New study abroad program increases student options

The Study Abroad Faculty Policy Board voted unanimously on Sept. 20 to approve programs that will allow students to study abroad in up to three different locations without going through an official petition process.

The Open Campus program, run by the Council on International Educational Exchange, or CIEE, will give students the opportunity to travel to multiple countries without picking one permanent place to study.

While it was previously possible for students to study in more than one country through the School for International Training, CIEE offers a different experience.

Isaiah Allekotte, a study abroad adviser and program manager, said CIEE will allow students to live on a college campus or in a homestay while traveling with a large group, whereas the School for International Training did not give students the chance to live on campus and traveled in smaller groups.

Despite several petitions to bring the CIEE program to Lehigh, the board waited to approve it because it has only existed for three years.

“We wanted to give the program a chance to establish itself and work out its kinks, and we feel that it is the right time now and the demand is there,” said Katy Rene, the assistant director of the Study Abroad Office.

Valentina Zangri, ’20, is one of the few students embarking on the CIEE program this spring. She heard about CIEE through a friend and wanted to explore the option.

“I find the three-country program to be a better fit for my abroad experience because I wouldn’t be able to stay in one place for a full semester,” Zangri said. “And it’s a great time to take advantage of how close other countries are to visit.”

Zangri said she will stay in Madrid, Copenhagen and London as part of the Global Health and Community program.

Rene said the program’s wide variety of tracks and courses and easily-transferable credits convinced the board to approve it. Allekotte said the multi-country program will teach students how to navigate between cultures.

“The skill of adapting to a new culture is something that you can build over time and you can get more and more adept at doing that — of being able to just drop yourself into new places,” Allekotte said.

Allekotte will visit the campus in Berlin this November as part of the program. She said CIEE invites advisers to gain knowledge of the program by experiencing housing, classes and cities for themselves.

Rene said the program will benefit students because traveling to multiple countries countries during a semester abroad gives students the opportunity to immerse themselves in a variety of cultures and develop global mindsets.

“I think the more places that you know about, the more things you care about, and the more people you care about, the more willing you are to get involved in solving problems and helping people,” Rene said. “If I hear about something that happens in part of the world that’s far away, but I’ve been there and I can remember what it was like to walk the streets there, that matters to me.”