By the time we got into Ascea, it was already dark. Most of us on the trip didn’t really have a clue where we were except that it was somewhere in southern Italy. As we got off the bus and walked down the single main road in town, it became clear what a tiny village it was.
After a small breakfast the next morning, we climbed up through olive groves to old Ascea, and when we were high enough, we could see the tiny town sitting on the sparkling Mediterranean.
In the two opportunities I’ve had to study abroad, a winter term in Italy and a semester in London, there have been a number of lovely travel guide-type moments like the one above, but I’ve been disappointed that I haven’t gotten much more than that out of it.
I think everyone should study abroad, but I think the university and its academic departments should do more to accommodate and reward those who do.
The university should offer many more scholarships to students studying abroad. Given his current obsession with China and globalization in general, university President Dan Mote should put his money where his mouth is and find ways to finance perhaps 50 or 100 new scholarships to make studying abroad free to the university’s best students. The university has focused a lot of time and money on public relations at home and abroad, but the best ambassadors for this school are our students.
In addition, colleges should do their part to encourage students to study abroad by ensuring this doesn’t set them back in their progress toward graduation.
I was shocked to find how few classes at London Metropolitan University transferred back to certain majors when I flipped through the course packet I was given. For example, in a country with perhaps the best print media in the world, there’s not a single class offered that counts for journalism credit at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. After inquiring at the journalism department, I learned the problem is that few schools abroad are accredited by the same agency.
Similarly, math and computer science were largely absent from the transfer list, which surprises me given how similar math should be from one country to the next. As a computer science major, I inquired with the computer science undergraduate coordinator, Kim Ozga, who mentioned a program in Budapest that transfers over. While this is encouraging, one option for the about 1,500 students in the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences does not seem to be enough.
Many students take a smaller credit load abroad, with fewer classes in their major, and it would be a small sacrifice by departments to allow three to six general “study abroad” credits that would stand in for major requirements. The lessons learned abroad certainly justify the credit hours.
Perhaps increased collaboration with other U.S. universities’ study abroad offices would offer a way to find more schools abroad that meet the requirements for transfer credits. Even if that doesn’t yield results, more needs to be done.
It’s cliche to say the future will be more global, but it’s equally hard to deny it. It’s imperative for the university to embrace that future, both for its students and for its own reputation.
Max Nova is a senior computer science and finance major and a member of the University Senate. He can be reached at mnovakow@wam.umd.edu.
