Gustavus Adolphus College

• Semester or Year-Long Programs
• January Interim Experience Programs
• Student Selection Criteria

The primary advising for domestic and international off-campus study is done in the Center for International and Cultural Education by the Study Abroad Advisor. However, students often ask faculty for advice about off-campus study, and should at a minimum be in conversation with their major advisor to help in this important planning process. The following information should be helpful in explaining the kinds of programs available to students.

Semester or Year-Long Programs

The faculty of Gustavus Adolphus College has approved a large number of domestic and international off-campus study programs, each lasting a semester or a full academic year.  These programs enroll a significant number of Gustavus Adolphus students each year.  Students and faculty evaluate them regularly.

Gustavus Adolphus academic credit is routinely granted for successful participation in all of these programs.  Although the approved list does not presume to include every quality program, the programs on the approved list are judged to be of high quality.  Students who select from this list can assume a quality of instruction, program services, and academic relevance to the Gustavus Adolphus curriculum. They can also assume that appropriate faculty are familiar with these courses and programs. In general there is a readiness to apply these courses to general education and/or major requirements.

The 2009-2010 catalog of approved programs will be available October 1 with updated program costs. In the meantime, contact Jill Fischer, Study Abroad Advisor, for information on approved programs and their descriptions.

January Interim Experience

January off-campus travel courses offer brief (four week) but highly focused opportunities for students to study with a Gustavus instructor. Each year January travel courses are held in many places around the world, with a variety of themes. When advising students on January travel courses, good questions to ask focus on student interests in a particular part of the world or in a particular discipline.

First year students should be strongly advised to enroll in a January Interim off-campus study course (semester or year-long study is not available to students in their first year and they may not enroll in career explorations or independent studies). Individual January course instructors make the final decision about student applications for their course.

Student Selection Criteria

The selection of student participants for off-campus study programs is handled in two or three phases:  First, the Study Abroad Advisor in the CICE screens all applicants for minimum Gustavus requirements for participation in an off-campus study program.  The second step is to send the Gustavus approved application to the faculty advisor or the faculty director of the off campus program or course for approval.  The third step is to send the application to the provider, if other than Gustavus Adolphus College, who makes final decisions regarding student participation in direct-enroll programs at host institutions.

The following criteria are approved by the IDPC and may be used by Gustavus faculty who are involved in approving students for January Interim Experience or semester length programs:

• Reason for choosing an off-campus study program.  Motivation for applying.
• Academic reasons
• Non-academic reasons
• Grade Point Average.
• One faculty recommendation and approval signature from faculty advisor.
• Review of student’s history of compliance with college policies.  (This occurs in two ways: First, student self-disclosure on the application form and second, by sending a list of applicants to the Registrar’s office and the Dean of Students office to identify any students who may be on academic or disciplinary probation).
• All other things being equal:
  • Seniors and juniors have priority over sophomores;
  • Regularly enrolled students will have priority over graduated students;
  • Gustavus Adolphus students will have priority over non-Gustavus Adolphus students
• Personal qualities/Interpersonal skills:
  • Maturity
  • Independence
  • Adaptability
  • Ability to interact with a group
  • Willingness to initiate cross cultural opportunities
  • Ability to function in stressful situations
• Program specific needs.

 

All material on the Information for Faculty pages is derived from the IDPC Program Manual approved by the faculty on May 5, 2008.