Breaking Barriers to Study Abroad

SU IN GLOBAL CAMPUSES

BY VANESSA JUNKIN ’11

Salisbury University is breaking down barriers to studying abroad for both students and faculty with its SU In Global Campuses.

SU has offered study abroad programs for years, but until recently, the programs were dependent on professors creating courses, building relationships with people at sites abroad and recruiting students.

With the SU In Global Campuses, the University is investing in locations abroad by renting space, bringing multiple SU faculty members to one place and allowing students of various majors to be part of the program together.

Programs have been piloted in Scotland, Spain and Costa Rica, and there’s an emerging program in Kenya, said Dr. Brian Stiegler, assistant provost for international education and director of the Janet Dudley-Eshbach Center for International Education. A small group of students also took part in an SU In Austria program at an American Institute for Foreign Study site in that country.

This model is meant to ensure the longevity of these programs, Stiegler said. High school students who are looking at colleges and universities can rely on SU’s established programs.

“We want high school seniors to know that three years from now, this is going to be there,” Stiegler said.

At public universities in Maryland and nationwide, about 15% of undergraduate students study abroad, Stiegler said, and Salisbury mirrors that statistic. Both Stiegler and SU President Carolyn Ringer Lepre hope to set SU apart when it comes to study abroad – a goal Lepre discussed in her State of the University address in November 2023.

“As we strive to be known as the public university in the State of Maryland with the highest percentage of students who have at least one global experience prior to graduation, we will continue to expand study abroad and study away opportunities and seek ways to provide access for all students to participate,” Lepre said in the address.

Not all types of students study abroad at the same rates. Some majors are underrepresented and so are some groups of people, including LGBTQ+ students, students of color and first generation college students, Stiegler said.

“The idea of clustering this instruction at certain sites is meant to provide for communities of students that are underrepresented,” he said.

Since several classes are offered pertaining to different fields of study, friends can sign up to study at the same SU In Global Campus and take different classes but enjoy the experience and excursions together.

I think it’s a fundamental aspect of education to be able to broaden your horizons, to be able to go to diverse places …”

– DR. RYAN HABERMEYER

GLOBAL CAMPUS LOCATIONS

The locations chosen for the SU In Global Campuses came as a result of professors’ connections and relationships.

SU In Spain is a partnership with the Universidad de Málaga, and this was a connection first made by the late Dr. Keith Brower of the Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies Department in 2000. Stiegler and Brower co-taught that first class.

The partnership with the University of Stirling for SU In Scotland was a result of a suggestion by Dr. Kristen Walton of the History Department, Stiegler said. SU In Costa Rica is a result of a partnership with the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business.

“You build these relationships and they become bigger than any one of us,” Stiegler said.

SU rented large buildings in Scotland, Spain and Costa Rica for the SU In Global Campuses, where students stayed during the experience. If space is available, professors can stay there too, in separate rooms.

In Scotland, the building has a maximum capacity of 90, and in Spain, the building is a former convent turned into a youth hostel, both of which are in historic cities. In Costa Rica, students stay in a large home of a host family on a former coffee plantation, Stiegler said.

The housing cost decreases for students if the building can be filled, he said. To stay in Scotland, Spain, Costa Rica and Kenya for the SU In Global Campuses programs, the tuition and room and board costs are about the same as they would be in Salisbury.

If faculty-led study abroad courses don’t get enough students to sign up, the programs have to be canceled, Stiegler said. However, with SU In Global Campuses, class sizes can be smaller because the housing has already been arranged.

The idea of being based at universities is not new – that’s how things were done about 25 years ago, Stiegler said.

“It’s the first time, though, that we’ve really tried to actively recruit faculty to go to these sites and let the faculty learn about the space as well and develop the faculty’s global competencies,” he said.

And the on-site faculty director role is new, too.

THE FIRST ON-SITE FACULTY DIRECTOR

When a professor runs their own program, they are also responsible for other issues that may arise when it comes to overseeing a group of young adults – for example, lost luggage, homesickness or accidentally getting locked out.

Dr. Dave Phillips first served in the role of on-site faculty director for SU In Scotland in winter 2024. Phillips is an associate professor of physical education at SU, but in this role, he didn’t teach a class. Instead, Phillips brought his experience with organizing large groups to coordinate co-curricular activities handle duties such as booking activities and overseeing travel, and be available as a resource for students – serving as a sort of “uncle.”

During SU In Scotland, the group took weekend trips to Glasgow and Edinburgh, visited the National Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle, took a ghost tour and visited a distillery, he said. For SU In Spain, the group visited Granada and Córdoba, with plenty of tours arranged. Students also have free time to explore on their own, but they stay in touch with Phillips.

With Phillips on call, the professors teaching classes were able to focus on them.

“It just gave them freedom and flexibility, and also I think gave freedom and flexibility to the students as well, knowing that I was ready to jump in when needed and provide that logistical support,” Phillips said.

He also worked with students to measure their global learning by asking questions and getting responses from students using a video application, then using a rubric to measure their answers.

“One of the things that we want our students to do is just have this openminded attitude,” Phillips said.

GLOBALLY CONSCIOUS STUDENTS

Dr. Ryan Habermeyer, an associate professor in the English Department, was glad to get involved with the SU In Global Campuses program rather than starting his own program from scratch. He was part of SU In Scotland in winter 2024 and then taught another class during SU In Spain in summer 2024.

Since several classes are offered pertaining to
different fields of study, friends can sign up to study
at the same SU In Global Campus and take different
classes but enjoy the experience and excursions
together.

He already enjoyed traveling, and he also said he feels students should be globally conscious.

“I think it’s a fundamental aspect of education to be able to broaden your horizons, to be able to go to diverse places, meet diverse people, get out of your comfort zone, experience another culture, experience another place, get lost, wander and discover things about yourself and about other people,” Habermeyer said.

In Scotland, Habermeyer taught a class on mythology, folklore and legends, and in Spain, he taught a course on travel writing. He thought about classes that would relate to each location.

“To me, international education is enhanced when it’s tied to the course material,” he said.

With study abroad, education takes place both in and out of the classroom.

Austin Greenlee ’25, a double major in mathematics and Spanish, wanted to be fully immersed in the Spanish language when he studied abroad and stayed with a host family as part of SU In Spain in June and July 2023.

In his first class at the Universidad de Málaga, he was in class with two women, one from Norway and one from South Korea. He also connected with people from different backgrounds at a language exchange held at a restaurant in Málaga and made friends from Romania, Hong Kong, Ukraine and Colombia.

During the language exchange, he liked practicing his Spanish with a native speaker from Venezuela who also wanted to practice their English.

He said he gained more courage to explore in his second month, and he enjoyed seeing Málaga, Gibraltar, Morocco, and nearby towns and cities, including Nerja and Ronda.

Since he returned to the U.S., he’s noticed it’s become easier to understand native Spanish speakers from a distance.

“I had a great experience; if I were to have this experience and not be able to share it, it would almost feel like a partial waste,” he said. “It wouldn’t be a waste to me, but it would be a waste to not share it.”

Lauren Adkins ’25, a psychology major, shares her experience studying at the University of Stirling in Scotland with others regularly as a global ambassador for SU’s study abroad programs. In that role, she works at information tables and admissions open houses to share information about studying abroad.

Adkins is from Salisbury, and knowing SU had a study abroad program influenced her college choice. She studied in Scotland during the fall 2022 semester.

“It was honestly a life-changing experience,” Adkins said. “It allowed me to grow so much more independence, and I also gained a lot of friends who I still keep in contact with.”

Adkins said she appreciated the beautiful campus, the city of Stirling and the ability to travel to Edinburgh, along with the opportunity to learn about another culture.

“It’s just such a welcoming, accommodating environment,” she said. “So I just felt at home even though I was a stranger in their country.”

BACK TO THE SALISBURY CLASSROOM

Even students who don’t study abroad can still benefit from expanded access to study abroad programs, as professors bring their experiences back to Salisbury.

Dr. Aaron Johnson, associate professor of marketing, taught at SU In Scotland in summer 2022 and winter 2024. In 2022, he taught a general business class, and in 2024, he taught an international marketing course.

In Salisbury, Johnson teaches principles of marketing classes that include international marketing. He can now include his own experiences from his time in Scotland.

“I’m able to bring that perspective in to talk about cultural differences and how marketers need to understand those differences to cater to different segments,” he said. “So I can just not talk about it theoretically, I can talk about it in practice.”

While they could learn from his or other professors’ experiences abroad, he said students have a lot to gain from the experience of studying in another country, visiting its attractions and experiencing the culture. While teaching in Scotland, he tied the excursions back to the class content.

Students also have an opportunity to interact with peers they may not have otherwise.

“There’s this diversity there in terms of culture but there’s also this discipline diversity,” Johnson said.

The SU In Global Campuses allow for many different kinds of relationships to be strengthened. These experiences bring students and professors closer together, for one, as they spend time with their professors both during and outside of classes.

“There’s a sacred bond between a professor and a student that these SU In Global Campuses are meant to respect and enhance,” Stiegler said.

Faculty members can also make connections with SU faculty members from other departments, as well as their counterparts abroad.

“When there’s more faculty present, then we get the attention of the university who’s hosting us,” Johnson said.

This can lead to opportunities such as guest lectures by host-university professors and collaborative teaching or research projects, he said.

As of fall 2024, experiential learning is a required part of undergraduate students’ General Education requirements. Studying abroad or away is part of this; however, the experiential learning has to be part of the curriculum – not the learning that takes place outside of the classroom on excursions. It’s still being considered how to make these classes taken abroad fit with the requirements, Stiegler said.

Meanwhile, it’s not just the SU students who are learning about other cultures. Families often visited students studying for a semester abroad, but he’s noticed that the SU In Global Campuses model is resulting in more families visiting their students abroad for the shorter experiences.

“We’re getting global learning not just to our students, but to their families,” Stiegler said.

WHEN IN STIRLING

Dr. Aaron Johnson’s group at the SU In Scotland global campus in 2024

Learn More About Study Abroad Programs

• Instagram