New Forum on campus

Looking forward to a strategic partnership with Dickinson

September 26, 2006

Kay Glass, the new director of The Forum on Education Abroad, is excited by the opportunities that having the Forum located at Dickinson will give to the organization and the campus.

Dickinson has a new partner in the field of global education: The Forum on Education Abroad, an international consortium of colleges and universities committed to quality in global education. On July 1, the college began housing the Forum in offices at 233 W. Louther St. and offering its staff the benefits of Dickinson employment.

"The Forum is the leading quality-control organization for the field of education abroad. Housing the organization on campus and hiring its staff are indications of Dickinson's leadership in the field of international education," says Brian Whalen, Dickinson's associate dean and executive director of the Office of Global Education.

Whalen serves as the Forum's president and CEO. Other staff members include director Kay Glass, project manager Annmarie Marlin Whalen, bookkeeper Julie Baker and student intern Cathryn Meurn '07.

Why Dickinson?

Since its founding in 2001, the Forum was housed at Smith College, where it grew into an established, respected organization. "When the founding CEO retired, the Forum's board saw an opportunity to find a strategic partner that would help the organization in its next phase of expansion," explains Glass.

"Our organization values collaboration, and Dickinson has the resources and demonstrated track record in education abroad to help the Forum achieve its strategic goals," says Mary Dwyer, chair of the Forum Board.

In turn, President William G. Durden '71 says, "The presence of the Forum will keep Dickinson on the leading edge of global education—it will support our ability to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities presented by the globally complex 21st century."

Developing standards

The Forum works in three strategic areas: standards, research and dialogue.

"The Forum is developing standards of good practice for education abroad and encouraging all institutions in the field to achieve them," says Glass, adding that the Forum was named by the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission as the standards-development organization for study abroad.

The standards were developed by hundreds of education-abroad professionals from Forum member colleges, universities and third-party providers, and they encompass program design, evaluation and assessment, marketing and promotion, student advising, and resources and operations. They are currently being tested in a Pilot Project with a group of volunteer institutions. The next step is the Quality Improvement Program, which provides institutions and programs with a rigorous self-study and peer-review process, resulting in a comprehensive report and recommendations for improvement.

Promoting research

The Forum's second goal is to support and disseminate research. "As in higher education in general, there is a growing demand for accountability, and research provides answers about the value of experiences abroad," Glass explains.

In particular, the Forum promotes research into educational-outcomes assessment. In March, the Forum will publish a Guide to Outcomes Assessment in Education Abroad to provide tools for implementing outcomes assessment as a part of education-abroad programs.

Also in 2007, selected Forum member institutions will test a specific instrument, the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory developed by Dr. Craig Shealy, executive director of the International Beliefs and Values Institute, to assess students' openness to and understanding of different cultures before and after education abroad. This project is in collaboration with the Office of International Programs at James Madison University

Providing a Forum

Another key focus is to provide professionals in the field with opportunities for dialogue, which is mainly achieved through an annual conference. Distinguished by its small, interactive sessions, the Forum conference will occur March 1-3, hosted by the University of Texas at Austin.

In addition to project-related publications, the Forum collaborates with Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, the leading scholarly journal of education abroad. Frontiers is housed at Dickinson and edited by Brian Whalen. Upcoming issues will focus on excellence in undergraduate research conducted abroad and a history of the study abroad field.

New to campus

"The Forum is excited to be here. It is a new era for us," says Glass. She comes to Dickinson from a career in nonprofit management and marketing, and her duties include organizing the conference, updating marketing materials, increasing foundation and corporate grant support, and managing the day-to-day administration of the organization.

In particular, she will focus on growing the Forum's membership. Currently, the organization is supported by more than 220 educational institutions, consortia, agencies and organizations that provide, direct, manage or support education-abroad opportunities, including Harvard University, Pomona College, University of Limerick and University of Wollongong. Her focus will be on increasing the number of liberal-arts colleges, community colleges and institutions from developing countries.

As a consultant, Glass worked with a number of educational institutions—from a Montessori preschool to the Wharton Business School. "Education abroad is new to me, which I view as an exciting opportunity for learning" she says. "Brian and Annmarie Whalen, and the entire Global Education staff, are quickly bringing me up to speed. Their extensive experience in global education plus my background in nonprofits make us a strong team."

"I'm so happy to be a part of the Dickinson community," says Glass. "And I hope they will welcome the Forum and learn more about us."