You can imagine my surprise this week when I received word that American University, under the auspices of the new Office of International Affairs, plans to take away the right of AU students to choose their study abroad program. Nine AU students, enrolled for the Spring 2004 Semester at Sea voyage, have been informed that as part of the reorganization of international education and study abroad at AU, Semester at Sea academic credits may be denied. My initial reaction was one of disbelief. Semester at Sea is a fantastic program that I had the opportunity to complete during the Fall 2001 semester. I circumnavigated the world, taking classes on board a ship, and visited 10 countries while gaining a comparative world understanding of the subjects I was studying on board. For example, students in the Women's Health class would visit hospitals in nearly every country to see the differences in women's health issues around the world. In my International Trade class, I had to pick out two items and compare their prices around the world (Kodak film and The Economist) to determine Purchasing Price Parity. Not only do you take classes on Semester at Sea, but you have the ability (and requirement) to apply that knowledge in 10 different countries. Fidel Castro addressed Semester at Sea students for nearly seven hours and students have heard him speak nearly every voyage, as well as Desmond Tutu in South Africa and Nelson Mandela on previous occasions, specifically for Semester at Sea.
My disbelief turned to fury. How dare AU take away students' right to choose their study abroad program? I turned to the "Report of a Project Team" entitled "Transforming American University into The Premier Global University Phase I," published by the Office of International Affairs this past April. I read all 46 pages and realized that while AU admits to a number of "problems" in its study abroad programs, it offers few solutions. In the meantime (as I'm sure the Office of International Affairs is being paid well to come up with swift "solutions" in a possible "Phase II" report), they are taking it upon themselves to make major changes with no student input. The report claims that AU loses approximately $1.5 million per year to students who leave AU to do a non-AU study abroad program. I am not surprised that a "solution" has already been suggested for this problem.
The report calls for a "surcharge on AU students studying abroad in non-AU programs ... or to preclude AU students from enrolling in such non-AU programs abroad." I came upon Semester at Sea by accident my sophomore year. I became interested in Middle Eastern studies, but I was extremely disappointed in the selection of World Capitals sites when I began to think about studying abroad. The report admits to this, but offers its only response as "There is a vast scope for diversifying the locales for our study abroad, particularly if the numbers of students going abroad increase significantly as projected." So does that mean we have to wait for their repeated "doubling" of study abroad figures before we see any changes? Why not let us choose our own study abroad program? Even with a potential increase in AU Abroad locales, will they be able to accommodate every student's study abroad wishes given the diverse nature of our campus? With a surcharge or the denying of credit to non-AU programs, wouldn't this defeat the purpose of AU's mission to increase the number of students studying abroad? That sounds like discouragement, not encouragement to study abroad.
While I understand AU's concern of wanting to ensure that the experiences students have abroad "thoroughly integrate them in the cultures in which they study," as one former AU and Semester at Sea alum put it, "Immersion is a tricky issue." Am I more immersed living here in Cairo (as I have been since June) and attending a university with mainly American and British-schooled Egyptians, or was I more "immersed" in Vietnam, spending my time there with locals on their stilt-house on the Mekong River and talking to locals nonstop for nearly five days? I really can't say. I know I learned more about myself and the world in the conversations with the Vietnamese at the stilt house, but am I more "immersed" here in Egypt because I have to go to the supermarket and find an apartment? Since one of Dr. Pastor's reasons for not accepting Semester at Sea credit is the lack of language acquisition, does Dr. Pastor anticipate limiting study abroad opportunities to the English speaking countries as well? Wouldn't that
affect this "immersion" factor that AU thinks they can control for their students who study abroad?
The report calls for a suitable alternative to study abroad as remaining "at AU and perhaps [doing] an inter-cultural experience with a non-governmental organization working with immigrant groups in Washington, D.C.," for those students who have a "fear of disruption from studying abroad." I am insulted and infuriated that they see this as a viable alternative to study abroad while Semester at Sea is not
even seen as a legitimate
study abroad program in their eyes.
In an e-mail from Dr. Pastor, he informed me that although he read "a
considerable number of letters" from
AU and SAS alumni recently, he and the deans writing the report back in April came to the decision that Semester
at Sea "did not measure up
to the standards that
we hope to achieve for
study abroad." Where were the students in this decision-making process? Where were the hundreds of professors and deanswho
have taught on Semester at Sea? What "literature" did you read,
Dr. Pastor, about the Semester at Sea program that brought you to this decision? If Semester at Sea "does not measure up
to your standards," why have
AU department chairs been signing Permits to Study Abroad approving the course credit transfers for the 200 AU students who have participated in Semester
at Sea for the past three decades?
If Semester at Sea and its
sponsor university, the University
of Pittsburgh, are substandard, according to Dr. Pastor, then why does it have the same Middle States accreditation as AU? You claim to lose $1.5 million in revenue to outside study abroad programs, but does AU admissions not take that into account as it operates at full or near full capacity (as any tripled freshman can tell you)? It is our right to choose our study abroad program and it should be expected that our decision should be honored and credits accepted. Time in a university should be about exploring life's path and discovering oneself, and study abroad can contribute to that immensely. Do not take that right away from students - we do not deserve such limited opportunities.
Melissa Bogar is a graduate of the School of International Service and the College of Arts and Sciences. She participated in the Semester at Sea program in the Fall of 2001. She is currently a Rotary Scholar to Cairo, Egypt, June 2003-present.
