Meeting & Agendas

Discussion: Six Programs that have sufficient applications to meet participation requirements in order to execute. 1. Italy – Pastry Arts is running a full, confirmed capacity - 12 students. 2. Italy – Art History has 13 confirmed paying participants. 15 participants for Art History, 4 on a waitlist. I have to talk to Roberta and I have to talk about how many more extra beyond 15 that she feels she can safely manage. 3. Italy – Drawing has received 10 applications. We had a withdraw-Mary Roberts had to withdraw for health reasons. 9 acceptance letters out, 8 confirmed paying participants. 4. England – Intro to Theatre we have received 10 applications. We have 5 confirmed and paying participants. We have a long way to go to make sure that program works because we definitely need a hard 10 number with that one, because there are 2 faculty leaders. 5. Costa Rica – Spanish III we have 9 applicants with 4 confirmed. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that by April 1st every one who submitted an application will be confirmed and paying, so that we can send our only FOLA program off. 6. Barbados – Tourism and Hospitality we have 2 confirmed participants. Those who have submitted their applications have told Karen and Michelle, we are going to do this. Board of Trustees Scholarships - We have only received 36 applications for the BOT Scholarships. Mandatory Group Flights - With final confirmation on April 1st, with each one of these programs we are doing away with the mandatory group flight, now that we have that flexibility. Partly this is due to the extreme limitation or limited availability of group flights this time. There are no group flights to Florence right now. And the last group flight that was available for art history when I looked at the price, it was $2300 round trip, which was $800 more than the group flight prices we were working with last summer. 1. Moving forward for next year we should definitely eliminate group flights, unless it is a program that it would be probably necessary to do so, such as the Jordan program. a. Not cost effective b. Strains flexibility c. Provides students a stake in the program, gives them responsibility for some aspect of their trip. d. Will make the program fees more affordable and therefore more attractive to students. 2. Third Party Provider – I would like to hear your thoughts on the evil third party provider. In some cases it may be necessary. But I am finding that it is not really a benefit. And it is significantly cheaper working with an institutional vendor that is in country, rather than a third party provider that, as a private business is located here in the United States. a. Jordan – Arabic II: we have a nice working relationship with the Jordan Language Academy, which supports numerous study abroad programs from other American colleges and universities, and has a great reputation. b. Italy Programs: we are working with the various institutions associated with the Palazzi Association, Florence University of the Arts and the Apicius Institute of International Hospitality. c. Barbados: we are working with the University of the West Indies and Barbados Community College. d. Argentina: I spoke with Jan Emberson and we are going to look at identifying a suitable college or university partner in Buenos Aires that we could work with. And I would like to move our programs in that direction, where we develop relationships with institutions in these countries that we can cultivate in the long term, and it will benefit us in terms of cost savings and a variety of other things. We would have access to local faculty and other experts who could become guest lecturers. There’s the experience and knowledge they would have that even a third party provider can’t really provide and even if that person goes there every summer to lead a group it’s a big difference between being a national who lives there and works there. I would like to move more of our programs in that directions and see what we can cultivate in that regard. It’s in line with what we discussed in the International Programs Master Plan, as a vehicle for creating potential partnerships down the road. Unsuccessful Programs - three programs that have not been successful in gaining any applicants since they came on board the study abroad roster 1. Speech & Business Communication in Spain – we have had no applicants for that program two years running. So that program is going to be removed for summer 2014 2. World Literature and Religion in Spain - we have had no applicants for that program two years running. 3. The Ireland program, we have had applicants for that program, but we topped out at six, this cycle with 4 participation agreements and Melinda in leaving to return to pursue her PHD. So, Charlotte and I are going to talk to see what might happen to the program. We are not ready to strike it off yet, but obviously we have to think about the content of it and its location and whether it fits well with students academic objectives. 4. Germany: Film History program. We only had one applicant who declined to commit for the program. Roberta Weston asked if the fact that there are two required courses contributes to fewer students enrolling. William Hayden replied we don’t have any student feedback on that, at least not yet. I think it is hard for us to capture that sort of information. On the financial aid side of it, yes, some students are doing these programs without any financial aid, or relying on financial aid. In many cases, they find that their Pell Grants will not cover their courses, although they can use their loans for doing that, so financial aid may not be a major factor, or it could be a factor. It is too early to tell. Survey – we sent out a one question survey to the 85 students who were advised but did not apply, asking them what factor contributed to your decision not to apply to an ACC study abroad program. We have had 17 replies so far. a. Program Cost - 8 b. Work - 0 c. Family - 1 d. Safety and Security Concerns - 0 e. Financial Aid- 1 f. Other financial issues - 5 g. Program did not fit financial objectives - 2 Actions: Strive to reduce the program cost and also create an opportunity for student responsibility and being stake holders in their program beyond just filling out all the papers and paying for it.

1. Partnership with Aarhus Business College in Aarhus Denmark a. Aarhus is a small school whose curriculum most closely aligns with business studies divisions, and computer studies and advanced technology. b. they have an adult education division which does not parallel with our adult education but it is more like Corporate Training Solutions c. They are interested in working with ACC on developing cross-Atlantic digital, learning and teaching technology and courses. d. Charles Quinn, Linda Smarzik, and Jill Brockman are flying to Denmark for a week to present at a conference. e. And then at the end of May, the president of Aarhus Business College, their CFO, a vice President, and my counterpart are coming to Austin for the NISOD Conference and then four days here with conversation with Dr. Rhodes. 2. International Visiting Scholar Program - We have had a successful launch this semester of the new International Visiting Scholar Program. a. Hosted the inaugural International Visiting Scholar Speaker Series last Wednesday at Riverside with over 100 people in attendance. b. And next month, on April 19th, will be the Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies Symposium which will be at Eastview campus at the multipurpose room. Alex will be one of the panelists. c. Scholar Rescue Fund just finished reviewing the applications for the SRF fellowships for the next academic year. I won’t have names, but I will have at least countries, their disciplines, their credentials, their gender, and if there are specific scholars we might be interested in, then I can request confidential dossiers from the Scholar Rescue Fund and then we can look at them to see if there is a fit and an interest and then we can move forward. 3. Other Initiatives a. Roskilde Music Festival International Internships, for students who are studying to be sound engineers, who could then work at festival with musicians in Europe. b. Visiting International Musician in Residence. Action: Continue to diversify International Programs beyond just study abroad and expand the horizon of international offerings that our students, faculty, and staff can access and participate in.

The latest issue of the IIE Open Doors, which is just a volume on data about international education in the United States, and they have one page on study abroad and community colleges. The number one community college for study abroad, sending their students on study abroad programs, was Pellissippi Technical Community College in Pellissippi, TN. 1. Tennessee Consortium for International Studies, it has 19 community colleges and universities that participate. 2. Been around for 7 years. 3. Average about 400 – 450 students per year studying abroad through this consortium. 4. Modeled on their neighbor, the Kentucky Institute for International Studies, which was established in 1974, it has been around for quite some time and is still functioning, and since 1974 they have sent over 10,000 students abroad, which average out to about 350 per year. 5. Created an opportunity that never existed for students at colleges and universities. Texas Community College Consortium for International Education 1. 50 community colleges here in Texas and only about 10 of them that struggle to offer study abroad or some sort of international education opportunity. 2. A great way to create access and opportunity and also to be able to share knowledge and experience to facilitate capacity building amongst our peer community colleges here in Texas. 3. If we were able to get 1% of the 735,000 Texas community college students out in the world doing a study abroad program, we would more than double the national average just here in Texas, and I don’t see that as an insurmountable obstacle. 4. Dr. Rhodes likes this idea. 5. Larry Miller at NISOD likes this concept too. And he has added a side breakfast to the NISOD conference to discuss international education in Texas and I am going to talk about this concept. Gaye Lynn Scott asked how is something like this managed and paid for. William Hayden responded that the program has a budget and is housed at Pellissippi, because they are the lead institution, but the other colleges submit resources as well. 1. It would take minimal resources to start up. 2. Larry Miller at NISOD has said he would put his weight behind it for fundraising, which he has already started to do. 3. It would be great to be able to have financial aid resources, like scholarships, that would be independent of what community colleges are able to do, like our Board of Trustees scholarships. Catherine Angell asked if other community colleges have the same academic rigor that Austin Community College does. William Hayden responded looking at the programs, they are all faculty led, which is actually a Texas Co-board rule, for study abroad programs at community colleges, they have to be faculty-led for college credit. So they list the courses that are associated and the faculty. Gaye Lynn Scott commented that he key would be vetting programs, such that they really do meet the academic standards. Catherine Angell commented that we would need to make sure the credits are fully transferable. William Hayden responded that the key is creating a streamlined process, where students wouldn\'t have to apply for admission to a different community college, they would just be accepted automatically, and then credit for that course would be automatically transferred. Also, to make sure that each community college that is already offering study abroad, that we are all at the same level of academic rigor. It helps that we have the common core curriculum. Actions: Keep IPAC updated on status and development of the consortium.