Small School Short-Term Study Away: A Novice’s Guide

Abstract

The paper provides a process for planning and executing a short-term study abroad experience for individuals with no prior experience and with little or no institutional support for the effort. At larger institutions, there are often entire offices that coordinate study away programs; however, at smaller institutions, it can often be left up to the faculty member(s) heading up the program to plan and execute the entire experience. This has a high level of risk especially for novices. We include a step-by-step planning process and a sample RFP used to collect data from vendors. This process was followed and resulted in successfully taking a group of students to China in the summer of 2017.