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UC DAVIS: Education Abroad Center September 18, 2003 TO: Members of the UCD Academic Federation FROM: Peter Schiffman, Faculty Director, Education Abroad Center Re: OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE EDUCATION ABROAD PROGRAM The staff of the Education Abroad Center (EAC) and I would like to welcome you to a new academic year. Reflect on this past year: we witnessed the start of war in Iraq and a wave of the SARS epidemic. Within the U.S., concerns about national security have led to the widespread degradation of basic civil liberties and to increased barriers to the free exchange of ideas and people across nations. Despite all of this, our students and the students of our foreign educational partners have shown an increased interest and participation in international exchanges. This year we project that almost 400 UCD students, an increase of about 20 % over last year, will participate in the Education Abroad Program (EAP) at 150 universities in 35 nations throughout the world. In addition, over 100 students from foreign institutions will attend UCD under EAP reciprocal exchange agreements. Because international education is one of our best hopes for promoting understanding and tolerance among cultures, we must redouble our efforts to expand student participation in study abroad opportunities and must fight any efforts to curtail international exchanges. As a consequence, we are asking for your assistance, cooperation, and support in promoting international education at UCD, in participating in international exchanges, and in opposing any obstacles to the international exchange of ideas, literature, and peoples. In common with most of you, the EAC staff and I firmly believe that international education has tremendous, positive impacts on the lives of participants. EAP can augment the academic programs of UC students by providing programs, courses, and experiences that they cannot obtain at UC and can facilitate academic collaborations and exchanges. Now is a particularly exciting time for EAP because of continuing globalization, the creation of new international programs, high-level meetings about global problems, state legislation endorsing international education, and the emphasis on increasing student participation in EAP to accommodate burgeoning enrollments and to establish UC as a center for international programs. Because our education abroad programs enable our graduates to operate in the international arena and assist our faculty and researchers in pursuing new knowledge through international cooperation, these programs greatly assist the University in fulfilling its teaching, research, and outreach mandates. UCD faculty and researchers are key to our efforts to maximize student participation in international programs by assisting the EAP office with recruitment, advising, student selection, orientation, committee, and articulation activities. In addition, they provide important services to EAP through participation in the Academic Senate's Committee on International Studies and Exchanges, chaired by Prof. Jean-Xavier Guinard, the campus's EAP Liaison Officer program, which provides key links between EAP and academic units, and various EAP advisory and review committees. Please contact our office or me directly for additional information about these committees and programs. We also greatly appreciate your efforts and the efforts of your TAs to inform our students about international possibilities by directing students to EAP informational meetings, discussing international education in your classes, advising students on participation in our programs, posting and distributing EAP materials, and allowing EAP staff to make brief presentations in your classes. The EAC will be hosting two general information sessions for interested students from 6-7:30 PM on Thursday, October 2 in Wellman 2, and Tuesday, October 7 in the MU II. The schedule for these and other informational meetings, workshops, and application deadlines will be posted on the EAC's website (http://eac.ucdavis.edu/). We hope that you will pass this information on to your students. Our student Peer Advisors will contact some of you about making presentations in your classes and we hope that you will view these requests favorably. We also welcome any requests to make class presentations. If you would like more information about our programs, we invite you to visit our offices at 207 3rd Street, to explore opportunities for students and faculty on our Website, and to phone our office (297-4633) to obtain brochures, flyers, and other informational materials. 03-105 Peter Schiffman Professor of Geology Director, Education Abroad Center http://eac.ucdavis.edu/ University of California 207 Third Street, Suite 130 Davis, CA 95616 PSchiffman@UCDavis.edu 530-297-4636 (EAC Office: mornings) 530-752-3669 (Geology office: afternoons) 530-752-6582 (Geology lab: afternoons) 530-758-8472 (EAC Fax) 530-752-0951 (Geology Fax)
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