gave us the edge this weekend and ultimately won us the National Championship. We also are lucky enough to be part of one of the most tight-knit clubs in the league and have the support of all of the men on the team who watched our games, cheered for us, and encouraged us to play our hardest even when we thought we had nothing left to give. Without the club, our coach – Bruce Durrell – and our strong friendships this would not have been possible.

For a write-up on the team’s win and more information on the Denver Bulldogs teams, visit the team’s web site.

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Sydney Conservatorium of Music Chamber Orchestra’s U.S. Tour Includes Oct. 26 Concert at CU Boulder

Some of the best young Australian and American musicians are uniting in Boulder Oct. 26 for an historic concert blending the modern musical traditions of their home countries and other points on the globe.

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM) Chamber Orchestra , in its first-ever U.S. tour, is set to perform with three American music schools on three separate stops, including the Julliard School in New York (Oct. 18), the San Francisco Conservatory (Oct. 22), and finally, the College of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Oct. 26).

Maestro Imre Palló conducts the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Chamber Orchestra.

“Every part of the world is different, and every part of the world gives you a new experience,” said Prof. Imre Palló, chair of conducting and opera production at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. “We are really excited to experience all of these different music schools.”

The Boulder performance will take place Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Macky Auditorium on the CU Boulder campus and will not be a ticketed event.

Colorado-based GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, which through its AustraLearn study abroad program is affiliated with the University of Sydney and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, is contacting fellow international education colleagues in the region to encourage them to attend the Boulder performance.

“We are excited to bring our colleagues in international education together to enjoy the musical talents of these Australian and U.S. students,” said Cynthia Banks, GlobaLinks Learning Abroad’s founder and executive director. “It is a tremendous opportunity to witness the educational power of a shared cultural experience.”

For the performance, the musicians will be sitting together one beside the other, one from Australia, one from Colorado, said Palló, a world-renowned conductor whose career spans almost five decades and numerous continents, including in the United States, where he conducted the National Symphony Orchestra and the New York City Opera.

“I hope good friendships and future connections will come out of this,” Palló said.

The U.S. and Australian orchestras will have only a few hours to rehearse together before performing, but Palló expects the universal language of music to quickly unify their sound.

“I hope it will be very easy,” he said, “because music is music. Musicality is musicality. They have very good students, and we have very good students.”

True to the collaborative nature of the performances, Palló will share conducting responsibilities with maestros from the American music schools, including Prof. Gary Lewis, director of orchestral studies and professor of music at the College of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Maestro Gary Lewis conducts the University of Colorado at Boulder College of Music Orchestra.

“Getting to interact with international students is a broadening experience,” said Lewis, who is also music director and conductor of the Midland-Odessa (TX) Symphony Orchestra. “The more we open ourselves to travel and interacting with other cultures, the more we become well rounded as human beings, more knowledgeable and more appreciative.”

The Boulder stop on the tour came about through connections between the deans of both music schools, Lewis said.

“I think it’s both unique and important,” Lewis said of the performance. “It is great to have cross-cultural exchanges between students and between countries.”

In Boulder, the 34 touring Australian students, chosen after highly competitive auditions, will join about 50 CU Boulder College of Music students to perform “American Festival Overture” by American composer William Schuman (Pallo conducting) and “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” by English Composer Benjamin Britten (Lewis conducting).

In addition, CU Boulder’s orchestra will perform “Variaciones Concertantes” by modern Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, and the Sydney Conservatorium’s musicians will perform “Sequenzas Concertantes” by modern Australian composer Richard Mills.

“It is really as collaborative as we can possible be without two conductors on the podium at the same time,” Palló’ said.

For audiences, the performances will reveal the rich modern musical traditions of Australia and the United States while showcasing the world-class musicianship found in both countries.

For the Sydney Conservatorium of Music musicians, the U.S. tour helps broaden and diversify their educations, Palló’ said. Such tours, which last year took the group to Europe, ensure students learn how music is made, experienced and performed in other places.

“We don’t want them to be locked into one trail,” Palló’ said.

For the U.S. students, the performance is a unique opportunity to expose them to the great musical training going on in Australia and the music of an unfamiliar composer from the other side of the world, Lewis said.

“It’s one of the great things that music can accomplish just about better than any other collaboration or interaction,” he said. “It’s unique in that we don’t get to do this every day.”

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Two AustraLearn Alumni Create Study Abroad Scholarship in Lieu of Favors for Their Wedding Guests

As guests at the Oct. 17 wedding of Alex Sachen and Summer Egan sit down to enjoy a celebratory dinner, they’ll discover a scholarship created in their honor rather than typical wedding favors.

It is a gesture that will speak volumes about the happy couple at the head table.

As part of their Oct. 17, 2010, Summer Egan and Alex Sachen will create a scholarship to help another individual study abroad in Australia, as they did.

“We thought of this together,” says Egan, who met Sachen in 2004 while they were both studying abroad at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia, through the AustraLearn international education program. “It’s a way for us to give a practical gift for our guests.”

By donating $1 per guest and having funds matched by Sachen’s employer, the couple expects to raise at least $500 to fund a one-time scholarship to study abroad. Guests will be invited to contribute more if they are interested in supporting the endeavor.

“I went to a wedding a few years back and my friend decided to donate a few dollars from each person’s plate to her favorite charity,” says Egan, who plans to say a few words to her guests about why she and her husband created the scholarship. “Favors can be so tacky and impractical. Alex and I thought, ‘Let’s do something more meaningful.’”

So they came up with the “Let Learning Take You Around the World” scholarship, available through the Foundation for Asia Pacific Education to participants of the AustraLearn program planning to attend QUT. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships on an ongoing basis to university and college students who want to gain international education experiences.

The “Let Learning Take You Around the World” scholarship is the first of its kind created as part of a wedding and designated to benefit an AustraLearn program participant.

“This is a wonderful example of the generosity of our alumni who are so affected by the experience they want others to have the same opportunities to study abroad,” said Kathryn Olinger, director of AustraLearn programs. “It also is an example of the pay-it-forward attitude that is so prevalent in the younger generation of today.”

Egan, originally from Carmel, N.Y., and Sachen, originally from Greenwood Village, Colo., came from two different U.S. universities to study at QUT.

“We both happened to apply to the same program to go to the same college,” Egan says. “I had changed my mind three or four times and two weeks before I was leaving, I decided to go to QUT instead. It’s fate that I ended up at the same college as him.”

At the time, Egan was studying journalism and psychology at the University of Vermont, and Sachen was studying mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

After Egan and Sachen arrived at QUT, they crossed paths a few times during orientation and the first month of class and began socializing as part of a bigger group of friends. Eventually, Sachen decided to tag along with Egan and some of her friends on a backpacking trip through New Zealand. The trip included kayaking together in the Milford Sound, which resulted in lots of laughter and the foundation for a lifelong relationship.

Alex Sachen and Summer Egan counted kayaking in New Zealand among their adventures together while studying abroad.

“We just had a great time,” Egan says. “He steered me into every major waterfall.”

Before she studied abroad, Egan hadn’t traveled much outside of her home state of New York. She also had to study hard to get good grades to earn the financial aid she needed to make her semester abroad a reality. In addition, she used scholarship dollars to help pay for her flight to Australia.

For those reasons, the scholarship is being designated for someone who hasn’t traveled much before, needs some financial assistance and is a hard-working student. In addition, Egan and Sachen will review finalist applications to select the scholarship recipient.

“If it wasn’t for other people in society putting together scholarships,” says Egan, now a high school English teacher, “I probably wouldn’t have been able to go. This scholarship is our way of giving back to the program that sent us there.”

In the six years since Egan and Sachen returned from their time in Australia, both have completed undergraduate and graduate degrees, started their careers, and relocated so they could be together – first to Montana, and then to Ventura, Calif., where Sachen recently accepted a job in the oil industry and Egan is substitute teaching.

“For me, traveling abroad was such an eye opener to just growing up and being responsible,” Egan says. “It’s a source of independence and you just learn so much about yourself. Through learning about myself, I wanted to learn more about all of the things I’m interested in, and travel more.”

“That’s the spark I got,” Egan says, “and I hope I can give that spark to someone else.”

For more information on this and other scholarships for the AustraLearn, AsiaLearn and EuroLearn programs, visit the GlobaLinks Learning Abroad scholarships page.

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1. Olinger’s 15-Year International Education Career Grows Into ‘Whole Way Of Life’
2. GlobaLinks Learning Abroad Celebrates 20 Years of Vision and Impact in International Education

Pledge now to support Dan O’Brien as he races Labor Day laps at Sebring International Raceway for the Foundation For Asia Pacific Education

Racing a car to raise money for study abroad scholarships?

You can bet – or better yet – donate on it.

That’s because Dan O’Brien, regional director for the AustraLearn/AsiaLearn/EuroLearn programs of GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, is raising money for study abroad scholarships for the Foundation for Asia Pacific Education (FAPE) by racing a Spec Racer Ford over Labor Day weekend at Sebring International Raceway in Florida.

O’Brien, in partnership with the Community Service Team at GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, created the “Laps for Global Education” campaign to encourage others to donate to the nonprofit Foundation for Asia Pacific Education, which provides scholarships on an ongoing basis to university and college students who want to gain international education experiences in the Asia Pacific region.

O’Brien and his father, John O’Brien, together form the Celtic Racing team, which participates in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) amateur series and races at Sebring or the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va.

Dan O'Brien

“The type of racing we do is strictly for fun,” O’Brien says. “There’s no money for the winner, and we’re not professional paid drivers – more like weekend warriors when time and budget permit.”

During the races, O’Brien expects to hit top speeds of 110-115 MPH from behind the wheel of the Celtic Racing team’s #48 Spec Racer Ford, which will display the logos of both the Foundation for Asia Pacific Education and the GlobaLinks Learning Abroad Community Service Team as it loops the 3.7 mile circuit during the “Members Memorial” weekend event.

“I’ll participate in two timed events on Sunday,” O’Brien says. “My first race will be about 20 minutes long, and I’ll probably log about 8 laps. The second race is longer at 30 minutes, and I’ll probably log about 12-13 laps in that race.”

Donations can be pledged in any dollar amount per lap for one or both races, or simply in any amount to support the campaign, with all money raised going directly to the foundation.

After the event, Celtic Racing will send its results to those who agreed to pledge or donate. Anyone interested can donate now at the foundation’s web site or email their donation to Amy Deppe at adeppe@asia-pacificfoundation.org.

Celtic Racing’s Spec Racer Ford is “known for its cornering and handling abilities but lacks some straight-end speed compared to some other cars in its class,” O’Brien says. “It performs well in corners and the driver is able to maintain better control and speed compared to some of the other cars it races.”

At the Sebring track, O’Brien expects to average lap speeds of about 80 MPH.

“This is my dad’s car and it stays in Florida for most of the year,” O’Brien says. “He’s been racing for over seven years, and I earned my license just over two years ago. We usually split seat time over a race weekend  – I’ll race one and he’ll race the other – but this particular weekend I’ll race both events.”

While the younger O’Brien is racing this weekend, the elder O’Brien will serve as crew chief.

Last October, Celtic Racing, which at that time also included driver Mick Robinson, won 1st in class at the 13-hour endurance race at Virginia International Raceway.

“We finished 15th overall of 49 cars,” O’Brien says. “In that event each driver ran approximately one hour before coming in the pits for refueling and a driver change. That was our first 13-hour event at VIR.”

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‘I guess that does it,’ says the 27-year-old AustraLearn alumnus

Andrew Ratzlaff snaps a finishing photo before the Golden Gate Bridge, which marked the finish line of his cross-country charity fundraising ride.

Andrew Ratzlaff cruised across the Golden Gate Bridge last week and marked the end of the road for his roughly 4,400-mile cross-country bike trip that raised $5,000 for the Lymphoma Research Foundation and honored his late father who died from the disease.

The amateur cyclist and freelance video editor’s summer cycling journey kicked off May 9 on a gray, windy morning in New York and officially ended on July 26 during a fair afternoon in San Francisco.

“Well, I guess that does it,” Ratzlaff wrote on his blog, A Ride Against Lymphoma, posting a photo of himself in front of the Golden Gate Bridge on Monday, July 26. “I guess I’ll go eat a burrito.”

California here he comes.

After crossing his personal finish line, there wasn’t any cheering, fist-pumping or party throwing.

Instead, the understated 27-year-old Colorado native climbed some steep hills into town and waited for some friends to get off work. A few days later, the CU-Boulder graduate traveled to his mother’s house in Parker, Colo., where he enjoyed the comforts of being off the bike for a while, including a dry bed and home-cooked food.

Ratzlaff met many different bicyclists crossing the country or portions of hte country during his three-month trek.

“I think my mom’s just really proud and probably relieved – she’s not going to tell me that, but she probably is – and doesn’t have to worry,” he said during an interview last week.

Ratzlaff, an AustraLearn alumnus who studied abroad in 2004 at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, inspired a growing blog, Facebook and Twitter fan base over the course of his three-month trek, keeping his followers informed through descriptive blog posts, photos and videos.

A roadside diner meal when calories don't count.

In fact, the virtual diary of Ratzlaff’s journey is virtual collage of American backroads and state highways circa 2010.

There were the accommodations – tents, livingroom sofas, and on occasion, a fully furnished cabin. There was the food – from vending-machine caloric desperation to rich gravy-and-fried roadside diner meals that made a reader’s mouth water.

Ratzlaff got to see his family and friends during a break in Colorado, where his home town is Parker.

Most importantly, there were the people from all walks of life in the U.S.A. – those personally touched by cancer, those offering a free meal or place to stay, those with quirks, suspicions and strong opinions, and many fellow cross-country bikers who shared the road, campgrounds, cold beverages and wild stories.

“The definite highs were just all of the really nice and generous people I met along the way,” says Ratzlaff, who got his first taste of traveling different countries as a child living in Korea and other countries.

Despite the enormous elevation gain, Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park didn't prove the toughest leg of the trip. That came later in California.

It is an adventurous spirit inspired by Ratzlaff’s father, Roger, who died in 2001 after a nine-month battle with Burkitt’s Lymphoma.

“He was always into backpacking, camping and just getting out there,” Ratzlaff said during a pre-departure interview in April. “I think that’s definitely where I get my passion and drive to always be outside.”

Overall, Ratzlaff says the ride brought many interesting moments, caring people, stunning scenery, physical triumphs, and a more lean and muscular physique.

“I think I hit my stride – really hit it – right after Colorado,” he says. “It’s really hard to tell, because I just kept going, going and going.”

It also brought some setbacks, including bad weather, nearly getting hit several times while riding at night, and food poisoning that took him down for about four days.

“One of my days in California was the most physically demanding day,” Ratzlaff says. “The steepness of the hills, narrowness of the road and just the cool, damp weather.”

Ratzlaff plans to head back to New York soon to figure out his next move.

But more immediately, he’s planning to get back on his bike for some rides up Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder.

“I’m starting to feel lazy all of a sudden,” he says.

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It’s a busy week for the field of international education, marked by the release of a major report, a celebration of the benefits of studying overseas and remarks by President Obama during his trip to China. The highlights include:

• The release of Open Doors 2009, an annual comprehensive study on American students studying abroad and international students studying in the United States.
• The celebrating of International Education Week 2009, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States.
• A statement by President Barack Obama during his town hall meeting with college students in Shanghai on the United States’ commitment to dramatically expanding the number of American students who study abroad in China.

Open Doors 2009: More students “eager to study in newly popular study abroad destinations such as China, India and the Middle East”

Open Doors 2009, an annual study by the Institute of International Education, with funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, was released Monday and provides a big-picture look at the state of international education.

Based on the most recent statistics available, in this case for the 2007-2008 academic year, the report shows the number of U.S. students studying abroad increased 8.5% in 2007-2008 over the previous year to a record high total of 262,416. This total represents a four-fold increase from two decades ago.

While the report does not reflect the impact of the past year’s global economic turmoil on the field of international education, it does illustrate international education’s continued emphasis on the significant role of study abroad in producing graduates with the skills necessary for a more inter-connected world.

“More students are eager to study in newly popular study abroad destinations such as China, India, and the Middle East,” said Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO of the Institute of International Education. “The language and cultural skills they acquire along with their academic experience will have a profound effect on their lives and careers.”

It is important for colleges and universities to make it possible for students from diverse backgrounds and in diverse fields to take advantage of study abroad opportunities, Goodman added.

Other points of interest from Open Doors 2009:

• The United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and France are the perennial leaders in hosting U.S. students.
• Fifteen of the top 25 destinations, however, are outside of Europe and 19 are countries where English is not the primary language.
• Students electing to go to Asia increased 17%.
• Australia is the 6th most popular destination and saw a 3% increase.
• About 40% of students studying abroad choose mid-length programs of a semester.
• About  56% choose short-term programs including a summer, January or any program 2 to 8 weeks long.
• Leading fields of study of are the social sciences (21.5% of those studying abroad), business and management (20%), humanities (13%), fine or applied arts (8%), physical/life sciences (7%), foreign languages (6%), health sciences (4.5%), education (4%), engineering (3%), math/computer science (2%) and agriculture (1%).

Obama This Week Announces Seven-Fold Expansion Of Number Of U.S. Students Studying Abroad In China

President Barack Obama, on his first presidential visit to China, spoke Monday to university students in Shanghai during a town-hall style meeting and voiced a commitment to dramatically expanding the number of U.S. students studying in China to 100,000.

Such growth would represent a more than seven-fold increase from the most recent totals of 13,165 U.S. students annually who study in China.

Excerpts from Obama’s speech (featured in the above video):
“To return to the proverb — consider the past. We know that more is to be gained when great powers cooperate than when they collide. That is a lesson that human beings have learned time and again, and that is the example of the history between our nations. And I believe strongly that cooperation must go beyond our government. It must be rooted in our people — in the studies we share, the business that we do, the knowledge that we gain, and even in the sports that we play. And these bridges must be built by young men and women just like you and your counterparts in America.”

“That’s why I’m pleased to announce that the United States will dramatically expand the number of our students who study in China to 100,000. These exchanges mark a clear commitment to build ties among our people, as surely as you will help determine the destiny of the 21st century. And I’m absolutely confident that America has no better ambassadors to offer than our young people. For they, just like you, are filled with talent and energy and optimism about the history that is yet to be written.”

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1. Survey On Impacts Of Studying Abroad Wrapping Up This Week

Did You Study Abroad? The Foundation for Asia Pacific Education Wants Your Input Via An Online Survey

If you’ve previously studied abroad, there’s still time to complete the Foundation for Asia Pacific Education’s “Who Are You Now” online survey of study abroad alumni.

“It’s doesn’t matter when, where, how long or with whom you studied abroad,” says Ashley Borden, project consultant for the Foundation, a non-profit organization in Denver whose mission is to create global citizens and leaders by helping students gain cultural and academic experiences in the Asia Pacific region. “If you are from the United States or Canada and studied overseas, then we want to hear from you about how that experience has impacted your life today.”

So far, more than 1,500 people have responded to the 15-minute survey, and the Foundation hopes to surpass its goal of 2,000 completed surveys by Sunday.

The survey, while not a scientific study, is designed to gather input on how international educational experiences influence participants’ educational choices, lifestyles and careers, among other areas.

“The surveys so far are yielding some valuable responses,” Borden said. “For example, more than three-fourths of the respondents who are out of school and have at least one year of work experience said their overseas study has had an impact on their choice of career path.”

Among responses so far to the question of how experiences abroad most significantly impacted them professionally are:

• “It has given me a stronger sense of self. While this may seem entirely personal, I’ve found a stronger sense of self has allowed me to be both a better leader and a better team player.”
• “The language skills I gained have helped to qualify me for jobs that other colleagues were not eligible for.”
• “It gave me tremendous confidence in business relationships with the ability to understand how others are critically thinking.”

Among responses so far to the question of how studying abroad has most significantly impacted participants are:

• “Studying abroad was one of the most significant experiences of my life – opening up my eyes to new possibilities and helping me form new goals for my future education and experience.”
• “I am more aware of what’s considered necessity and what’s considered want.”
• “It got me hooked on traveling, and I have done a lot of packpacking and traveling since.
• “I learned how to adapt quickly to unexpected circumstances.”

To take the survey and contribute to the conversation on the impacts of studying abroad, visit the “Who Are You Now” survey.

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