Managing Student Behavior: Creating Frameworks for Positive Abroad Experiences

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Managing Student Behavior Creating Frameworks
for Positive Abroad Experiences

• Angie Carter, Program Coordinator
• CIBER, McCombs School of Business
• The University of Texas at Austin
• CIBER STSA 2009
• Provo, Utah

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Introduction

• The University of Texas at Austins CIBER
  coordinates 6 STSA programs for summer 2009
• All STSA programs are coordinated with our
  schools BBA exchange partners
• Programs consist of two courses that count as six
  UT in-residence credits
• UT professors teach one course and faculty from
  the host institution teach the second course
• A program liaison from UT assists in
  pre-departure orientations and accompanies each
  program abroad
• All coursework is in English

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Topics of Discussion

• What are our goals for student behavior on STSA
  programs?
• What is our responsibility as STSA coordinators
  and educators?
• What is the students responsibility?
• What opportunities do we have to manage behavior?
• What are our challenges in managing behavior?
• Examples of policies
• Questions / Discussion

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Goals

• Personal responsibility students held
  accountable for their own experiences and
  behavior abroad
• Academic students are successful in their abroad
  courses and able to apply the knowledge upon
  return
• Health Safety access health safety services
  precautions taken and emergency response plan
  clear
• Group dynamic positive students return feeling
  more a part of their academic programs
• Cultural/Global students engage in host culture
  learn more about host culture, their own
  identity, and the Global business market

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Responsibility What should the student provide?

• The basics
• for program needs
• Time for on-campus meetings, pre-requisites for
  courses, forms
• Interest in international experience
• Signed participation forms
• The extended framework
• Accountability, initiative, motivation,
  curiosity, responsibility for their own
  experience
• Goals for their time abroad

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Responsibility What should the STSA program
provide?

• The basics
• Advising
• Courses and credit
• Faculty
• Staff at home campus and abroad
• Accommodations
• Cultural events
• Pre-departure and on-site orientations
• Emergency coordination
• Re-entry
• Codes of conduct or policies for dismissal
• Cultural Insurance Services International (CISI)
  and International SOS coverage

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Responsibility What should the STSA program
provide?

• The extended framework
• Targeted advising to establish student goals
• Emphasis on the opportunities for cultural
  growth, networking, setting themselves apart
  through their experience
• On-site support promotes cultural awareness and
  encourages personal exploration
• Resources for continuing their abroad experience
  on-campus
• Resources for applying their abroad experience to
  future endeavors
• Advisors, staff, faculty, liaison all push
  students to take ownership of their experience
  and define it on an individual level

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Academic

• Professors distribute syllabus during
  pre-departure workshop and establish academic
  expectations
• Students meet with and are cleared by academic
  advisors (UT-Austin CIBER requires a completed
  advising form)
• Professionalism policys influence on course
  grade

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Health and Safety

• Students have prepared themselves by obtaining
  necessary health clearances, prescriptions,
  immunizations
• Students have access to money in case of
  emergency
• On-site orientations resources
• International Student ID Card (ISIC),
  International SOS, CISI
• Emergency response procedures are clearly defined

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Group Dynamic

• Group is given opportunity to meet early in
  pre-departure process
• Online forum space through Blackboard, Facebook
• Liaisons role
• Communication with home institution and on-site
  staff

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Cultural/Global

• Students are culturally engaged during the STSA
• Students maximize their abroad experience by
  taking personal responsibility for their time and
  experience
• Students continue to apply their abroad
  experience to future challenges on-campus and in
  future endeavors
• Students appreciate and navigate new and
  unfamiliar structures
• Students turn negative situations into positive
  accomplishments or challenges

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Ways to Manage Behavior

• Setting expectations responsibility early
• Establishing and maintaining programs tone
• Emphasizing educational experience vs. tourism
• Presenting a unified front faculty, staff,
  liaisons, partners
• Advance planning for worst cases scenarios
• Clear codes of conduct or participation policies
  with well-outlined expectations and consequences
• UT Austin CIBERs Professionalism Policy and
  Advisor Approval forms

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Opportunities for Managing Student Behavior
Recruitment

• Emphasize the challenging and rewarding aspects
  of the program
• Involve alumni as mentors
• Discuss expectations for participants
• Highlight academics
• Highlight cultural events as educational
  components of program

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Opportunities for Managing Student Behavior
Pre-departure

• Set expectations for abroad experience
• Involve academic advisors, faculty, and alumni
• Survey students pre-departure what are your
  goals?
• CIBER Professionalism Policy Grade is contingent
  upon professional behavior throughout program

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Opportunities for Managing Student Behavior
On-Site

• On-site orientation stresses main points from
  pre-departure and further information
• Organize free-time activities outside of the
  program that focus on cultural orientation and
  learning
• Maintain strong relationships with on-site staff
  and contacts
• Designate students to blog, photograph, organize
  events
• Informal coffee hours or lunches to discuss
  cultural or program questions, vent, introduce
  exercises or address student concerns

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Opportunities for Managing Student Behavior
Re-Entry

• Require re-entry sessions to post credit or
  grades
• Survey students at re-entry
• Involve liaison and advisors to unpack student
  experiences
• Provide on-campus resources for international
  opportunities
• Involve returned students in STSA alumni
  organizations
• Illustrate how they can apply their experience to
  future programs, study, jobs

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Challenges

• The Student in Crisis
• On-campus support
• Intervention
• Dean of Students
• Mental Health/Counseling center
• Student Health
• Return home

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Challenges

• Group Dynamics
• Plan group activities that are free or low-cost
  and do not focus around alcohol or late-night
  clubs
• Activities that encourage students to leave their
  comfort zones yet provide space for processing
• Communication with liaison about concerns,
  conflicts

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The Challenges

• Specific behavior problems
• Student-student behavior
• Student-group behavior
• Student-professor behavior
• Student-staff behavior

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Strategies for Difficult Students

• Address problem on-site and as soon as possible
• Train faculty and staff to maintain written
  records of emails, observations, testimony from
  other students
• Listen to the students and develop strategy for
  program feedback
• Working with Dean of Students offices or
  academic departments at home
• Anticipate the problems create handbooks, forms,
  policies to define expectations and goals for
  programs

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Questions / Discussion

• How are you managing student behavior on your
  programs?
• What policies do you use to hold students
  accountable for their behavior abroad?
• What challenges do you face?
• Do you have different problems at specific
  program sites?