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Ohio University offers undergraduate students more than 65 institutionally sponsored programs, with study sites located on every continent. The Office of Education Abroad (OEA) assists in the administration of most Ohio University programs overseas, including registration and billing of participants. The OEA also maintains a resource library of material and references regarding education abroad opportunities. Through extensive advising, workshops, special sessions, and pre-departure orientations, the OEA helps to prepare students to undertake an education abroad experience.
Education abroad opportunities for undergraduates include study abroad--the traditional academic route to the overseas experience--which forms the core of education abroad programs. Such programs are generally faculty-led and involve a group of Ohio University students who take Ohio University credit courses abroad. Students receive an orientation on-campus prior to departure and usually travel together to their destination with a faculty program director. About 80 percent of our program participants are enrolled in these programs. In an effort to promote study abroad to students in every major and every academic rank, freshmen to seniors, Ohio University established its first International Study Center, the Ohio-Leipzig European Center, in cooperation with the University of Leipzig, Germany, in 2000. Plans are currently being made for a second center in China in fall 2004.
Another education abroad option is exchange student programs, based on a reciprocal agreement with a host institution abroad. An Ohio University student trades places with a student from the foreign university, generally for a semester or academic year. Exchange student status is awarded to students on a competitive selection basis.
A third education abroad option is international internships, which provide students with practical experience through on-the-job training in their field, while simultaneously giving students the opportunity to experience a different culture and work environment.
Still more opportunities for undergraduate research abroad are being developed, particularly in the sciences. In such programs, students assist faculty members conducting research in a particular discipline through field study and data collection.
Additionally, the service-learning program emphasizes involvement with and/or service to citizens of the host country, an experience often similar to the Peace Corps. Certain types of student teaching, social work,medical missions, and development-related activities are characteristic of this form of education abroad.
Finally, work and voulnteer options, often offered in the summer, are becoming increasingly popular among undergraduate students.
For more information about these and other opportunities, visit our Web site at http://www.ohio.edu/studyabroad/, e-mail us at education.abroad@ohiou.edu/ or come to the Office of Education Abroad in Gordy Hall 107 (tel: 740-593-4583) during our walk-in advising hours, Monday-Friday, 1-4 p.m.
Project-based learning. GLC courses are not traditional classes with lectures, tests, and papers. Instead, students work in project teams on real-world problems and issues. Project-based learning challenges students to determine what they need to know to solve the problem, how they are going to find the information they need, and how they are going to apply it. Project-based learning also changes the role of faculty members; rather than providing the students with specific course content, faculty advise, consult, and provide feedback on all aspects of a project--from research and analysis to report writing and presentations.
Learning community. The GLC is housed in Bromley Hall. Students enter the GLC in fall quarter of their sophomore or junior year. Sophomores spend their sophomore year in residence; residency is an option for entering juniors and second year GLC students. Faculty join students for meals, cultural events, and other activities. The purpose of the residential plan is to build a living and learning community that combines the professional and social spheres and fosters teamwork; in such a community, students working in teams on projects should come to regard each other as colleagues with a shared mission.
International experiences. Each GLC student completes at least two international and cross-cultural projects. First year GLC students undertake consulting projects, working in bi-national teams with students from an overseas university (the GLC worked in Hungary, Ecuador, the Czech Republic, Thailand, and Mexico). After the first year, students do an internship overseas or complete a second study abroad program.
Students apply for admission in their freshman or sophomore year. All standard financial aid programs apply.
Plan of study. The program consists of eight projects and an international internship or second study abroad program, taken over two years in the following sequence:
Sophomore Year Fall GLC 201, 202 (8 hours) Winter GLC 203, 204 (8 hours) Spring GLC 205 (2 hours) Junior Year Fall GLC 301 (4 hours) Winter GLC 302 (4 hours) Spring GLC 303 (4 hours)
The internship (GLC 400, 0-6 hours) may be taken at any time after the first year in the GLC program. GLC courses count toward specialization or distribution requirements for most majors.
Other requirements. Students are required to demonstrate competency in a modern language to the 213 level (or equivalent) by the time they graduate. .
For more information, call 740-597-2794, visit our website at http://www.ohiou.edu/glc or reach us by e-mail at glc@ohio.edu.
The purpose of the Learning communities is to help first-year students get a deeper understanding of course material, assist in the in the integration of the material, increase interaction and communication between students and faculty, increase involvement and a feeling of community, ease transition, increase retention, and result in a holistic colelge learning experience. Ohio University currently has three learning community options for incoming first-year students. Linked Courses, Residential Learning Communities, and Non-Residential Learning Communities, and Non-Residential Learning Communities.
Linked courses are sponsored through University College's Center for Writing Excellence & Writing Across the Curriculum Program and the Department of English. In Linked Courses a group of twenty students take two courses together. Once course is English 151, other courses are general education lecture courses such as Economics 103. Visit the Linked Course Web site at: http://www.ohiou.edu/writing/paired_linked_courses.htm or ask your Precollege advisor more about this option if you are interested.
The Residential Leanring Community (RLC) is a conscious curricular structure that allows for groups of twenty first-year students to live in selected residence hals across campus and take 2-3 common freshman courses, including a freshman introductory course. The Freshman Introductory Course is the hub of the community, which revolves around a atheme and is taught by your Residential Director. Both, the Resident Director and a Peer Mentor will assist you in adjusting to college life as well as guide you through the exploration of what Ohio University has to offer. Out-of-class activities and study sessions are integrated in the RLCs.
Opportunities to be involved in a college-based RLC are available on a limited basis. Participting colleges will send information regarding RLCs directly to the students. Regardless of your major, there is a RLC designed to meet your interests. An information session and registration for an RLC will take place during Precollege, ask your advisor for more information. You are not registered for the cluster of courses until that time.
Non-Residential Learning communities allow sutdents to have the benefits of a small college atmposhere while providing the opportunities of Ohio University's large campus culture. These communities are designed aroung clusters of linked first-year courses tailored to a specific topic or major. Groups of 20-25 students are co-enrolled into 3-4 courses. Participating students can be housed in the residence hall of their choice.
Opportunities to be involved in a college-based Non-Residential Learning Community are available on a first come first serve basis. Participating colleges will send information regarding these learning communities will be sent directly to the students.
For more information please visit our Web site at http://www.ohiou.edu/rlc or contact:
Coordinator of Learning Communities University College Ohio University, Chubb Hall 140 740-593-1935 E-mail: rlc@www.ohio.edu
Services offered include providing specific information about scholarships and awards; mentoring and counseling students about their particular situations and candidacies, assisting with the application processes, and organizing seminars and supportive programs for students. Most national awards are merit based and extremely competititve. To be considered viable candidates, students should have at least a 3.7 GPA and be actively involved in both their studies and extracurricular activities.
ONCA is located at 35 Park Place. Call 593-1632 for more information or visit their Web site: http://www.onca.org/
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