Plans to create a centralized office of Study Abroad have taken a major leap forward recently with the announcement that the university is now officially looking for new Study Abroad director.
The announcement comes just a month after the University announced the termination of its program in Tours, France, and a year after the closing of the Villa Spelman. There are no plans to create any programs that might replace the ones that have been dismantled.
According to a notice published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Hopkins is seeking someone who could evaluate study abroad programs run by Hopkins and other institutions,
help match students to appropriate programs, and spearhead the creation of the Office of Study Abroad.
The director would also work with a new Study Abroad Committee to establish guidelines for the evaluation of programs and provide a link between the director and Hopkins' faculty and students.
Currently, the entire study abroad system rests on the shoulders of Ruth Aranow, who also works as an academic advisor. However, recent increases in the number of students seeking academic advising and looking to study abroad have made it more difficult for her to juggle the two responsibilities.
"There are so many students now and we need more manpower," Aranow said. "My day isn't long enough."
Aranow strongly supported the creation of an Office of Study Abroad.
"I think it's a great idea," Aranow said. "The study abroad experience is a wonderful one, and I want to see more students do it."
Although the deans have been considering creating an Office of Study Abroad for some time, it was the Committee on Study Abroad that highlighted the need for an independent office.
Following the University's announcement in February that the study abroad program in Tours would be closed, Adam Falk, dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, linked the closure with insufficient administrative resources. He added that the majority of Hopkins' peer institutions have independent offices for study abroad programs.
Created by Falk and chaired by Lawrence Principe, a professor in the Department of History of Science and Technology, the Committee on Study Abroad brought together faculty members and students who had studied abroad in order to evaluate Hopkins' current study abroad system.
"The problem was that too many administrative tasks fall on faculty who should be doing academic support," Principe said. He noted that offices of study abroad at Hopkins' peer institutions were instrumental in helping students quickly find good study abroad programs.
"It makes sense from a logistical point of view to have a centralized place that knows what to do and when to do it," Principe said. Ultimately, he concluded, Hopkins needed an equivalent office.
The decision to create an Office of Study Abroad was strongly supported by the deans.
"The dean's office and Academic Advising has been talking about this for a number of years, but it wasn't until the faculty com put some of its clout behind it that it really got going," said John Bader, associate dean for Academic Programs and Advising.
"If we're going to expand the number of students who go overseas and if we're going to make sure their experiences are rigorous and of good quality, then we need somebody whose sole focus is study abroad," said Paula Burger, dean of Undergraduate Education. She noted that the director would be able to provide more time and resources to the myriad of responsibilities that Aranow has to shoulder.
"We felt that we needed to have somebody who devotes full-time attention to this so they would have more time to confer with students, so that they can be more proactive about identifying study opportunities for students, and so that they could support the work of faculty in vetting and approving programs for credit," she said.
However, the new office will be doing more than simply following in Aranow's footsteps.
"Students have been served reasonably well," Bader said, "but we could do a better job." He noted that the director's responsibilities would be divided between meeting with students one on one and working with the Study Abroad Committee to create a list of programs. In order to qualify for the list, programs must be rigorous enough to count for Hopkins credit; at the same time, the Committee and director would be working to keep the programs as varied as possible.
Burger and Bader both noted that science and engineering students often have a difficult time finding appropriate study abroad programs. Given the number of Hopkins students bound for medical school, this issue will be one of the main factors in the creation of a list.
"Eventually I think we'd have a list that has a good variety of options for different places and different academic interests," Burger said. In addition, the director would be tasked to create a manual to help advise students on how best to live abroad. Review of applications for director in the Office of Study Abroad began on March 5, and when the new director is chosen he or she will start on July 1, 2007. Applicants undergo both telephone interviews and come to campus to speak to both students and faculty.
The role of students and study abroad has been central in the creation of the Office of Study Abroad. Students were on the Committee on Study Abroad, students will be meeting with candidates for the director of the Office of Study Abroad and students will be members of the Study Abroad Committee.
"I think it would be important for students to feel that the director can relate well and has experience with study abroad," Burger said. The student council has also been looking into Hopkins' study abroad system and study abroad has been discussed at meetings both before and after spring break.
Student Council president Laura Hansell agreed. "I think Hopkins needs an Office of Study Abroad," she said. "While there are tons of things to experience here on Homewood campus, I think a Hopkins education is really enriched by a semester abroad, and I think that the university should do everything it can to facilitate that for students of all majors."
