UC2019 Funding Expands on the World as the Classroom

As UC approaches its bicentennial in 2019, the

UC2019 Strategic Plan

is charting the transformation of the university into one of the best academic institutions in the world. As part of strengthening UC’s global influence, $500,000 in UC2019 funding was allocated toward education abroad programs this fall, resulting in additional scholarship opportunities for UC students to study around the world.

UC International is offering an additional $285,000 in student grants. Added to existing funding, UC International now provides $467,000 annually to support student study overseas. The program will also use the UC2019 support to create a new staff position to work with faculty to develop and administer new study abroad programs.

The University Honors Program was awarded $100,000 in UC2019 funding to support global study. With this additional funding, the University Honors Program (UHP) will offer 10 study abroad opportunities in 2011-12.  Raj Mehta, director of the University Honors Program, says that’s a two-fold increase in the number of programs offered since last year and a ten-fold increase from 2006-07. “These additional monies will help the UHP reach its 2019 goal of graduating 75 percent of students with a study abroad experience,” says Mehta. “UHP study abroad opportunities are also open to students who are not in the program, provided the student meets GPA requirements.”

UC2019 aims to increase student global engagement with goals of 1,500 students studying abroad over an academic year. Over the 2009-10 academic year, UC reported 806 students studying abroad – 836 studied abroad over the 2008-09 academic year.

“Global study provides new perspectives on a student’s major,” says Kurt Olausen, director of UC International Programs. “Global study exposes students to different cultures, customs and ways of thinking, and provides experience interacting, studying and sometimes working with people from a variety of backgrounds, which is something they’ll be doing for the rest of their life in whatever career they choose.”

“On a more social/personal note, study abroad increases students’ levels of self-confidence, independence and ability to deal with differences and ambiguity,” Olausen says.

Olausen says UC International provides study abroad opportunities that fit almost every major on campus, as well as flexible programs to fit duration of study and affordability. “Students don’t have to be a foreign language or international affairs major to study abroad, but if they are, we have numerous offerings for them as well,” says Olausen. “Study abroad experiences can fit everything from engineering to elementary education.”

UC also offers global experiences through internships and cooperative education partnerships.