Resource Library

Best Practices
In the foreground graphic, a metal pole supports an orange rectangular road sign labeled “Collaboration” and below it, a green sign labeled “Portland Community College.” In the background photo, fir trees tower above a narrow road that bends through a forest.

Think Global, Act Universal

Some international education professionals share anecdotes about scrambling to find accessible housing and transportation options when a student unexpectedly showed up to the program site in a wheelchair; others recall students who took them by surprise by exhibiting signs of depression shortly after arriving in their host destination.

Best Practices
In the foreground graphic, a metal pole supports a red octagonal road sign labeled “Policy” and below it, a green sign labeled “Univ Texas El Paso.” In the background photo, we get a close-up of an asphalt road with double yellow center lines as it rolls away in the distance through sparse landscape with some rocky hills and scrub.

On the Rio Grande, Dreams Matter

Cara*, a UTEP student with a mental health-related disability, could have given up on her dream of studying European art abroad on an expedition to Rome when the faculty leader expressed doubts about whether she could bring her service dog. Instead she sought advice from the university’s Center for Accommodations and Support Services (CASS).

When she did, CASS staff sprang into action.

Best Practices
In the foreground graphic, a metal pole supports a yellow diamond-shaped road sign labeled “Funding” and below it, a green sign labeled “Univ Arizona, Duke University.” In the background photo, an inclining road with yellow double center lines rises towards reddish rocky hills below a hazy pink sky. Map markers show photo of a young white male student seated in a wheelchair with a dog in one and leaning against a camel in another

Funding Access to a Priceless Experience

That’s the idea behind many higher education institutions’ forward-thinking approach to ensuring that no disabled student is denied the opportunity to study abroad due to the costs of facilitating access.

Best Practices
In the foreground graphic, a metal pole supports a white speed sign labeled “Outreach 65” and below it, a green sign labeled “Univ Texas Austin.” In the background photo, a windy road with yellow double center lines is flanked by scrub land, with blue mountains in the distance and an overcast sky above. • A map marker along the road contains a photo of a student with her back turned. Her t-shirt reads: Take the World by the Horns.” She raises her right arm and points her index finger in a “#1” gesture.

Creating a Culture of Inclusion

Far too often, college and university students with disabilities recall being discouraged from going abroad by faculty leaders or other university staff.  

The University of Texas at Austin (UT), for one, is determined to never let this happen, recognizing that greater visibility to the inclusion of people with disabilities in study abroad is one of the most important steps to shifting a campus culture to greater access.

Best Practices
In the foreground graphic, a metal pole supports a brown road sign labeled “Advocacy” and below it, a green sign labeled “Univ Illinois Urbana-Champaign.” In the background photo, a straight road passes through shadows to bright sun as it leads to golden grass, green trees, and blue mountains beyond. A map marker shows Hugo Trevino in front of a Buddha statue

Advocating for Access

One of those students was Hugo Trevino, who developed his passion for international travel while an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Books and Journals
A highway road curves around a hill overlooking a town below. A setting sun casts a soft orange light over the scene, as birds flock in the blue sky above. A graphic overlaid on the photo shows six road signs on a single pole on the side of the road. The signs are stylized to look like speed signs, stop signs, construction signs, etc. Their text reads: Outreach; Funding; Policy; Professional Development; Collaboration; Advocacy.

A World Awaits You: Champions for Inclusion

3 Ways to Read this Issue of AWAY:

  • Online: Stay on this page to begin reading; click on linked prompts to advance to the next article.
  • Electronic files: Download the full issue in accessible PDF or Word formats by clicking under Documents, below.
Personal Stories
Stephanie stands at the Great Wall of China path holding her white cane.

A Ripple Starts in China

Later, the two ran into one of her partner’s friends. Stephanie was walking with her cane, and her partner explained to the friend how and why Stephanie used it. Stephanie was delighted to let her partner do the talking.

“She repeated everything I had just told her. I was so excited—the ripple had started.”

Personal Stories
View of a Japanese classroom through a window; a teacher at a chalkboard

In and Out of the Japanese Classroom

Smiles spread on the Japanese storekeepers' faces as Jonathon, an obvious foreigner, asks them a question in their language. Jonathon, a University of Iowa graduate student who is spending a semester abroad, loves this interaction with the locals, both for absorbing the culture and practicing his Japanese language skills.

Tip Sheets
A young man wearing a blazer stands mid-presentation before a screen with "Generation Study Abroad" projected onto it. Two women are seated next to him.

Presentation Slides on Disability and Study Abroad

If you attend conferences or host events related either to the disability community or study abroad field, why not bring the topic of people with disabilities going abroad into the fore? Let us get you started with Powerpoint slides ready to insert into your next presentation.

The slides cover:

Best Practices
Two women (one is Hannah) look over their shoulders smiling. Great Wall of China is visible behind them.

Scaling the Greatest Walls

How can you translate your campus' idealistic principles of inclusion to the global campus that is study abroad? In this best practice, adapted from her post to the UC Davis Study Abroad blog, Program Coordinator & Advisor Dana Armstrong ponders this challenge while reflecting on her experience advising a student who is blind traveling to China. Follow-up conversations with study abroad alumni with disabilities can put the realities more into perspective.

Best Practices
Four people representing different ethnic and racial groups

Using Multicultural Strategies to Increase Study Abroad

Not only should you recognize a good strategy when you see it, but you should take it and replicate it as much as you can. This is what Candace Chenoweth, the Director of Global Education at University of Wisconsin (UW)-Whitewater, sought to do. The Center of Global Education worked to not only increase, but exceed, the representation of multicultural students studying abroad, and then to do the same for students with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) students.

Best Practices
Image of a man and a woman standing outdoors in front of a window.

Scouting Out Accessibility Overseas

No two study abroad sites are ever quite the same, whether it's the vibrancy of the host community or the buzz of the host campus. The same can be said for how each country or host university includes and accommodates people with disabilities, as the local policies and resources can vary greatly. As University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s (UNC-CH) Study Abroad Advisor for Access, Lori Rezzouk helps foster better access to this vital information, which is key for students with disabilities who want to plan ahead for their adventures.

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