Managing Student Behavior: Creating Frameworks for Positive Abroad Experiences

1. Managing Student Behavior: Creating Frameworks for Positive Abroad Experiences Angie Carter, Program Coordinator CIBER, McCombs School of Business The University of Texas at Austin CIBER STSA 2009 Provo, Utah

2. Introduction • The University of Texas at Austin’s CIBER coordinates 6 STSA programs for summer 2009 • All STSA programs are coordinated with our school’s BBA exchange partners • Programs consist of two courses that count as six UT in-residence credits • UT professors teach one course and faculty from the host institution teach the second course • A program liaison from UT assists in pre-departure orientations and accompanies each program abroad • All coursework is in English

3. Topics of Discussion • What are our goals for student behavior on STSA programs? • What is our responsibility as STSA coordinators and educators? • What is the student’s responsibility? • What opportunities do we have to manage behavior? • What are our challenges in managing behavior? • Examples of policies • Questions / Discussion

4. Goals • Personal responsibility: students held accountable for their own experiences and behavior abroad • Academic: students are successful in their abroad courses and able to apply the knowledge upon return • Health & Safety: access health & safety services; precautions taken and emergency response plan clear • Group dynamic: positive; students return feeling more a part of their academic programs • Cultural/Global: students engage in host culture; learn more about host culture, their own identity, and the Global business market

5. Responsibility: What should the student provide? • The basics: • $ for program needs • Time for on-campus meetings, pre-requisites for courses, forms • Interest in international experience • Signed participation forms • The extended framework: • Accountability, initiative, motivation, curiosity, responsibility for their own experience • Goals for their time abroad

6. Responsibility: What should the STSA program provide? • The basics • Advising • Courses and credit • Faculty • Staff at home campus and abroad • Accommodations • Cultural events • Pre-departure and on-site orientations • Emergency coordination • Re-entry • Codes of conduct or policies for dismissal • Cultural Insurance Services International (CISI) and International SOS coverage

7. Responsibility: What should the STSA program provide? • The extended framework: • Targeted advising to establish student goals • Emphasis on the opportunities for cultural growth, networking, setting themselves apart through their experience • On-site support promotes cultural awareness and encourages personal exploration • Resources for continuing their abroad experience on-campus • Resources for applying their abroad experience to future endeavors • Advisors, staff, faculty, liaison all push students to take ownership of their experience and define it on an individual level

8. Academic • Professors distribute syllabus during pre-departure workshop and establish academic expectations • Students meet with and are cleared by academic advisors (UT-Austin CIBER requires a completed advising form) • Professionalism policy’s influence on course grade

9. Health and Safety • Students have prepared themselves by obtaining necessary health clearances, prescriptions, immunizations • Students have access to money in case of emergency • On-site orientations & resources • International Student ID Card (ISIC), International SOS, CISI • Emergency response procedures are clearly defined

10. Group Dynamic • Group is given opportunity to meet early in pre-departure process • Online forum space through Blackboard, Facebook • Liaison’s role • Communication with home institution and on-site staff

11. Cultural/Global • Students are culturally engaged during the STSA • Students maximize their abroad experience by taking personal responsibility for their time and experience • Students continue to apply their abroad experience to future challenges on-campus and in future endeavors • Students appreciate and navigate new and unfamiliar structures • Students turn negative situations into positive accomplishments or challenges

12. Ways to Manage Behavior • Setting expectations & responsibility early • Establishing and maintaining program’s tone • Emphasizing educational experience vs. tourism • Presenting a unified front: faculty, staff, liaisons, partners • Advance planning for worst cases scenarios • Clear codes of conduct or participation policies with well-outlined expectations and consequences • UT Austin CIBER’s Professionalism Policy and Advisor Approval forms

13. Opportunities for Managing Student Behavior: Recruitment • Emphasize the challenging and rewarding aspects of the program • Involve alumni as mentors • Discuss expectations for participants • Highlight academics • Highlight cultural events as educational components of program

14. Opportunities for Managing Student Behavior: Pre-departure • Set expectations for abroad experience • Involve academic advisors, faculty, and alumni • Survey students pre-departure: what are your goals? • CIBER Professionalism Policy: Grade is contingent upon professional behavior throughout program

15. Opportunities for Managing Student Behavior: On-Site • On-site orientation stresses main points from pre-departure and further information • Organize free-time activities outside of the program that focus on cultural orientation and learning • Maintain strong relationships with on-site staff and contacts • Designate students to blog, photograph, organize events • Informal coffee hours or lunches to discuss cultural or program questions, vent, introduce exercises or address student concerns

16. Opportunities for Managing Student Behavior: Re-Entry • Require re-entry sessions to post credit or grades • Survey students at re-entry • Involve liaison and advisors to “unpack” student experiences • Provide on-campus resources for international opportunities • Involve returned students in STSA alumni organizations • Illustrate how they can apply their experience to future programs, study, jobs

17. Challenges • The Student in Crisis • On-campus support • Intervention • Dean of Students • Mental Health/Counseling center • Student Health • Return home

18. Challenges • Group Dynamics • Plan group activities that are free or low-cost and do not focus around alcohol or late-night clubs • Activities that encourage students to leave their comfort zones yet provide space for processing • Communication with liaison about concerns, conflicts

19. The Challenges • Specific behavior problems: • Student-student behavior • Student-group behavior • Student-professor behavior • Student-staff behavior

20. Strategies for Difficult Students • Address problem on-site and as soon as possible • Train faculty and staff to maintain written records of emails, observations, testimony from other students • Listen to the students and develop strategy for program feedback • Working with Dean of Students’ offices or academic departments at home • Anticipate the problems: create handbooks, forms, policies to define expectations and goals for programs

21. Questions / Discussion • How are you managing student behavior on your programs? • What policies do you use to hold students accountable for their behavior abroad? • What challenges do you face? • Do you have different problems at specific program sites?