By Logan Monteleone
Business and Distribution Manager
Last semester, students who applied to study abroad this spring experienced a delay in the review of their applications by the Global Education Office. The pushed-back decision date, combined with an unreliable website and inconsistent communication, led to further complications that many students described as stressful and kept some students from going abroad at all.
Despite the mid-September decision date for study abroad acceptances provided through the GEO’s application portal, junior Ben McCumber said he did not receive notice of his acceptance until October.
For some WC students, McCumber said, the delay “was really unfortunate because some universities only accepted students or study abroad applications pretty early [and] at that point, we only had a few weeks to get all our affairs in order to apply.”
While McCumber ultimately decided not to study abroad after learning that the Finland institution he was accepted to is not offering any courses out of its psychology program this spring, he believes that the delays on WC’s end of the process left him with too little time to figure out a solution.
Recognizing that it is not the GEO’s responsibility to do research for students to determine if a school has the course offerings they need, McCumber believes that the Office is responsible for sticking to deadlines, clearly communicating changes with students, and helping students through the process in a timely manner.
“Hypothetically, had things gotten moving sooner…I would have been able to catch this well before it happened,” McCumber said. “When I had realized that it wasn’t going to work for me, it was already…the middle of November, and there was nothing else for me to do. I couldn’t transfer programs because everything was already closed.”
McCumber expressed his sympathy for the GEO during what seemed to be a time of transition and change in the absence of Assistant Director Sarah Lyle and felt that the Office did their best to be supportive.
Lyle confirmed that she was on medical leave for the entirety of last semester and is thus unable to speak on the actions that transpired in her absence.
GEO told junior Maddy Gaydon, who also was unable to study abroad this semester, that none of her top choice institutions had a spot for her. As per the WC GEO process, Gaydon picked the three institutions she most preferred from a list provided by the College over the summer. Midway through the fall semester, however, the Office informed Gaydon that the College no longer partners with any of the three universities she chose.
“It would have been helpful to get an accurate list of all of the places that would be available,” Gaydon said. “If they’re not being upfront about which places they’re having partnerships with, I think that’s the biggest issue.”
While Gaydon said she understands that circumstances may not have been ideal this semester, she is overall disappointed that she could not go abroad.
“Going to a liberal arts school, I feel like it’s sort of…expected that the study abroad program is a strong program,” Gaydon said. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time, and…expected it to be part of my experience here. I think it’s just disappointing that it didn’t work out.”
Former opinion editor of The Elm sophomore Sophie Kilbride, who was able to study abroad this spring semester, likewise experienced disappointment with the lack of guidance throughout the process.
“I was presented with opting out of going altogether or having to figure a lot out on my own,” Kilbride said.
While Kilbride will be attending their first-choice institution abroad this semester, they learned that both their second and third choice universities were no longer connected to WC.
“That meant that anyone who chose those schools [the most popular ones in the U.K. and Europe] basically couldn’t go abroad at all or had to pick a non-English speaking country to study in,” Kilbride said.
Along with the delayed decision date, Kilbride said the main issue during the process was poor communication with the GEO, including few and frequently cancelled meetings. Kilbride said they were left to figure out housing and other arrangements abroad on their own, which “felt daunting.”
Kilbride believes that many of the issues could have been avoided if the GEO were larger.
“Maybe if there had been another staff member or two, the whole process could’ve gone a lot smoother,” Kilbride said. “There was really only one staff member working with us, which seems like an unfair job to ask one person to do well.”
Although she expressed a willingness to respond to questions, Assistant Vice Provost for Global Education Jane Ann Williams was unable to comment due to a busy schedule during international student orientation week last week. Information and insight from the GEO’s perspective may be included in a prospective follow-up article.
Junior Sheri Swayne, who is abroad in Italy this semester, said that getting in touch with the GEO, both in person and via email responses, was a source of anxiety and frustration throughout the process.
Swayne noted the lack of transparency throughout the absence of the GEO’s Associate Director.
“I would have liked if the GEO office had sent an email out to everyone that was applying that Sarah was leaving and provided information about what was going to happen as a result,” Swayne said.
While Swayne also recognizes the challenging circumstances the GEO had to adjust to in Lyle’s absence this semester, she said the “disorganization” and “all the problems” were difficult to excuse. Like Kilbride, Swayne said the College needs to hire more administrators to work in the GEO to help the process effectively meet the needs of WC students.