On June 13, 2006, the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange hosted a free teleconference exploring study abroad as a tool to self-sufficiency and long-term employment. Included in the conference’s panel of speakers were:  a state vocational rehabilitation director, a youth and transition coordinator from the U.S. Social Security Administration, a university study abroad director, and a former student with a disability who studied abroad in the Czech Republic and Greece and who is now self-employed. The transcript for that conference follows the information about the panel's speakers:

• Lynnae Ruttledge, Director
  State of Washington
  Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services
  P.O. Box 45340
  Olympia, WA 98504
  Office Phone (800)-637-5627/(360)-725-3636 (Voice/TTY)
  Website: http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/dvr
• Tracy Grothe, NCC, PLMHP
  Low Vision Therapist
  Perspectives 20/20 Counseling
  Company Phone: (402) 960-3888
  E-mail: tlgrothe@cox.net
• Erica Smith Caloiero
  Study Abroad Director
  Lehigh University Study Abroad
  Coxe Hall, 32 Sayre Drive
  Bethlehem, Pa. 18015 
  Tel. (610) 758-3351
  E-mail: studyabroad@lehigh.edu
  Website: http://www.lehigh.edu/~incis/index.html 
• Christa Bucks Camacho
  Youth and Transition Coordinator
  Office of Program Development & Research
  Social Security Administration
  6401 Security Blvd.
  3656 Annex
  Baltimore, MD 21235
  Tel: (410) 966-5147 
  E-mail: christa.bucks@ssa.gov
  Web-site: www.ssa.gov
• Barb Cheshier
  Information Services Specialist
  National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange
  Mobility International USA
  Phone: (541) 343-1284
  E-mail: clearinghouse@miusa.org
  Website: www.miusa.org/ncde

Transcript of the Teleconference

Barb Cheshier (National Clearinghouse on Disability & Exchange):

Good morning everyone.  This is the teleconference called “Achieving Successful Transition and Employment through International Experiences.” (Technical instruction given.) 

For those of you who are not aware, my name is Barb Cheshier.  I’m the Informational Specialist with Mobility International (USA) with the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange.  Our main mission is the inclusion of people with disabilities in international exchange and international development.  Thanks to donations that we have received from private citizens and from a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, we provide free services to any disability organization, any exchange program, and any person with a disability who is interested in international exchange between the U.S. and non-US countries.

When I say free information – I know that a lot of you were excited to find out that this is a ‘free’ teleconference - that is just a part of our free services.  The other part of our work includes success stories about individuals with disabilities who have already participated in exchanges on our website.  We have tip sheets for people who are interested in going abroad who aren’t quite sure of how to accommodate certain disabilities.  We have country specific information – if you need to get ahold of equipment or information for a person with a disability who is going to that country.  And we can work on one-on-one basis with a person or any organization.  All you need to do is call or e-mail us.

This teleconference is titled “Achieving Successful Transition and Employment through International Experience” for a very good reason. For a student who has entered the People’s Republic of China as a Fulbright student with a visual disability – as there is one right now doing research - for the student who has learned the sign language of South Africa in order to communicate in a South African school for the Deaf – or for the individual attending a leadership conference in Mexico who has climbed to the top of the pyramids on the seat of her pants because she doesn’t have the use of her legs – it is these type of experiences that have led and can often lead to successful employment.

For those of you who haven’t yet dipped your toes into the waters of international cultures, I want you to understand that these experiences translate to adaptability, language skills, humor, persistence, flexibility and confidence.  And these are key characteristics that are sought by employers.  Often in an interview or when an employer sees on a resume that global experience is listed, it generates conversation and intense interest that can sometimes lead to a prospective employer's observance that this is a skilled person and not just a person with a disability.  At the end of this hour, I hope that after listening to a panel of speakers that bring not only professional experience but also their own personal experiences on international exchanges that you will understand why employment is very good possibility for a person with a disability who is interested in, applies for, and has the willingness to go on an international exchange.

And so, I would like to begin this first hour of presentations, with someone a lot of you have heard of before and that is Lynnae Ruttledge. Lynnae is the Director of the Washington Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. She has been affiliated with Mobility International (USA) in the past.  She has been on a professional exchange as a participant to China. And she is currently the Chair of the Mobility International (USA) Advisory Board. Lynnae, the presentation is yours at this time.  Welcome to Lynnae.

The Links to Vocational Rehabilitation,

Study Abroad & Social Security
      

Lynnae Ruttledge (Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Washington):

This is Lynnae Ruttledge. (sound check) I’m just delighted to be a part of this teleconference.  As Barb said, I’m a volunteer with Mobility International USA and the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange. I’ve been on the MIUAS Board of Directors and a part of the organization since 1988. And my professional affiliation now is as the Chair of our National Advisory Committee. As an employee of the State of Washington though, I’m the Director of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. I wanted to spend the next 15 minutes just talking a little bit about the public VR program and how individuals might want to better present their interest in going on an international exchange and how that might really work in terms of state VR services.

So let me just start with just doing a basic description of the public vocational rehabilitation program. As folks know, we are federal/ state partnership so we get ¾ of our funds from the federal government.  But it really is a partnership between the federal level and the state level. As individuals come to vocational rehabilitation for services, they need to think in terms of a couple of key things – one is the philosophy of our organization.  We are about employment outcomes. We want to see successful employment outcomes for people that come to VR for services.

On a broader scale, though, what we are looking for is that competitive edge that people with disabilities bring to the workplace.  So when we’re trying to make a match between the person with a disability and an employer, what we want to be able to say is that this individual offers you the employer the most significant edge in terms of that competitiveness. 

So as you’re thinking about coming to VR for services, you need to be thinking about what is it that you’re going to require from Vocational Rehabilitation in order to become successfully employed.  Now, as most folks know, we are an eligibility-based program, not an entitlement program – so you need to be able to demonstrate that you are an individual with a disability, that you have barriers to employment based on your disability and that you require vocational rehabilitational services in order to become employed.

Once you’re determined eligible, you work together with your vocational rehabilitation counselor to be able to develop your vocational goal and then the plan of services that it will take to be able to help you to become successfully employed. And that’s really where you want to be able to start to talk about what is it that you are interested in doing, how is it that vocational rehabilitation can assist you in becoming successfully employed.

If you are a person with a disability who is interested in doing an international exchange – as you develop your plan with your vocational rehabilitation counselor, that’s the time to start to talk about why that particular service is going to be able to help you become employed.

One of the constraints that vocational rehabilitation will always have is around funding and so we’re going to want to look at whether or not you’ve exhausted all other potential funding sources first.  Have you leveraged other resources to help you be able to become employed and is international exchange one of those activities that can help you become employed?

As I think about how to build an effective partnership with your vocational rehabilitation counselor, it’s really around communication. It’s really around being able to identify how and why participation in an international exchange is going to help you be able to be successful. So engaging your counselor in helping to create those solutions is going to be really important.  Thinking through how to be able to do some problem solving around what happens with your social security benefits. How is it you’re going to be able to be accommodated in another country and another culture? What kind of research have you done to find out why this is really the best choice for you and is it going to lead to an employment outcome? Those kinds of approaches with a vocational rehabilitation counselor are really critical to them becoming engaged in seeing this as a reasonable way to move forward.

I wanted to share with you some of the successful stories just from a real personal experience from a person who has really benefited from being a delegate on professional exchanges. For me it has been a very rich experience.  As Barbara said, I started my international exchange opportunities with Mobility International USA back in 1988.

I have to tell you as a high school student, as a college student, I never thought about going on a professional exchange. I was a person with a disability but my vision of where I was headed was really limited.  I thought for sure that I was going to be an elementary school teacher and that was my future. But as I became a part of the independent living movement and really began to see myself in a very different light; suddenly, I had a much different perspective of where I was headed as a professional. So I had an opportunity back in 1988 to be able to go to the People’s Republic of China with Mobility International USA and after that, the world was open to me. 

I ended up being able to participate in both large and small exchanges, sometimes with just a couple of people, sometimes with as many as 20-25. But I’ve been to China, Russia, New Zealand and Australia, Germany, and Japan.  I spent five weeks in Japan on an educational fellowship.  I’ve been to Zimbabwe, to Uzbekistan, to Peru, many, many different countries - where as a professional in vocational rehabilitation and as someone who has been the Director of a Center for Independent Living, I was able to bring a richness to those exchanges that I was able to bring as a person with a disability in the field of vocational rehabilitation. 

But what I brought back to my job is an understanding of diverse cultures, an understanding of what we need to do as an organization to be more welcoming of people from different cultures as they come to our state and as they seek services from vocational rehabilitation. So those have been incredibly valuable to me as a professional. 

As I look at people who apply for positions here in vocational rehabilitation, I’m looking for people with disabilities who understand diverse cultures – who are able to help us move forward as an organization that’s going to be able to be more successful not only with the people that we serve but also with those employers and those businesses that are hiring people with disabilities.  So I would really ask you as you think about how to be able to engage vocational rehabilitation, think about how it’s really going to benefit not only you as an individual with the disability, but you as the professional in vocational rehabilitation.

Some of the times though when people present what they see as the array of services that they are going to require from vocational rehabilitation, there may not be a direct link back to their vocational goal.  There may not be agreement that’s been reached with their vocational counselor.  And I would encourage people if that doesn’t work – if you reach a point where the vocational rehabilitation program is not responsive to your interest in being a delegate or participating in an international exchange – there are options available if you are dissatisfied with the decision that the vocational rehabilitation counselor has made. And sometimes the vocational rehabilitation counselors really are struggling with trying to see the connection.

And I would encourage people to talk to the local office manager or supervisor. Talk with the Client Assistance Program if you’re not able to reach agreement because there are avenues available for people to be able to reach agreement and it doesn’t necessarily have to be – I requested this and my counselor agreed or didn’t agree. It may be that you need someone to help you with that negotiation or being able to reach agreement. And it’s never a bad thing to engage someone in creating those solutions with you. If your heart and soul is focused in participating in an international exchange and you have a vision on how that’s going to help you become employed and you’re not able to reach an agreement with voc rehab on that – then I encourage folks to utilize the Client Assistance Program or other alternative dispute resolutions, mechanisms that we have available to see if you can reach agreement.

I know that working with the public vocational rehabilitation program can at times be exhilarating.  It can be frustrating.  It can be challenging, but we are a good resource because we are in the business of wanting to assist people with disabilities to become employed.  We are in the business of wanting to be able to work together with employers in our state to be able to be a leading resource in helping them meet their workforce needs. And we are a part of the overall workforce system.

So my recommendation as people think through on how to be able to reach agreement with a vocational rehabilitation agency is to think in terms of the employment outcome.  How is that the services that you require will really assist you as an individual with a disability become employed? And how can we look at whether or not public VR can be a partner in your success. And I’d really encourage people to think in terms of using that as the approach. 

As a part of the public vocational rehabilitation program, I know that we’re really excited when we have people with disabilities who come to us for our services and they say, ‘here’s what I’m interested in and here are the barriers to employment that I’ve experienced in the past.  Here are the limitations based on my disability.  And here’s what I require from vocational rehabilitation. Here are the other resources that I’ve tried to leverage. Here are the ways that I can become involved in creating the solutions that can lead to my employment. And here’s the piece that I really require from VR.’  That’s really the best approach to be able to be able to use.

If you’re looking for support from the public VR program, you want to make sure that: you are eligible for vocational rehabilitation services; that either studying or working abroad must be directly related to your educational goals, to your employment goals, and you need to be able to think about what are those other resources are that you may be able to bring to bear in being able to be successful in your vocational rehabilitation plan.

So those are my best suggestions as a person who has participated in exchange programs, who has worked with other professionals in other countries.  I know that they’re richer as a result of people with disabilities from the United States having the chance to study or work abroad but we as a country are stronger as a result of having that cultural awareness and that world diversity that you bring back and that you are then able to bring to the workplace.  So those are my recommendations.  I’m going to sit through the rest of the teleconference and I’ll be available at the end to answer any questions that people may have.  So, Barb, I’m going to turn it back to you.

   Resources Related to Vocational Rehabilitation

• Public Vocational Rehabilitation Website
• Using Social Security or Vocational Rehabilitation for International Exchange 

Barb: 

Thank you so much, Lynnae.  As Lynnae said, she will be available for answering questions at the end of the session.

I would like to introduce you to Christa Bucks Camacho.  Christa is working currently to enhance opportunities for youth with disabilities to successfully transition to adulthood.  She works for the U.S. Social Security Administration in the office of Program Development and Research in Maryland. Christa brings her international experiences from Mexico and Paraguay. I would like to introduce you to Christa. (Technical instructions) Welcome!

  SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

Christa Bucks Camacho (U.S. Social Security Administration):

Thanks Barb and thanks to MIUSA for the invitation to meet with all of you today. Social Security and MIUSA/NCDE have been collaborating for many years to share information on how individuals who receive benefits from social security might consider studying outside of the United States and continue to receive their benefits. Before I continue here with more information on the various resources that we offer here at Social Security – I just wanted to share with you a little bit about who I am.

Prior to working with Social Security, I worked internationally. My experience has expanded to 14 different countries.  I have studied, volunteered, and worked abroad. Those experiences included two years in the U.S. Peace Corps where I was a volunteer in youth development in Paraguay. My international experience did not happen in one moment.  It evolved over time and when I think back to the beginning when I first started to travel internationally, it was on a study abroad experience.  And I encountered much hesitation amongst the professors at my university to encourage me as a person with a disability to study abroad.

I use a manual and an electric wheelchair full-time. And I remember making sure that my parents attended the study abroad information session at my freshman orientation.  And afterwards, I made sure that my parents met the study abroad coordinator.  This allowed the coordinator to know right away that I was serious about studying abroad.  You see, I knew prior to starting my freshman year in college that I wanted to study international studies and focus on a degree in Spanish.  From that point, I knew that I needed to have international experience in order to meet the degree at my university.

From my study abroad experience in Costa Rica and also in Mexico, I earned the required course credits and gained even more.  And others can also gain so much from studying abroad – improved job skills such as interpersonal skills, flexibility, adaptability. 

I remember back a few years ago when I was teaching in Paraguay – arts and crafts to about 35 kids who spent most of their time working on the streets, washing car windows or selling candy. They were in a macramé lesson and I had brought for the class, string and scissors – well, at the end of 30 minutes, there was string all over the room and I was sitting on the scissors. Well – it took time, many classes, and a year later when 12 or more of these kids could independently make belts, bracelets, and owls. You see international experience gives an opportunity to build leaderships skills, self-confidence, increase interests in local and community involvement.

And after I finished my two years in the Peace Corps, I asked the director of Peace Corps Paraguay what were some of his initial thoughts before I arrived. He said, ‘What will be all the challenges that she will have to overcome?’ He had visions of non-existent sidewalks, buildings with steps, and streets with potholes in the asphalt and numerous rocky and dirt roads.  He also asked, ‘How can she contribute?’ I believe that his initial reaction was to see my disability before my abilities.  And over time, he began to see my skills.  And one of the ways that I introduced myself to him was that I had done a video about myself introducing my interests in international work and this video was later shown to my host family in Paraguay to help prepare for my arrival. 

You know, there is so much to gain from international experience including cultural and world-view perspectives, along with increased skill levels or investments in developing second language skills and more. 

I can also recall one day, when my Quickie power wheelchair was described as a UFO – an unidentified flying object.  Well, it has never sprouted wings and flown but it does go splashing through puddles and bouncing over rocky roads.  International experience provides an opportunity for more open and self-sustaining attitudes towards cultural and diversity issues.  And you have the opportunity and you may work with people with disabilities who want this competitive edge from studying abroad.

One resource that you can share with clients that you have that receive supplemental security income is information on the study abroad provision. Social security in the program operations manual provides a description of a rule that says,  “A student of any age may be eligible for SSI, supplemental security income benefits while temporarily outside of the U.S. for the purpose of conducting studies that are not available in the U. S. as sponsored by an educational institution in the U.S. and are designed to enhance the student’s ability to engage in gainful employment. Such a student must have been eligible to receive an SSI benefit for the month preceding the first full month outside of the United States.”

Please make note of a few things here in regard to the requirements that we will post on MIUSA’s website on a link to these requirements but they are: that you must have a required course of study and must not be available in the United States. It must be sponsored by an educational institution in the U.S. It must be designed to substantially enhance the individual’s ability to work. The individual must be eligible for SSI for the one month immediately prior to leaving the country. And the individual must earn academic credits towards a degree while abroad.

You may be interested in the history of how the exception to the 30-day rule began. This is the exception to what is called the SSI presence rule.  The presence rule does not allow for the payment or continuation of SSI benefits to an individual who is outside the United States for a full calendar month or 30 consecutive days or more. With this exception to the 30-day rule, this amendment allowing studying abroad was brought about by Congressman Pete Stark from California in 1994 as part of the Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act, effective January 1st, 1995. This provision is enabling individuals who are students, who receive supplemental security income to gain valuable skills for employment through studying abroad.  And this provision is available for up to one year. Some examples of how individuals have used SSI funding – It paid for a personal attendant’s services.  A student at a university spent a summer studying abroad in Scotland and was able to pay for PA services. Tuition, books, and supplies for a university student with a visual impairment to study for a semester in the Czech Republic and Greece.  Also the program fees for a student who is blind participating in a summer educational program in Costa Rica.  Or someone studying in Australia could consider, if they have difficulty walking, or might use a wheelchair, of renting a golf cart for transportation and paying for those fees. Or someone who has a visual impairment, say who would study in England, might pay for tuition, housing fees and books for a university.

Well, let me tell you where to go for some more information. Go to www.socialsecurity.gov. Look for the Program Operations Manual and you’ll go to SSI 00501.411 to read about the SSI study abroad provision. Please remember that before you as a person who receives supplemental security income with study abroad, you will need to go or make contact with your social security field office to confirm that all of your requirements are met. What you might want to bring with you is a copy of the requirements to graduate from the university that you are studying, also information about the study abroad program that you have been accepted to, along with some background on the program that you will be studying at.  But contact the social security field office ahead of time to make sure that you are bringing all the documentation that you do need.  SSI benefits are available to individuals studying abroad for up to one year if the qualifications are met and we will post on MIUSA’s website, the links to these requirements and I will be available here after the call to answer any questions.

Now, remember, if you are an individual who is receiving a different benefit program from social security, there are different rules and you would want to learn more about that information from your social security field office or also look on our website. There is a section called www.socialsecurity.gov/international. I will be available to answer any questions here in the latter half of the call.  Barb, I’ll turn the call back over to you.

 Resources Related to Christa, Social Security, and Volunteering

• Christa's Story:
  
  Peacecorps Online, People in the News, Volunteering in the Peace Corps
• Social Security Information:  
  
  Social Security Administration website,
  Social Security Field Office nearest you 
  Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States
  Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for Noncitizens 
• Volunteer/Intern Abroad Exchange Organizations
  
  Search on-line using the MIUSA database, Select "volunteer" on the keyword list.
  Use Volunteer Abroad to search for volunteer programs like the Peace Corps

Barb:

Thank you so much Christa.  Again, as Christa said, she will be taking questions at the end of this conference call. She will also be taking them with Lynnae Ruttledge.  I just ask that everyone hold their questions – it looks like we will be having them in about ½ hour. What we’ve heard so far is with, from Lynnae on Vocational Rehabilitation and individuals who are coming in with an interest in that ultimate goal of employment. And international experience can be a way to get some life-fulfilling career goals filled.  The second thing that we heard from Christa Bucks Camacho was the availability of possibly using SSI, if an individual with a disability is receiving this benefit, to continue it on a study abroad program if they qualify.

I do want to let people know that many concerns as far as study abroad are brought up in relation to financial aid. For financial aid and funding, there are many organizations, disability organizations and international organizations that do offer financial funding – scholarships.  Some exchange organizations offer grants, fellowships, and scholarships. And we have made a list of some of these organizations available on our website. I will put a link to that site on the transcript. It is www.miusa.org/ncde/financialaid that will get you right there if you are trying to write that down right now. There are also some other organizations that have some good lists such as IIE (http://www.studyabroadfunding.org/).

With languages being highlighted as they are by our U.S. Department of State in places such as China, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Japan, the Middle East, and some of the South American countries – it is possible to find some very good funding out there.  So it may be possible when you are thinking about an individual who has come to Voc Rehab in order to get employment because they are living on the edge right now – I just want people to understand that funding is out there.

And now, I’d like us to continue.  I want to introduce Tracy Grothe.  Tracy recently started her own business Perspectives 20/20 and this works with clients dealing with vision loss and blindness in Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska. Lynnae brought us the West Coast and Christa brought us the East Coast and now Tracy can give us a little bit of information about the middle of the country.

Tracy was a study abroad participant with a visual disability in the Czech Republic and Greece.  Since her study abroad experiences, Tracy has worked as a Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist, a career counselor, an accessibility specialist, and now she has started her own business. (Technical instructions)  And go ahead, Tracy.

Tracy Grothe (Perspectives 20/20):

Hi Barb.  Thank you very much. As Barb mentioned, I am working on my own business at this time, but I’m going to give you a little background on how I got to this point of self-employment.  I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and was one of the first thirteen students with a disability that the Students with Disabilities Services Office served. 

I was born with legal blindness so I had a lot of accommodations and just adapting to do in the college environment.  I really didn't have much special education or anything special for me in high school or grade school at the time.  When I was at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, I worked closely with an office that developed computer labs for people with special needs and was one of the forerunners for our student services offices across the country.

One of my passions was to travel.  I had a family who really promoted international travel and one of the languages that I learned to speak was Spanish. So throughout my college career, I did a lot of traveling on my own with friends and family.  So when I moved on to my career path, I was a public relations assistant for several different agencies that revolved around disability – it might have been the American Diabetes Association, the Radio Talking Books Network which is a free radio reading service for the print disabled and then the Safety Council.  And after that, when I did some consulting for some other agencies, I decided it was time to get my Masters degree. 

In doing some research on the computer, I found Mobility International USA/National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange and their World of Options book for disability, international exchange, foreign study abroad and international opportunities abroad. And in doing that, by contacting Mobility (International USA), it sparked my idea to combine my passion for travel, my advocacy background for working in the field of disability as well as getting my masters degree. 

So I started doing some local research to try to find out how do I contact MIUSA/NCDE, how do I sign up, how could I get that book. And I went to the University of Nebraska – Omaha and met with the International Studies Department and the Dean of International Studies who is now, Dr. Gouttierre, who is now quite involved with the Afghanistan Studies and putting schools and colleges in Afghanistan back together.  Omaha is one of the only and the largest Afghanistan refugee populations that has really taken over in establishing Afghanistan after the war.

So he mentioned to me that if I wanted to work in the field, I needed to do a study abroad experience.  So they presented an opportunity to me for a semester abroad.  It was a combined program with five universities in the state of Nebraska that went to the Czech Republic and Greece and then while we were in all of those countries or both of those places – we traveled to surrounding places like Italy, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Germany and Greece and Turkey.  So as a visually impaired person, I actually used MIUSA/NCDE for some tips and information on accommodating myself when I’m at different universities that don’t have Disabled Student Services Offices.

One of the projects that I worked on while I was on my study abroad was trying to gather information, addresses about the different schools that might be looking at special ed. – now the Czech Republic had been getting assistance from the United States on improving their colleges and their special ed. programs.  I networked and talked with all of those agencies and then provided that information back for a special ed. professor back in Omaha.  So by investigating this arena and then being someone with a visual impairment, who in my own country couldn’t read street signs, had difficulty reading…I can’t read phone books or newspapers or any of the things that are handed out in normal print size…It was interesting to see how my experience as being a visually impaired person was somewhat what my colleagues…There were 22 other students with me…were feeling when they were submersed in the Czech Republic and couldn’t read street signs, menus, phone books, tickets for the train and trying to travel throughout the country…Because where we were, there was a town of 60,000 people who really didn’t speak English.  They either didn’t want to or they couldn’t or they didn’t know how. 

So it simulated how our international population might feel when they come to the Midwest where we really are fairly homogenous, which is part of the reason why the Czech Republic was where the experience was. And while I was there doing the research, I noticed how a lot of the post-communist countries are very - they are behind in being accessible for anyone with a mobility disability or any other kind per se.  Very few ramps, no curb cuts.  A lot of the housing is all stairs, no elevators. There are some very difficult accommodations and they are trying to make strides in changing that.  I was also using an assistive device which was like a small note-taker but it was a mini laptop computer with a zoom text and a speaking program like JAWS and was able to show some of the professionals in the special ed. departments how that technology might help someone with low vision or a learning disability.  So I kind of walked into all of these experiences with the passion and desire to be a promoter for the field of disability and international exchange. 

And, went ahead to return to the United States with some culture shock and realizing that ‘wow – my experience had really made me realize that I can achieve anything that I want with the right adaptations.’  Like, before I was there, the Euro dollar was not in effect in those countries. So every weekend, I went to a different country and had to deal with all the different change; coins and dollars in my pocket.  Part of what I had to do was to use ziplock bags and then label them so that I could read which ones they were because I was getting them all confused.  I used different pockets because all the coins were so hard to… First of all, we didn’t know the language and second of all, the different shapes and different material that it was made with…So I’m the one who came up with that for myself which then helped all the other students who didn’t have a particular disability that they would define themselves as. 

But I became the resident counselor.  Of course, I was a little bit older.  There were only three graduate students.  The rest were undergrads…And somewhat of a leader because I really didn’t have any fear and a lot of them were like, ‘Well, we can’t read the street signs so we can’t remember where we are.’ So I was teaching them some memory and tracking activities that I use to try and remember where I am.  It was interesting to see that I had abilities that outweighed what some of the students took for granted. 

So I went on to get my masters degree when I came back to the United States. I decided that, ‘Heck, I’ve lived overseas – how hard can it be to live in a different city like New Orleans and get my masters degree!’  I would have no problem understanding the language because, you know, I’ve lived in the Czech Republic, and I got around in Poland, and Italy and Turkey, etc.  Well, I learned that culture shock…Number one…that I was going through since I’d only been back for one month, made me realize how different our country was. And then I had a new culture shock going on being in the almost different country that New Orleans was. 

One of the jobs that I got while I was a graduate assistant was the International Students and Scholars Advisors Office position.  And I loved that position because I was working with over 800 students with international backgrounds from 80 different countries. And I felt like I was an international student because I was coming from Nebraska - living in New Orleans - and if any of you have lived in New Orleans, it is quite a different world.

I was also there without knowing how to do public transportation so that was something.  In Omaha, we really don’t have a great bus system for public transportation but overseas, it became secondary for me to use the train and public transportation. So that was something that I helped myself by doing a study abroad.

The reason that I got the job right off the bat at the International Students and Scholars Office was because of my study abroad experience that I had come back from. I probably wouldn’t have as a white, non-international person if I didn’t have that experience myself.  Most of the graduate assistants prior to me that had been hired for that graduate assistant job had come from another country so that they could speak the language or be more in tune with what the students were going through. 

So that’s one of the things that I can attest to – The study abroad experiences not only made me more independent, but also I realized that I have multiple skills and things that I can teach people who don’t have disabilities - It kind of made me look at myself and realize that maybe I’m on the fence – I’m not completely disabled - I kind of had this self-fulfilling situation going on while I was getting my master’s degree. 

I finished my master’s degree in counseling and moved on to a position in the State of Nebraska as a Vocational Rehabilitation counselor.  I did have international clients, multi-cultural clients – a lot of them coming from Sudan.  It really helped in understanding what their situation was - the culture shock and not understanding what they were supposed to do to find a job - Because in a lot of countries, jobs are governmentally handed out or they got a specific degree and that is just the kind of job that they would have. So teaching people how to do their resumes and marketing their skills and their transferable skills and their language was something that my perspective was different because I had lived in another country to realize that. 

I also spoke about my experiences to the Vocational Rehabilitation staff as a MIUSA National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange peer network presenter. MIUSA/NCDE also had me go to Illinois to speak to the Illinois State Conference of Vocational Rehabilitation counselors about my experience and the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange. 

Then here locally, in the State of Nebraska, I have two peer mentors that I have worked with who are both college students – one is visually impaired and one is dealing with cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities with that.  Both of these young ladies are working on their college degrees and plan to do a study abroad as part of their education due to the fact that I’ve introduced them to that information and how that can help them in their careers.

I have always advocated for my clients at Voc Rehab to do an internship or some sort of experience that will set them apart from the rest of the resumes that come through. And I think that study abroad for someone with a disability will show a person who is looking at their resume or looking at them in an interview that, ‘Wow, no matter if this person does have a difficult situation or something different that I’m not aware of as an interviewer – Look at what they’ve done.  They’ve gone overseas and conquered their disability in a study abroad or in an international volunteer experience.  And if they can figure out that, then they should have no problem figuring out my job that I’m trying to interview them for.’ So that is some of the coaching that I would do with the clients. 

I moved into working as an Assistive Technology Partnership trainer for the Work Investment Act and part of that position was to go around the state to 22 different offices and train Employment Services staff of the Workforce Development Office about working with people with disabilities and having cultural and etiquette awareness of that population of clients who would be coming through the door and training them on assistive technology. And through that experience and working with multi-cultural people, I’m realizing that there is such a need out there for not only the aging; but people that are having vision problems due to disabilities and illnesses like diabetes. The assistive technology that is necessary for that population just hasn’t been publicized.

So I’ve gone into my own business now to do grief counseling and working with the visually impaired to provide them with solutions whether it be a CCTV, a hand-held magnifier or just some grief counseling to try to figure out how do they try and deal with their disability in a different way; how do they look at it, and how do they cope with vision loss now later in their life.  So all of my experiences including the international experience, because I do have multi-cultural clients that I am working with, have built my career into self-employment. 

And at this time, I am still a client of the Commission for the Visually Impaired.  In the State of Nebraska they are separate from Voc Rehab but the same kind of entity. And I will be working with a lot of the Commission for the Blind’s clients and a vision doctor here in town to try to improve people’s knowledge of the services that are available for them through technology and training. 

I continue to be an advocate for international exchange and I know that Mobility International USA can be such an influence as it was in my life or anyone else that I talk to and meet.  I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you’all today about how my journey has taken me in the direction of self-employment and I do intend to continue my international experiences as my, as my career goes on. I will be around for questions a little bit later if you have some specific questions.  Thank you very much.

Resources Related to Tracy, Disability Tipsheets, and Study Abroad

• Low Vision Solutions
• Tipsheets by NCDE for Disability Related Accommodations
• Study Abroad On-line Searches including Mobility International USA
  

Barb:

Thank you very much, Tracy.  I think it’s a wonderful perspective to understand the perspective of a student who has been abroad.  And we’ve been very lucky in this presentation in that all of our presenters have also been abroad. 

I want to round this out to our last presenter.  Her name is Erica Smith Caloiero.  And what is nice about this is that her office is where the interested student is going to ultimately end up and that’s in the Study Abroad Office.  What is special about Erica is that she comes from Lehigh University, which has collaborated with the Disability Services Office there into ensuring that they are working together with students with disabilities who are interested in study abroad.  (See information about their award winning collaboration project ).

Let me tell you a little bit about Erica.  Erica is the Director of the Study Abroad Program at Lehigh University so we’re taking this presentation from the Midwest back to the East Coast.  Erica grew up in Vermont and she had her first international exchange experience when she was 15.  And in order to fund further travel adventures, she taught ESL and assisted international students while in college.  And because of her ability to counsel after experiencing such cultural adjustments, Erica arrived at where she is today as Director of the Study Abroad Program at Lehigh University. (Technical instructions to the presenter).  Erica – I will turn it over to you.   Thank you.

Erica Smith Caloiero (Lehigh University):

Thanks Barb and thanks to Lynnae, Christa, and Tracy.  The work that you do is so admirable and it has been a pleasure listening to your insight and your experiences.  I am at Lehigh University. I am the Director of the Study Abroad office. And I’m very fortunate to be on a campus where the Office of Disability Support Services is dynamic and engaged and they are a pleasure to work with.  We operate from a common perspective, which is that in preparing young men and women for lives of leadership and service, preparing them to be in the world, preparing them for the world that awaits them, they must have experiences that are in the world and study abroad, therefore, forms a really integral component of the undergraduate education.  We absolutely believe that study abroad is a tool, which helps students gain self-sufficiency skills and ultimately develop skills that help them gain long-term employment.

In terms of the work that we do together on campus, that is the Study Abroad Office and the Office of Disability Support Services, there have been two very important key components that we’ve seen evolve over the past several years – communication and mutual trust.  Our ability to work together has been vastly aided by the fact that we genuinely get along and we respect the work that we all do and we communicate frequently and openly.  There is no such thing as a question that, you know, isn’t a good question, of course. 

We do a lot of activities together.  My office – the Study Abroad Office does a lot of outreach to different areas on campus – academic as well as student life areas and that’s been a very useful mechanism to recruit students and to spread the word about the advantages and the benefits of study abroad.  With the Office of Disability Support Services, we co-host talks and student panels and presentations - generally with staff from my office and the Disability Support Office as well as…and it is very important, as several presenters have mentioned…it is very important to use or to invite returned students to provide insight and to share their own experiences with students who are thinking about study abroad.

The Disability Support Services Office generates just fabulous relationships with the students with whom they work.  And so even students who aren’t really sure whether study abroad is right for them – these students regularly turn out and listen to us as staff and to their peers who have studied abroad. And I think that has had the effect of enticing some students who weren’t really certain that study abroad was right for them to give it a try. 

I’m going to talk a little bit later about program models but just briefly I’ll mention that study abroad, of course, doesn’t just mean one thing.  There are a variety of program models – that is program types and certainly any – a whole range of durations.  A program can be as short as a week or ten days.  A program can be an academic year so there really is the opportunity in working with students to help them tailor an experience that will be right for them and help them, help them advance the goals that they can identify. 

We generate, together with the Office of Disability Support Services – We really value a culture of openness and support.  We encourage and facilitate appropriate risk-taking and we absolutely support students in taking appropriate responsibility for preparing for the experience of studying abroad.  We invite the Office of Disability Support Services not just to our Study Abroad Fair but to all sorts of events that take place on campus that are related to study abroad including participating in campus visits. 

So when representatives from programs and institutions visit our campus, it is important to us that our - that the staff across campus and from the Disability Support Services Office – It is important to us that they are there - that they are talking to the representatives and that they are asking questions that are specific to them and the work that they do. 

We invite them to present to faculty who lead study abroad programs and we also invite them to trainings that we do for faculty who lead study abroad programs in order to round out the view that they have of our activities and the view that they have of study abroad programs and this has been a success.  It has generated – really - We’ve sort of floated the boat higher.  Everybody knows more.  Everybody is smarter. Everyone understands better what different areas do – what different offices have responsibility for. And we can all speak more knowledgably to students about the process of applying and exploring and then of course, actually going abroad and coming home and thinking about using those skills in seeking employment. So…a culture of openness! 

We also seek to normalize study abroad as an experience.  I’ve talked about it as an integral part of the education – You know, using language that encourages faculty and staff alike to understand that study abroad links - links important pieces of the curriculum and important co-curricular and extra-curricular aspects of life together rather than existing as a free-standing or disconnected experience. And as you have just heard – it is, study abroad is anything but free-standing or disconnected.  It generally is a core, a foundational, and just a central experience.  It’s, it’s, it’s life changing.  It’s life forming. 

We normalize coverage of disability topics the same way that we talk about women’s issues and safety abroad and GLBTQ issues.  We talk about everything together.  We don’t, you know, we don’t – it’s never our practice to get together with a group of students who have a particular set of issues and do a separate orientation with them.  We do favor talking about any issues with a big group.  And students, I think, benefit from hearing about issues that are particular to themselves but also issues that may be particular to the person sitting across the room who, you know, they may or may not know that someone has a disability. It may not be apparent - But just in terms of generating a culture on campus where, where we’re aware of diversity and where we we’re mindful of the differences. 

And the beauty of diversity that exists here, for example - Instead of asking a student in an advisory session, instead of asking ‘Do you have a disability that we may need to work with you to accommodate abroad?’ - We say, you know,  ‘If you’ve ever worked with Cheryl Ashcroft or Kathleen Hutnik,’ – our Disability Support Services folks – ‘you probably want to stop in and see them and share with them your plans for study abroad.’ It’s, it’s subtle but we really do want to be completely inclusive in the language that we use and in the way that we prepare students to go. 

We let students know via presentations, and panels, and discussions – we let them know very early that when they plan early and thoroughly, it helps ensure their success.  We ask students – ‘What organizational…?’ - all students, all students – What organizational system helps them stay on top of details.  Do they need lists?  Do they need e-mail reminders?  Sometimes a simple tool like handing a student a file folder will – it just, it sounds really simple but by giving a student a simple tool to stay organized helps them stay on top of the details and helps them follow through.  It gives them a place to jot down notes.  So generalizing the supportive techniques for all students and normalizing the balance between support and personal responsibility is something that we do just as a matter of course. 

It’s a wonderful thing for me – in fact, in collaboration with the Office of Disability Support Services – It is really a wonderful thing for me that I don’t have to be an expert in every area of student affairs.  It’s, it’s a wonderful thing that I know that I can call or e-mail and we get together for lunch or coffee.  I can ask questions.  I don’t have to know everything. But through this open communication and fairly steady communication, I know that I have access to all the information that I need. And the Office of Disability Support Services knows that I will appropriately refer students to that office and that I will - that I’m equipped to make inquiries and support their work with students as well. 

A few words about program models – The Study Abroad Program - we think about a continuum and at one end of the continuum of models – Well, a continuum would be an integration into a host culture, into the academic culture of the place that the student is studying. So at one end of the continuum, we would see direct enroll programs.  And that means, you know, direct enroll means that a student is like any other student on a campus. So I might have a student go to the University College – London as a directly enrolled student.  They are a visiting student, not a degree-seeking student, but they are fully integrated into local culture and campus culture. So they don’t get special treatment. They do have an International Students Office that is dedicated to, you know, these visiting students but all of the academic rules, regulations and policies, the housing options, everything, you know, is sort of the same as what local degree-seeking students receive. 

At the other end of the continuum, we have what are often referred to as island programs referring not to geography, but to the nature of the program – that is, it is not, generally, an island program is not on a campus.  It is not at a host institution.  An island program tends to be made up of faculty who teach and North American, you know, American undergraduate students who are enrolled in the program.  Island programs tend to have a targeted schematic focus. And I’ll talk more about that in a moment.

So we have direct enroll on one end and island programs on the other end and in the middle there is a range of hybrid programs. Hybrid programs are most typical of – Well, I shouldn’t actually generalize that way - My students use hybrid programs most often when they are studying in a country where English is not the language, the primary language spoken and where the student may have, may have a little bit of background in the language but isn’t comfortable - doesn’t have the language skill to take all of their courses in the host language.  A student might take a course or two in, say Spanish, but they would also have a couple of courses taught in English at a Center for American Students. Hybrid programs are very common.  A few examples include EIEE, IES, and then universities also have, some universities function as third party providers so Harvard programs, Boston University, Syracuse University, University of Minnesota, etc. 

Now to describe a little bit more, in depth, about what some of the characteristics are on the different program types.  And I want to point out that the, that the different models really demand different skills of students and help develop different skills as well. They promote the development of different skills.  They do also present different sorts of challenges.  And, of course, you know, we don’t encourage students to study abroad because it’s, it’s the same as being at home – It isn’t! We want students to study abroad to be challenged, to broaden their horizons, etc.

A direct enroll program – so – a student studying at a host university just like any other student - Again, they are fully culturally and academically immersed and integrated. They will, therefore, have to navigate the academic system of the host university and, and the, let’s call it bureaucracy, that accompanies that system. As you may know, academic systems vary very widely around the world. And so the administrative and bureaucratic structures vary widely as well.  So students will need to navigate those systems. Students will – in a direct enroll program – They will often be living in university housing and so they will be coming into contact with students from the host university so there is exposure to host nationals.  There’s often a lot of international students – you know - Americans also, but non-Americans and non-host nationals – Students from around the world who are also in this housing. Because, on study abroad programs, students aren’t degree-seeking and because, often, increasingly in fact, they are there for one semester only – sort of the drop in, drop out – you know, someone needs a room for one semester or two semesters – It’s a, it’s a fairly straight-forward process for them to register for housing. And they are often with other international students particularly those who are studying on a similar program – that is for one semester or two semesters.

Students will need to learn how to navigate local transportation.  They will need to learn to be flexible.  They will really need to tolerate a high degree of ambiguity, learn how to cope with that, learn how to thrive, you know, with ambiguity but, but… I think that one of the key things that we see in students who return from a direct-enroll experience.  They are very flexible.  They really learn how to roll with it. Also in direct enroll environments, it is more common than here in the United States, more common for students to be expected to take a very high degree of responsibility for being organized and showing up on time for classes or just attending classes in general.  That is to say, it is often the case that there is no attendance taken in classes.  It is often the case that there isn’t a lot of homework.  There may not be a lot of assessment measures so their grades will ride on one or two or sometimes three assessment measures. This is not always the case in direct enroll environments but it is something that we tend to see. So, a student will learn how to be organized or will need to learn how to be very organized if they are not that way already. They will need to take a high degree of responsibility for staying on top of the academic work through the course of the semester as opposed having it kind of portioned out to them nicely by having weekly assignments or quizzes that they plan for.  They’ll need to take responsibility for doing the work.

They will also need to take responsibility for…often, they will need to take responsibility for arranging their own flight, finding their way to campus, arriving on campus, getting a visa in the first place before they even depart for their host institution.  So initially, it can be, initially, it is a lot for a student to take on and this is why we talk about organizational systems – how can a student stay organized, how can a student stay on top of the details. We do a lot of advising.  We do a lot more advising, I would say, with students who do direct enroll programs because of these factors. Other end of the spectrum - back to island programs.  

On island programs, again we have the in-depth and targeted themes so - specifically constructed environments – think of it like a film.  Everything that you see in a movie is there for a purpose – right? So on an island program, there is a similar concept. These programs can be very deliberately constructed to deliver a certain set of experiences or courses.  Independent study is very common on island programs - host families, American style classes and grading and expectations. There is a lot of staff support and staff who understand American, you know, issues that are particular to American students. Hybrid programs, I mean really as the name implies and I mentioned before, you have some classes at the institution directly – the host university and some classes at a Center for American Students.  It is a nice balance. And depending on how willing a student is to take academic risks, how independent they want to be in terms of their living environment, or how close to the culture they want to be via host family or excursions etc., volunteer experiences.  They…they, it just is important to be cognizant of the different program models and to encourage students to really think about what their goals are.

On re-entry, we work with students on how to market their experience. Again, study abroad is not an isolated or free-standing experience, it is important to think about it on the return, you know, as a set of tools that the student has acquired; their inter-cultural and communication skills, a broadened world view, personal capabilities that you’ve heard a lot about already, knowledge of own culture.  And when we think about categorizing these kinds of skills, there are the adaptive skills, the functional skills, and the work-content kind of skills as well as a tremendous amount of values examination and reflection.

So this whole…On the reentry end, we work with the students as well as the Career Services Office and the Disability Support Services Office and other offices on campus to make sure that students continue the process – that they keep thinking about the experience that they’ve had abroad and that they very deliberately turn it into a tool whereby they can market all that they have learned and gained.  It is not enough for students to come back and say, “It was awesome,” and then sort of get back to life as usual.  It is very important that we work with them and coach them on integrating their new skills and their new perspectives into their resume, into the way that they interview, and ultimately, into their careers. 

  Resources Related to Study Abroad Offices & the Inclusion of Individuals with Disabilities

• Strategies for the Inclusion of Individuals with Disabilities
• NAFSA - Association of International Educators

• AHEAD - Association on Higher Education and Disability

• Self-Assessment on Inclusion for International Exchange Organizations

Question and Answer Session

Barb:

Thank you so much, Erica. What we’re going to do is open up to questions for about the next 20 minutes. (Technical instructions for asking questions). If you still have a question after this period, I will give you e-mails to our participants or to Mobility International (USA). We do have a staff on hand that has traveled quite widely themselves including France, South Africa, Hungary, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, and Japan. We have colleague and peer networks that we can put you in touch with. (Information about transcript given). You can also call us at (541) 343-1284 (tel/tty).  For those who want to ask questions, I ask that you please state your name, the organization to which you belong, and the presenter to whom you are directing your question.  For the next few minutes, this is open to questions – Go ahead!

Do I have any questions for Lynnae for instance on Vocational Rehabilitation issues?

Let me direct it then to our participant who studied abroad – Tracy Grothe – does anyone have any questions in regard to Tracy and her experiences?

I know that a lot of people have a lot of questions on social security.  Does anyone have any questions in regard to SSI and study abroad for Christa Bucks Camacho?

Tracy:

Actually, I do, Barb.  This is Tracy.

Barb:

Go ahead, Tracy.

Tracy:

Christa, is there any tracking, any sort of tracking going on right now to find out how many people are actually studying abroad while they are on SSI?

Christa:

Well, back…Tracy…thinking about your question here…in terms of the number of people who receive SSI who have studied abroad…Back a few, a couple of years ago, MIUSA and Social Security did partner together to ask people who did participate in study abroad and received supplemental security income and used the provision to share their experiences.  And Mobility International USA did a number of workshops and presentations in various parts of the country to share those personal experience stories as well as document those experiences for distribution through the National Clearinghouse (on Disability and Exchange).  So we do know that it is used so…Overall, it is used seldom because a lot of people don’t know about it.  So the work that MIUSA did do to let others know about the supplemental security income study abroad provision has increased the awareness of the provision and it is leading to more people using it. At least, I know that I’ve gotten more inquiries.

 Resource for Statistics on Disability and Exchange

• Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information & Exchange 

Barb: 

Thank you for answering that.  Any more questions?  Go ahead.

Carla:

Yes, this is Carla Rivas, working for Rehabilitation Services in Phoenix, Arizona and my question is health insurance.  If somebody is traveling abroad, how would their medical needs would be covered?

Barb: 

Erica, would you like to take on that aspect of things a little bit and NCDE can also help answer that…

Erica:

Sure. In colleges and universities, it is required, generally, that students have health insurance in order to be fully enrolled and full time on campus or whether they live on campus or off.  Generally speaking, health insurance travels abroad as long as students are full-time students.  But, it is important to check with individual health insurance companies to verify this. 

When a student’s health insurance plan does not travel abroad, we go on-line.  And Barb, maybe I can share some resources with you and you can put them on-line or perhaps send them out to folks. There are a lot of study abroad health insurance plans – plans that are designed specifically for students who are going abroad for a period of time and they are not expensive.  They are, gosh, at the most, maybe a couple of hundred dollars – at most.

Barb: 

And, I’m going to go ahead and continue with that too… There are some programs that provide insurance, some of the independent organizations – the third party organizations.  We have found that there are some cases with some of the individuals that we have worked with that have gone abroad, for instance to places like England, who have some access to the socialized medicine there. For instance, there was an individual that I can think of right off hand who has diabetes and was able to get a lot of her needles and paraphernalia and insulin from England’s socialized medication program. And as Erica said, she is going to ahead and send some of her information resources.  Then I can post some links to some of those websites for you on our transcript.

 Resources on Health Insurance for International Exchanges

• Arranging Travel and Health Insurance
• Health Insurance Company Listings by the University of Michigan

Barb:

Did anyone have a question particularly for the Study Abroad or Disability Services Offices?

Not all study abroad offices or disability services offices work as closely or are as familiar working with people with disabilities as Erica and her Disability Services Office there at Lehigh. And that is when, quite often, Mobility International USA and the NCDE comes into the picture. We often get questions from students or organizations that have never worked with a person with a disability before, saying, ‘How can we go ahead and accommodate this individual? How can we send a person who uses an interpreter here to go on a study abroad program in another country – isn’t that going to be really expensive?’  And that’s where we come into play and talk about some low cost accommodations. We talk about what has been used in the past – what has worked for some students and we put them in touch with peers that might help them out or colleagues.  Any other questions out there?

 Resources to Find Peers and Colleagues Knowledgeable of International Exchange and Disability

• Peer to Peer Network
• Colleague to Colleague Network

Barb: 

I do want people to know that you are welcome to e-mail us or call us at any time with your questions.  I know sometimes, it takes a couple of days to let all of this information to sink in.  Sometimes it takes the ability to just read it through.  And you are welcome to question any of our presenters or Mobility International USA / National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange’s staff. We are happy to take questions. (Instructions about how to log onto the website.) Again our phone number and tty is (541) 343-1284.   We still have time for questions and answers.  I’ll give a pause here.  (Technical instructions.)

 to clearinghouse@miusa.org

Mr. Cannon:

Maam?

Barb:

Go ahead.

Mr. Cannon:

My name is Mr. Cannon and I work with the Oklahoma Division of Rehab Services. I have helped, through the University of Oklahoma, a client several years ago plan and depart on a study abroad program.  Let me be the Devil’s Advocate a minute. What happens and how do you make the best of the situation when a student gets there, has a health crisis, and has to come back way ahead of time? Is there any follow up work that can be done still here in this country – contacting the place where she was… trying to finish up in a good manner?

Erica:

Yes! Yes!  There are, there are opportunities to, to…for the student to…I see what you are talking about…sort of getting credit for the experience and not actually returning to finish the second half or what…

Mr. Cannon:

Yes, Maam.

Erica:

Yeah, and, and again, when we look at the different program models, it depends on how able the hosting institution is able to accommodate that. So for example, at a large urban university, it might be challenging for the international office to work with that student’s professors because, perhaps they were in very large courses or classes and it might be unrealistic to expect the professor to work via distance to do an independent study with the student or set it up as such.

However, at an island program or on a…or on a hybrid program, these tend to be (indistinguishable word) a couple of hundred students at the most, and many programs are much, much smaller than that – a couple of dozen students. It’s much more realistic to make the request and expect for the request to be filled that the faculty member work via distance with a student to finish the course and to modify the way that the content is delivered, and the assessment measures, etc. so that the student might have the opportunity to receive credit for the course that they took.  Absolutely! We’ve actually…We’ve done this.  We’ve had students receive credit.  For a couple of months they may take an incomplete in the course but that’s normal.  And they receive credit several months later.  A student will generally feel kind of disappointed and not, you know, be a little uncertain whether they can handle the additional coursework along with a full course load if it...if it…if this is during a semester. Let’s say that they went for the Fall and are back in the Spring. But we’ve found that third party providers and programs are just very willing to work with students to help them make the most of the experience. Absolutely! 

If you think…if you, if you are working with a student ever and you think that that might potentially be the case or if you are in the habit of working with a, with a set of program providers or institutions - that actually might be a question that you could pose to them just as, as a, as a part of doing business with them, as a part of working with them. You know – would you be willing in the event that it would ever be necessary – would you be willing to work with my student via distance to help, you know, to help them receive credit for the work that they’ve begun on your program. Yeah.

Barb:

Thank you, Erica, I wasn’t sure if people understood that that was Erica from Lehigh University and she brought up a situation that happens occasionally to all students, with and without disabilities but it was very important one that needed to be addressed. Let me go ahead and open it up to any other questions or comments in that regard or in any other regard. 

Barb:

Well, on that note then, I just want to go ahead and thank all our presenters.  I thank you – to Lynnae, Christa, Tracy, and Erica. Excellent jobs!  And I really appreciate you joining our panel of speakers. If you have questions, our listeners out there, that you want to ask, and just didn’t get a chance to, or haven’t had a chance to formalize the thought in your head after taking in all this information, please to ahead and check our website (Gives website instructions). If you would like to e-mail us, the e-mail address is clearinghouse@miusa.org. And we will have links to information about SSI, links to our presenters, and any other pertinent information that may have been brought up during this teleconference.  I’m going to go ahead and sign off and we are going to close the recording.  Thank you to everyone and have a great week. 

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