SHAWN CHENG/YH

Study abroad gets a boost, but obstacles remain

Taking time off from Yale to study abroad is a choice only 100 Yale juniors pursue each year. But Catherine Hutchison, director of the newly organized Office for International Education and Fellowship (IEFP), wants to change all that.

Until this year, international education and study abroad programs existed only as a second-floor annex of the greater Undergraduate Career Services (UCS) program. This year, though, while IEFP still occupies its second-floor office, it is an autonomous department entirely devoted to study, work, and travel abroad programs.

The changes and restructuring have made IEFP "a brand new office with all kinds of wonderful changes," according to Hutchison. This year, there will be several new ways to get introductory information about study abroad. A weekly meeting has been set up to provide students with a sense of what study abroad entails, and a panel in which returning seniors recount their experiences is scheduled for later this month. Additionally, IEFP advisors will hold "sophomore meetings" in the residential colleges to inform sophomores about the possibilities for studying abroad during their junior year.

However, the small number of Yale juniors leaving Yale to study abroad each year may reflect perceived difficulties with pursuing studies outside of Yale. Michael Baldwin, BR '01, wanted to study abroad in Hong Kong but found that Yale's academic requirements for study abroad may prevent him from doing so. "The [IEFP] office itself was really helpful, and they were willing to explain all the options and requirements," Baldwin explained. Nevertheless, he added, Yale's academic demands make it difficult to plan to travel abroad. "My biggest gripe is the system of credits and requirements," he explained. Baldwin attended the Princeton in Beijing program this past summer, for which he received the maximum two credits permitted by Yale. "If you do junior term abroad, Yale won't let you use any other outside credits," he said. "Therefore, if I choose to take my semester in Hong Kong, it erases those two credits from the summer, which is a nuisance."

Sarah Cheeseman, SY '01, agreed that Yale's stance toward studying abroad is challenging to many. "I think to do this at Yale requires more self-motivation than at many other schools," Cheeseman explained. "I think it's very important that the Junior Year Abroad people be aware of the inherent difficulties and concerns specific to this school: transferral of credits and financial issues, especially. Because Yale doesn't actually have its own study abroad programs, some of the details are not as refined as they could be, and it can be difficult to figure out who answers which questions."

The guidelines for students looking to take a semester abroad force students to make a number of choices. The first and most salient decision a student makes concerns whether his or her study abroad will contribute credits towards graduation. If a student takes a leave of absence, a diverse selection of programs is available to him or her, including experience-based programs, internships, or directed research in his or her field of interest.

Credit programs are more limiting, for they must be academic and take place in a university setting. Yale itself only offers six programs officially affiliated with the college, not including the Yale-in-London program at the Paul Mellon Center. Credit is awarded on a strict basis and excludes studies taken pass/fail, courses shorter than the duration of a Yale College term, languages other than that of the host country, and independent studies or "experimental learning." Students are allowed a maximum of four credits towards graduation, and students seeking financial aid can only receive aid through programs officially endorsed by Yale.

Hutchison said students must ultimately make the decisions themselves as to whether they will pursue their studies through Yale, or whether they will take a leave and enroll in outside courses. "I don't think getting credit is for everyone," she explained. "If you have a seriousness of purpose, then people will be impressed with you no matter what. There are very admirable things that have nothing to do with credit."

Future employers in particular, she added, will be favorably struck by the evidence of any kind of experience abroad. "Employers can look at [students who have studied abroad] and say, `This person took a chance,'" she said.

For students who are able to negotiate the requirements and find a program that fits their interests, a semester or a year abroad during the junior year can provide "energy and motivation to carry them into their senior year," Hutchison said. Cheeseman agreed that hurdling the obstacles is worth the effort. "Yale doesn't exactly encourage study abroad, so it's not as easy a process as it could be," she said. "It is possible, though, and everyone who's gone seems to have loved it."

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