campus in a GO Long program. GO Short is also a good fit for students who want more structure in a program with their own SU faculty. In addition to length, GO Long and GO Short differ in that all of the financial aid a student receives on campus can be used while studying abroad for a semester. This is not the case for GO Short. To address financial need, the university dedicates nearly $1 million annually as financial aid for GO Short programs. There also were concerns that a studyaway requirement could intimidate prospective students, says Chris Markle ’84, senior advancement officer, who at the time was director of admission.
GOING BEYOND BARRIERS Though the GO program today is linked inextricably with a Susquehanna education, it was not initially without its detractors.
RACHEL LAMBERT ’20, ITALY
GO let me achieve one of my dreams by going out of the country for the first time, knowing no one and being away from home for the longest I had ever been before — all proving to myself that I am capable of anything. I also met people from different countries and cultures who somehow are so much like me yet have so much to teach me. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I will never forget!
Immediate concerns revolved around access — financial and academic. Faculty worried that students of limited economic means would not be able to afford the GO requirement, while other faculty and staff wondered how their students would fulfill music, theatre or athletics obligations. “These were all valid points faculty were raising,” Manning says now, “and the discussions surrounding how to overcome these challenges helped us build a better program that is all-inclusive.” GO Short was largely developed for those students who are committed to on-campus activities. It allows them to fulfill their study-away requirement in a weeks-long excursion, rather than spend an entire semester away from
“The questions we received most about GO were, ‘How can I afford this,’ ‘How can I fit this in with my sport,’ and ‘Do I have to do this,’ which came mostly from men and some firstgeneration students with limited travel backgrounds,” Markle says. “Although some families were skeptical, most students and parents seemed intrigued by and excited about the GO program.” In the years immediately after Susquehanna made study-away a requirement, first-year enrollment grew at the university. Despite ups and downs across higher education in subsequent years, SU’s enrollment today is greater than when GO was implemented in 2009. And in 2013, the program was recognized with higher education’s most prestigious international education award, the Andrew Heiskell Award for Internationalizing the Campus, presented by the Institute of International Education. GO is also ranked as one of the most popular study-abroad programs in the nation.
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