ESU official lobbies for learning abroad
Friday, April 11, 2008
Giving students the opportunity to study abroad — both American and international students — is Phil Coleman-Hull’s job. After a trip to Washington, he hopes members of Congress will be on board with new legislation to help students see the world.
Coleman-Hull, Emporia State’s director of study abroad and international student services, is also a member of the National Association of Foreign Student Assistance, or NAFSA.
Last month, Coleman-Hull took the drive for study abroad funding to D.C., meeting briefly with Rep. Jerry Moran and with representatives from Sen. Pat Roberts’ office, to discuss legislation that would stimulate study-abroad programs in the U.S. Coleman-Hull represented NAFSA in place of Joe Potts, the organization’s Kansas state whip.
Moran is a co-sponsor of House Resolution 1469, the Sen. Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act, which is aimed toward giving one million college undergraduates within 10 years the opportunity to study abroad. The ACTION Act of 2008 is meant to restore the United States’ competitiveness in attracting incoming international students.
Coleman-Hull said he and the people he met with in Washington spent most of their time talking about the Simon act, which has now already gone through the House and is awaiting approval in the Senate. The meeting with Moran, he said, was more to thank him for his support in co-sponsoring the Simon act.
“Currently, just over 2,000 students study abroad every year,” Coleman-Hull said. “And the idea is to increase that to a million students at the end of a 10-year period.”
Coleman-Hull said Emporia State currently sends out just under 1 percent of its student body in study abroad programs. He said most of the students are going abroad on short-term programs, such as trips during spring break or the summer.
“I think we’d like to grow that up to somewhere between 3 and 5 percent in the next probably three to five years,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you always want to see those numbers grow.”
However, Coleman-Hull says he doesn’t know what the Simon act will do either nationally or for Emporia State. He said the funding the act establishes for study abroad programs, around $80 million, wouldn’t be very much when divided among 50 states.
“You want to continue to develop programs that are going to continue to enhance a student’s academic experience,” he said.
Kara Gregory, an Emporia State student who had the opportunity to study abroad last summer, believes going abroad is vital to the college experience. Gregory studied aboard a cruise ship last semester during a Fall at Sea program. The boat was adapted to a college campus, and she took 12 credit hours while sailing to 10 different countries.
“It was amazing,” she said. “I learned so much by going to the different cultures and seeing how each country differs and each culture differs. ... And I absolutely loved it. I’m actually going on another one this summer.”
Gregory thinks it is important for students to have the opportunity to study outside the U.S.
“I told my dad before I went on this that I didn’t feel my college experience would be complete without studying abroad, and it’s really true,” she said. “Because you learn so much going abroad, seeing a different culture. ... So, all the funding you can get for it really helps.”
colinspeakman (anonymous) says...
Study Abroad Article - a very important topic at a time when more international awareness and understanding needed. A couple of corrections - there are over 200,000 Americans studying abroad - not over 2,000 as in article. NAFSA is the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (not Assistance) but is actually known just by the initials NAFSA with its title - Association of International Educators,
April 12, 2008 at 7:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )