Thank you for your interest in developing a study abroad program at Michigan State University. We offer one of the country’s largest catalogs of international learning opportunities through the hard work and dedication of our faculty. Departments develop partnerships that may contribute to their research agenda, as well as offering courses overseas that add value to the student’s degree and complement the department’s focus. Almost 150 of our programs involve MSU faculty traveling with our students overseas to teach them on-site in a rich learning environment. You may soon join the ranks of hundreds of MSU faculty and specialists who have found that teaching students in an overseas setting can be one of the most rewarding pedagogical experiences of their careers. It’s also one of the most labor intensive assignments you may have. The purpose of this section is to help you situate your project within your department and college’s goals and priorities and within MSU’s institutional framework. Your main focus may be your desire to share your discipline expertise or experience in a culturally rich region of the world. We hope that this introduction will help you develop and articulate your vision in a way that syncs with the university-wide discussion on education abroad and that considers an array of options for program features that can contribute to your pedagogical goals.
The Office of Study Abroad wants to support your efforts in this process. Your college may also have a study abroad person with an assignment to help you develop your project and contextualize it within the college’s vision. OSA works in the spirit of shared governance with a university-wide committee – Deans’ Designees for Study Abroad. Your proposal may be reviewed by a subset of this group. At the earliest stages of your project, it will be helpful to meet with this person in your college as well as with a member of the OSA Directors' Team (Brett Berquist berquis6@msu.edu, Executive Director; Cindy Chalou chalouc@msu.edu, Associate Director for Operations; Inge Steglitz steglitz@msu.edu, Assistant Director for Academic Relations; Elizabeth Plagwitz plagwitz@msu.edu, Assistant Director for Program Management). Collectively, we can help you connect with other program leaders at MSU, learn more about program models that work well here, consider advantages of different programming options, etc. We’re happy to respond to initial drafts of your proposal along the way. Supporting your efforts towards a no-surprise review is a goal we share with your dean’s designee for your college.
Most often, faculty members considering study abroad have a strong motivation to share their experience in a region of the world they have grown to love with MSU students. You may already be planning a potential itinerary and how you will connect your lectures with first-hand interaction in cultural or social settings. This section will help you think through how your project connects to larger university academic goals and consider some of the programming options that are available to you.
*Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read PDF documents.
