Summer Study Abroad
I hope your Deacs have called/texted/FaceTimed you today to tell you about the glorious weather we are having. It is sunny and 63 degrees, which feels great to me after so much cold. This warm trend is supposed to run through Saturday and get to the mid- to upper-60s. May your Deacs spend a lot of time outdoors and enjoy every minute of this preview of spring.
One bit of news to share today. The revised academic calendar has been announced. This afternoon, the Office of the University Registrar sent undergraduate students the revised Spring 2022 academic calendar via email; see details. For graduate and professional students, they received a separate email yesterday with their details. As a reminder, spring break dates are not changing.
Congratulations to Coach Forbes and our men’s basketball team for having 20 wins so far this season! We want to be sure to keep the Joel filled for our last four home games, so encourage your Deacs to show up in force when we play Miami (Feb. 12), Notre Dame (Feb. 19), Louisville (Feb. 26), and NC State (March 2). See more at godeacs.com.
Now to a new topic: study abroad. Historically our students who go abroad have tended to want to go primarily in the fall semester of their junior year. As I have said before, the pro of that is they get to go abroad with the largest group of their friends, and the con of that is they are unlikely to live in the residence hall of their choice with the roommate of their choice (as they will be filling in beds vacated by spring abroad students or those who take a semester off, etc.) or be released to live off campus, now that all our residence halls will be renovated and back online. You can refresh your memory of that blog post here, and I will share this key point to remember: most students going abroad in fall 2022 will likely be able to be accommodated on campus in existing rooms with vacancies, and should not sign leases for housing off campus unless/until they are released in writing from the Office of Residence Life and Housing.
I do want to encourage students to consider a summer study abroad experience. This has the benefit of not interrupting students’ academic path or major, allows them to live on campus in fall and spring in the building of their choice with the roommate of their choice. Summer abroad can also be great for students who are not sure they would want to be away for a full semester; 15 weeks can be a long time to be in a foreign country and so far from home.
I did a summer session abroad at Oxford University in England when I was a student and it was a phenomenal experience. I didn’t realize at the time what an amazing thing it was to be able to go into the Bodleian Library as a student and read there, something you can’t do on the average visitor’s tour.
Students interested in summer study abroad can go to the Study Abroad website, then click on the Choose Your Destination or Courses of Study menu options, then as they make their selections, they can see what is offered in the summer.
— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)