Design and Delivery of Study Abroad
Higher Education students learn ins and outs of studying abroad
Each year, Kent State continues to add faculty-led programs for students who may not get the chance to study abroad for a full semester. These programs are all unique and specialized for particular students.
For the second year, “Design and Delivery of Study Abroad: While Studying Abroad” will be offered as a faculty-led Master’s and PhD course. It’s a one-of-a-kind course taught by Ediz Kaykayoglu, Director of Education Abroad at Kent State University, with help from Dr. Mark Kretovics, Interim Dean in the College and Graduate School of Education, Health, and Human Services. From May 20 to June 5, selected students will travel to Italy to learn about study abroad as a field, including how third party providers work, airports, planning field trips and how the American education system differs from the European system.
Students will begin their Italian experience in Rome for three days where they will see the city and learn about the culture. Afterwards, they will travel to Florence, where students will attend lectures from KSU Florence faculty and guest lectures from professionals who will discuss legal matters, among other things. Students will also get the opportunity to embrace the culture through site visits and city and museum tours.
Part of their responsibility involves the Florence Summer Institute, which is the undergraduate summer program open to all students that takes place from June 2 to July 2 this year. As part of the class, they will greet incoming Summer Institute students at the airport, while learning airport basics and navigation. They will learn about the Florence and Abroad agency, which Kent State University uses to house students, in addition to helping with the Summer Institute orientation. The program also includes a day-trip to Siena, where students will be able to see the city, while gaining knowledge about how field trips work and what goes into planning them. Afterwards, students are responsible for planning their own field trip and program.
This class is reserved for Masters and Doctoral students, typically enrolled in a Higher Education Administration program, but open to anyone interested. Surprisingly, about half of the students enrolled in this unique course do not go to Kent State University. This may be because a related course, HIED 66675, is taught by Dr. Martha Merrill at the Kent campus in a 15-week variation. Still, Kaykayoglu stresses the importance of studying abroad for all students. “We focus on a lot of things like trying to be more open-minded. Students will gain so many skills like adaptability and flexibility and we’re really trying to prepare them for life. This is such a great program because the majority of these students didn’t have the opportunity to study abroad during their undergrad. Once they graduate and get a job, travel becomes very difficult.”