Illinois Education Abroad 2020-2021 Annual Report

EDUCATION ABROAD ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021

Academic Year 2020-2021

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Table of Contents Education Abroad at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign .................................................... 3 Where We’re Going ................................................................................................................................ 4 Programs ............................................................................................................................................... 5 New Global Learning Opportunities...................................................................................................... 7 Illinois for Illinois Scholarship................................................................................................................ 8 Incoming Exchange ............................................................................................................................... 9 Student Experience ............................................................................................................................... 10

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Education Abroad Annual Report

Education Abr oad at the Univ er sity of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s education abroad community is united in fostering transformative international experiences. Collaboration amongst all study abroad offices is a top priority in order to provide the best possible support to Illinois students, faculty, and staff.

This Annual Report provides a glimpse of the key activities and accomplishments from the past academic year, as well as statistics on education abroad programs at the university.

Study Abroad Offices Illinois Abroad and Global Exchange (IAGE) is the campus study abroad office and seeks to foster intercultural competence and inspire global engagement for students by serving as an innovative and collaborative partner.

The following academic colleges have study abroad offices that provide a variety of study abroad program options for students through academically integrated pathways.

College of ACES >> ACES Study Abroad

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences >> LAS International Programs

College of Education >> Office of International Programs

College of Media >> Media Study Abroad

College of Fine and Applied Arts >> FAA International Programs

Gies College of Business >> Gies Global Programs

College of Law >> Law Study Abroad

Grainger College of Engineering >> International Programs in Engineering

All other colleges are supported by IAGE through embedded roles. Click here to learn more about the university’s study abroad programs and the college offices.

Academic Year 2020-2021

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Wher e We’ r e Going Illinois Abroad Implementation Committee The Illinois Abroad Implementation Committee (IAIC) emerged as a key recommendation in the report prepared by the Task Force on Illinois Study Abroad. The committee is jointly appointed by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost and the Vice Provost for International Affairs and Global Strategies and is charged with providing guidance and tactical direction on the implementation of the action items identified in the Task Force report, which includes shifting centrally-administered study abroad programs to the academic colleges and transitioning IAGE from a direct program provider to a centralized, coordinated core services unit.

The IAIC will be concluding its work in the upcoming academic year.

Illinois Global Education Abroad Committee The Illinois Global Education Abroad Committee is a new campus-wide committee formed to complement the continuing work of the Illinois Abroad Implementation Committee and to provide guidance on specific study abroad issues.

The Illinois Global Education Abroad Committee is a newly formed committee with Joy Phaphouvaninh and Allison Witt as co-chairs. The committee was formed to continue the work identified in the Task Force on Illinois Study Abroad Report. The committee works alongside the Illinois Abroad Implementation Committee to provide direction and guidance related to study abroad. The committee has two major goals: 1. Develop a vision and mission for education abroad at the University of Illinois, guided by the updated Forum on Education Abroad and in alignment with our university’s strategic priorities as articulated in The Next 150, as well as college strategic priorities for global education including study abroad. In light of the changing context and emerging redefinition of education abroad, the committee should consider a broader conceptualization of education abroad, inclusive of traditional study abroad programs, virtual opportunities, as well as other global educational experiences.

2. Develop a strategy for diversifying education abroad programmatic offerings both geographically and demographically, with a particular focus on initiatives in the global South and intentional engagement of historically under-represented students.

Click here to learn more about these committees.

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Education Abroad Annual Report

Education Abr oad Pr ograms Study Abroad at Illinois The university’s vision as a preeminent public research university with a land-grant mission and global impact has long centered around offering transformational education abroad experiences. The data on these pages captures campus-wide data about the outbound program offered during a typical academic year.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, these programs were suspended through the 2020-2021 academic year. Read more about the new global learning experiences we developed in response to the pandemic on page 8.

Study Abroad Program Locations

U.S. Territories & Canada

Oceania

program

programs

1

18

(<1%)

Latin America

40

programs (13%)

(6%)

Africa

16

programs (5%)

Europe

148

programs (49%)

Middle East

5

programs (2%)

Asia

58

programs

302 total programs*

(19%)

* Virtual programs (14) and multiple location programs (2) not included above.

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Pr ograms Continued

Programs by College Sponsor

Program Types Exchange programs involve the reciprocal exchange of students between Illinois and our partner institutions abroad.

Direct Enroll programs refer to students from Illinois who enroll directly as non-degree seeking international students at our partner institutions abroad.

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Number of Programs

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Education Abroad Annual Report

Customized short-term programs are Illinois courses that are led and taught by faculty or professional staff. These programs are usually are brief in duration and take place during academic breaks.

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Prov iders are organizations (colleges or universities, nonprofit organizations, for-profit businesses, or consortia) that offer education abroad programs and services to students from a variety of institutions.

New Global Lear ning Oppor tunities COVID-19 Impact During the 2020-2021 academic year, the university made the difficult decision to continue the suspension of outbound study abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the absence of traditional outbound mobility programs, the study abroad community came together to develop three new opportunities to support global learning for student on campus.

Academic Bridge Programs During the COVID-19 pandemic, many international students were unable to embark upon or continue their studies at the university. The Academic Bridge Program was developed to provide international students with a residential experience in their home country and access to educational facilities and services.

709

international students participated in an academic bridge program in 2020-2021

Virtual Global Experiences To complement in-person mobility opportunities, Virtual Global Experiences offer opportunities for students to work virtually with international organizations, collaborate on projects, and conduct research. In turn, students gain valuable professional experience and explore potential career paths to further develop their goals for the future.

90

students participated in one of 14 v irtual global ex periences off ered in 2020-2021

Global Classrooms To support both student and faculty exchange globally, the university’s Global Classroom initiative partners an Illinois classroom with another classroom at an international partner institution. Global Classrooms allow students to see disciplines from multiple perspectives and explore assumptions in new ways.

19

global classrooms were off ered in 20202021 w ith more added each semester

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Illinois for Illinois Scholar ship Scholarships The university’s commitment to student access is exemplified by the amount of study abroad scholarships awarded every year. University, college, and unit-base scholarships are awarded based upon level of financial need, academic achievement, and/or status as an underrepresented student. During the period of suspension of outbound study abroad, the Illinois for Illinois (I4I) Scholarship was awarded to support students pursuing virtual global experiences.

Illinois for Illinois (I4I) Scholarship The funding for this scholarship is provided by a student-initiated fee. The fee is ratified every five years by undergraduate student votes. The scholarships is available to all University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign undergraduate students studying abroad on pre-approved programs.

Total I4I Scholarships

$9,250 was the total I4I scholarship amount awarded to support v irtual global ex periences in 2020-2021

Average I4I Scholarship

$660

was the average I4I scholarship amount awarded to support v irtual ex periences in 2020-2021

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Education Abroad Annual Report

awards given in 2020-2021

Incoming Ex change Exchange Programs The university also welcomes hundreds of exchange students to campus every year through reciprocal exchange agreements that study abroad units have with select partner universities, which in turn host Illinois students on their campuses.

Home Regions

U.S. Territories & Canada

Oceania

students

students

0

2

(0%)

Latin America

12

students (17%)

(3%)

Europe

Africa

0

students (0%)

Middle East

50

students (70%)

0

students (0%)

71

Asia

7

students (10%)

total exchange students at Illinois in 2020-2021

Exchange Programs by College Sponsor

157 Total programs

60 28 19 19

Engineering Law ACES Business

12 9 3 3

FAA LAS Media Multiple

3 1

IAGE (campus-wide) Education

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Student Ex perience Student-Centered The student experience is at the center of what we do. The quotes below are taken from student stories shared with study abroad offices.

The experience has shown me that I like to work with different groups of people and hear different perspectives. Again, I feel that I can learn from others and continuously improve myself. It’s also made me think about my education in a different light. I’m used to instructions “by the book,” but this experience forced me to think in a different way that’s more creative. - VGE with Campus B, Brazil, Fall 2020

Through AFRODAD, I am reviewing literature on policy, international financial institutions, and influences of global affairs. The issues I am being educated on are real and prevalent.

It is rewarding to be working on something as important as debt relief, and I get to see the interworking relationship between financial decisions and social issues. - VGE with VA Corps, Zimbabwe, Spring 2021

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Education Abroad Annual Report

I’ve been doing a lot of things with different languages with my majors and minors, but this was a very interesting way to look at applying that in ways differently than I had thought about before. - VGE with Station Wien, Austria, Fall 2020

Through this internship, I was able to develop my collaboration, networking, and investigation skills during my group-based learning projects with global organizations like UNAids. - VGE with VA Corps, South Africa, Spring 2021

EDUCATION ABROAD ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021

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