One of the hallmarks of the Curriculum Integration effort is the development in each department or program of a Study Abroad Major Advising Sheet (SAMAS). The SAMAS is a tool for advising students, and it also serves as a vehicle for tracking department perspectives on international experiences.

It takes time and perseverance to develop a SAMAS which reflects the values and interests of your department, and this process often helps inform other components of curriculum integration, where departments insert or revise study abroad copy in their undergraduate handbooks, websites, and other materials, for example, or to begin developing a database on transfer credit precedents and/or course equivalencies, or to develop ongoing faculty and adviser in-service training systems concerning study abroad.

Study Abroad Curriculum Integration Tutorial
Provides a good general base of information about the history, motivation, and process of integrating study abroad into curriculum across the disciplines.

Stages of Study Abroad Curriculum Integration in a Department (pdf)
A three stage outline of the process of curriculum integration as experienced in a department.

List of UMTC CI Team Liaison Representatives
Contact the Curriculum Integration (CI) team in the Learning Abroad Center. The team consists of several staff members, one or two of whom will serve as the primary liaisons to your program. UMM, UMC, and UMD: contact the Bush-grant lead in your study abroad office.

As you enter the process of creating your own customized advising materials, the following resources can help facilitate efficient and uniform development and production.

SAMAS Audiences
Defines and reminds departments of the audiences who will read and use this advising piece.

SAMAS Template
This template aims to ease SAMAS production.

Division of Responsibilities
Academic units are responsible for:

• assessing the curriculum of their degree programs
  Geology example of a 4 year plan assessment
• looking for ways in which study abroad experiences can add to the richness of their undergraduate major
  Learning Outcomes handout
• screening potential program matches
• thinking through academic considerations for study abroad in the major
• reviewing the standardized advising tool when it is in the production process

The Learning Abroad Center is responsible for:

• communicating our process and negotiating a timeline
• meeting with department and college representatives
• researching and presenting a variety of good curricular matches for each major
• presenting advising sheet templates and examples
• producing a standardized advising sheet that motivates students to study abroad in programs that are a particularly good match for their major.

Assess, Match, and Motivate
A more detailed description of this model with additional supporting materials.

One of the guiding principles of Study Abroad Curriculum Integration on this campus is that each of our interactions is an opportunity to learn. We have developed a model that seems to work well, but we are willing to modify it to make it work better for you.

 

Last modified on May 13, 2008