Ashley Neyer, director of UAB Education Abroad
Contributions by Karen Templeton
UAB Education Abroad will work to form more cross-campus partnerships, improve faculty-led programs, enhance health and safety protocols and better promote diversity and inclusion using new guidance from the Forum on Education Abroad, a non-profit organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission as the Standards Development Organization for education abroad programming.
Ashley Neyer, director of UAB Education Abroad, recently completed the Forum’s professional certification, which provides those who work in the global education field with specialized knowledge and expertise in the standards of good practice. The standards help educators guide program development and evaluate quality, advocate for resources and support, train new professionals, educate stakeholders and establish and maintain relationships between partners.
“The program granted me dedicated time to focus on building the future amidst responding to the present uncertainty,” Neyer said. “The modules afforded me the opportunity to reflect on current practices and implement initiatives that were longer-term goals.”
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“The certification course enabled me to analyze how we facilitate faculty-led programs across schools and generate meaningful conversations with our Education Abroad Faculty Fellows regarding equity and inclusion.” |
Education Abroad’s existing risk management plan and health and safety protocols were tested last March when the COVID-19 pandemic began ramping up, she explained, and the Forum on Education Abroad places a high premium on prioritizing student health and safety during its certification process.
“We’re finding skills and knowledge and reaffirming good practices for health and safety, and looking at our partnerships to ensure they’re addressing safety for our students,” Neyer continued. “We’re also looking at our emergency response plan and how to move forward during and after the pandemic.”
Each participant completes a final project; Neyer’s focused on learning objectives, student reflection and assessment plus equity and inclusion she can use to advance UAB’s already successful Education Abroad program.
“The certification course enabled me to analyze how we facilitate faculty-led programs across schools and generate meaningful conversations with our Education Abroad Faculty Fellows regarding equity and inclusion,” Neyer said. “As a result, we are discussing common learning outcomes among programs and have developed a faculty-led accessibility assessment in partnership with Disability Student Services. We’re confident these aspects will leverage our faculty-led programs to the next level.”
Neyer also says Education Abroad is beginning conversations with faculty to implement consistent learning objectives across departments and schools.
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“The time students spend overseas will teach them so much more than what’s on the syllabus, giving them invaluable opportunities as well as insight and global perspective. When the world is their classroom, they’ll gain an unparalleled education.” |
UAB facilitates more than 160 abroad programs around the world and supports students engaging in programs ranging from short-term and semester-long study, to research and service-learning, to athletic and student organization travel. The Education Abroad team helps students identify programs that align with their degree program or area of interest, identify financial resources and coordinate plans for travel and accommodations. UAB recently was awarded an Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) grant from the U.S. Department of State — one of only 24 universities to do so — and plans to use the majority of the grant to support faculty-led, more affordable education abroad experiences for students.
“This new certification Ashley obtained is a tremendous asset for our program,” said Majd Zayzafoon, M.D., Ph.D., assistant provost for International Education. “Ashley fully understands the importance of studying abroad and how it forever changes the lives of our UAB students; we are fortunate to have her at UAB. The time students spend overseas will teach them so much more than what’s on the syllabus, giving them invaluable opportunities as well as insight and global perspective. When the world is their classroom, they’ll gain an unparalleled education.”
