Community Bulletin 2022

AEF

Community Bulletin 2022

Messaggio del Presidente

GRAZIE MILLE!

With great joy, I would like to share with all those who comprise AEF our first Community Bulletin. As it was up to me to say the first words, I would like to inaugurate it with a thank you very much. Many thanks to each of you for believing and helping to write this new chapter of the school!

Since I became part of the AEF team – only 9 months ago – I have been able to witness the dedication and commitment of each one with the school, with our students, and with our partners. I could see the team coming together in very difficult times and growing as a team. I could see a sense of team that is not found in most organizations. And it did and it makes all the difference!

After I was appointed President – only 5 months ago – we have had the opportunity to listen to each other, to dialogue, to share our aspirations, to build our vision of the future, and to plan for our joint growth. And step by step, we have begun to implement the changes that we believe will lead us to the position we want to achieve as a school:

• We have rewritten our mission, vision, and values with the participation of all.

• We have spread our values throughout the school so that we can remember to practice them in our daily lives.

• We have elaborated on the strategic planning for 2022-2027 and published it on our website.

• We have redesigned our website and updated our social networks.

• We have launched a new YouTube channel – Impara

Italiano con AEF – aimed at students who are interested in learning Italian.

• We have started social media campaigns to attract new individual students.

• We have promoted improvements in our human resources – our main asset is our people!

• We have carried out important selection processes for the posts of Academic Director, Associate Director: Community Engagement & Experiential Learning, and Student Life Coordinator.

• We have reviewed together the attributions of each collaborator.

• We have redesigned and publicized our organization chart.

• We have started the Staff & Faculty Development Program, supporting the training of our stakeholders.

• We have started the Annual Evaluation Process of our Staff.

• We have conducted Community Engagement with our students in partnership with charities.

• We have purchased Microsoft IT solutions, replacing the mail server, drive, and others.

• We have hired KAITS, a school management system, and started its implementation.

• We have hired RD Station, a lead management system.

• We have contracted fiber optic internet, which should be installed in the first quarter of 2023.

• We have participated in important events of Global Education.

• We have held the meeting of the AEF Academic Advisory Council - AAC in Florence.

• We have held two workshops to train our staff & faculty, which were facilitated by specialists in their respective areas.

• We have implemented sustainability-focused actions, such as signing the AEF Sustainability Pledge, installing water fountains, supplying water bottles and selective garbage collection at school.

• We were the first school in Italy to sign the CANIE Accord, joining the Climate Action Network for International Educators.

For all this, we can say that we have begun to write together a promising new chapter in the history of AEF and I am very much convinced that we have the right people at the right time to achieve the results we all want! I am very proud to be part of our team, of every person who is part of our team, and of everything we have done together in this year 2022!

Merry Christmas to all and an excellent 2023, with lots of health and achievements for all who make the AEF Community! And again, thank you very much!

Gustavo Gesteira Costa President of Accademia Europea di Firenze

Communità Sostenibilità

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

We recently added some new individuals to our Senior Leadership Team which will be fundamental to our efforts to achieve our strategic plan.

Gustavo Gesteira Costa was appointed President of AEF in July. Gustavo Gesteira Costa, originally from Recife, Brazil, brings a passion for the mission of AEF and has already made a significant impact on our organization.

Alan Earhart, Ph.D. began as our new Academic Director in July. Alan studied abroad in Florence in 1992 and has worked in the field for many years in both Italy and the United States.

João Vicente Menezes was appointed Controller in July. João was born in the United States and has also lived in Brazil and Mexico. João studied Italian and piano at AEF ten years ago.

Gustavo, Alan, and João have joined Massimo de Matteis (Administrative Director) and Elisabetta Santanni (Director of Student Life), and John M. Pearson (Senior Advisor: Institutional Development & Strategy) on the Senior Leadership Team.

STUDENT LIFE OFFICE

Emily Woodroof began as our new Associate Director: Community Engagement & Experiential Learning in October. Emily entered the world of study abroad as the Assistant to the Director of Harding University in Florence, and worked as the Site Director of the Lipscomb University in Florence program.

Marisol Diaz has participated and has been chosen on the selection process for the Student Life Coordinator position. Marisol has worked as Site Director of Study Abroad Program for CIS Abroad, Sorrento. She will start working at AEF in January 2023.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Idilnaz Aydin was appointed as Social Media Assistant and she is currently developing AEF’s new YouTube channel – Impara Italiano con AEF -, as well as with the school’s Instagram.

SUSTAINABILITY ACTION GROUP

We are excited to announce that our Sustainability Action Group (SAG) has been busy carrying forward our goal to become a more sustainable enterprise. The SAG is comprised of John Pearson, Alan Earhart, Christina Chemaly, Emily Woodroof, and Floarea Virban.

The SAG has already enacted some important initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint and promote sustainability. These are just a few of the projects they have been working on and there are more coming in the future.

• Water bottle refilling stations in the AEF center.

• A new logo for AEF and Sustainability.

• A Sustainability Pledge for AEF was written by the SAG and signed by the President, Gustavo Gesteira Costa

• November 18 workshop for all AEF staff and faculty on incorporating sustainability in student programming.

CANIE ACCORD

AEF has signed the CANIE Accord. CANIE (Climate Action Network for International Educators) is a grassroots initiative formed by international education practitioners from around the world, including AEF, who see the need and the opportunity for our sector to step up and act on climate. AEF is the first Higher Education organization in Italy to do so. The greatest strength of the Accord is its enumeration of concrete and specific actions that organizations like AEF can take to reduce their carbon footprint, minimize environmental harm and actively work towards regenerating our shared global home. AEF's signature to the Accord was accepted by CANIE because of the strength our Sustainability Pledge commitments.

THE FORUM ON EDUCATION ABROAD

Elisabetta Santanni, Director of Student Life, has presented a paper at the Forum for Education Abroad in Milan, Italy. Elisabetta has co-presented with prof. from Elon University. The presentation was on the experience that the Dance course had this summer and how community-based learning impacted that experience.

ACADEMIC ADVISORY COUNCIL – AAC

In October 2022, AEF hosted the AAC Meeting in Florence. The council is chaired by Nick J. Gozik, PhD, and has the with the mission to ensure that the school provides distinctive, high quality academic programs. The AAC meeting was attended by Dr. Nick J. Gozik (Dean of Global Education, Elon University), Dr. Gabie Smith (Dean of Art and Sciences, Elon University), William Lenihan (Teaching Professor and Professor of the Practice, Department of Music, Washington University in St. Louis), Sue Mennicke (Associate Dean for International Programs at Franklin & Marshall), Annique Kiel (Executive Director of Global Engagement and International Programs Drake University) and Susan Popko (Associate Provost for International Programs, Santa Clara University).

FORMAZIONE

Global Education Programa dei Staff & Faculty Eventi e Workshops

Lucia Contu, Lucia Iacovelli, Giusy Massarelli, and Giuseppe Menneli have participated in the seminars “Idee e Spunti Pratici per Insegnare Lingua e Cultura a Studenti Universitari Americani in Italia” and “Incontro di Aggiornamento per Insegnanti di Lingua Italiana”.

MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS IN A CONSTELLATION MODEL

As part of the new AEF Staff & Faculty Development Program, in October 2022, Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, PhD, and Amy Allocco, PhD, from Elon University facilitated the workshop Mentoring Relationships in a Constellation Model at the school.

UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

In November 2022, Daniel Ponce-Taylor – director of operations and international development at Intercultural Outreach Initiative (IOI) and co-chair for the NAFSA Sustainability Special Interest Group (SIG) – conducted an interactive workshop on sustainability with the aim of educating the AEF community on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and related goals and indicators, among others.

Engagement 10 Domande ad Alan Earhart

L’ASSESSORE ALL’UNIVERSITÀ DEL COMUNE

DI FIRENZE

We have been honoured with the visit of Mrs. Tita Meucci, Deputy Mayor of Florence for Universities and Research, that attended the final exhibition of the course Travel Photography Study Abroad Storytelling Fall’22.

Alan Earhart, PhD, moved back to Italy in June of 2022 with his family to start his new role as Academic Director. He is excited to be back in Italy working with students.

QUESTION 1. What are the best and worst things about AEF? The best thing is the sense of community and the enthusiasm among the staff and faculty. I am still in the honeymoon phase so all I can come up with is that the worst thing is too many unscheduled meetings.

QUESTION 2. Where would you like AEF to be in three years? The recognized leader in community-based learning among study abroad programs and Italian language schools in Italy.

QUESTION 6. What is your biggest ambition? To be a great leader.

QUESTION 7. Who is your biggest career or life influence? My father.

QUESTION 3. What is your dream holiday destination? Skiing in Cortina for a week with my family.

QUESTION 4. Who is your favorite author or book and why? The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I could reread it every year. It was the first book I read that I couldn’t put down.

QUESTION 8. What is the future of Education Abroad in Italy? Experiential education.

QUESTION 9. What is your favorite place to visit in Florence? San Miniato al Monte.

QUESTION 5. What is your greatest fear?

Open water swimming in an ocean. The movie Jaws haunts me. Despite this fear I do swim in oceans.

QUESTION 10. What is a surprising fact about you? I completed training for a private pilot’s license for aviation in 2000.

Scuola delle Arti, della Lingua e della Cultura Italiana

Palazzo Niccolini

via Cavour, 37 - 50129 Florence tel:+39 055 211599 p.iva 05475950480 www.aefirenze.it