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Study-abroad faculty thanked at luncheon
They were there for lunch and to be thanked for all they’ve done to make UD’s study-abroad program one of the most successful in the nation. The luncheon is an annual event, hosted by UD’s Center for International Studies (CFIS), to show appreciation for the responsibility faculty take on when they agree to teach abroad and supervise the activities and well-being of their students. During Winter Session alone, 85 faculty members took just under 1,200 students to 26 different countries. The program is so successful that UD officials attribute part of the reason that applications to UD went up 50 percent during the last five years to study-abroad programs. During that same period, the number of students enrolled in study abroad went up 34 percent, from 1,038 in 2000 to 1,467 in 2005. UD study abroad now has 70 programs in 35 countries on seven continents and distributes approximately $300,000 a year on scholarship tuition help. Lesa Griffiths, director of CFIS, thanked everyone for participating in study abroad. “Our faculty are incredibly creative, enthusiastic, responsible and dedicated and always have a plan A, B, C and D,” she said. The study-abroad program is flourishing, Griffiths said. This year, 20 new faculty members became program directors, a new country was added to the roster and 16 new programs started. “It’s wonderful to see such an extensive list of faculty who want to participate in study abroad.” She told them that UD has been selected by the NAFSA: Association of International Educators as one of eight noteworthy programs in the U.S. The luncheon theme was service learning abroad. Under the guidance of a faculty member, students take on a real-world project and reflect on their experience in the classroom. “The reason I came to UD was its study-abroad program,” junior Lauryn Isaacs said. She, senior Sherry Smith, sophomore Jeremy Whiteman and junior Alicia Young completed study-abroad service-learning trips and spoke at the luncheon, representing the more than 1,400 students who participated in study abroad during the 2004-05 academic year. Issacs described the work her class did in Fiji for Habitat for Humanity, helping to construct a bathroom for a house that had none.
Smith, who also went on the Fiji trip, praised April Veness, associate professor of geography, and Fijian graduate student Lusi Browning, who acted as their guide and interpreter. Smith called them “two incredible women” who worked for a year planning the trip and then became their bridge between very different cultures. “This was the trip of a lifetime,” she said. Whiteman went to South Africa under the guidance of Eugene Matusov, assistant professor of education, who arranged for students to work at several facilities caring for children who had lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. “It was the most incredible experience of my life. It helped me understand the impact I want my life to have,” Whiteman said. “Every single one of us will be forever changed by what we saw on this trip. I want to thank UD for giving us this opportunity.” Young participated in a program new this year, a trip to Barbados, codirected by Norma Gaines-Hanks, assistant professor of individual and family studies, and David Suisman, assistant professor of history. Young said the trip was preceded by a course on the history of slavery. Some students volunteered at public and private schools. Young was with the group assigned to the Barbados Ministry of Health that worked at local HIV/AIDS clinics. Since returning to the U.S., Young said her new awareness of the disease inspired her to start a program for free HIV/AIDS testing on campus. “I’ve personally grown though this experience,” she said. Article by Barbara Garrison
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