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391350535975700 Education Abroad Recruitment PlanRecruitment for education abroad programs must take a multi-faceted approach and be led by you, the faculty member/program director. You have built the program, but the students will not naturally gravitate towards it. It takes beating down classroom doors and developing relationships to fill your program with quality students. ISSUES TO CONSIDERWhat are you recruiting for? Students don’t need to be lured in with 5-star hotels – they need to know about your class and the other course options on your program. Talk about:Location and course context How your course transfers in/counts toward the MSU degree. AND don’t ignore the obstacles. If you’ll be hiking for 10 days in extreme heat be clear in recruitment that this is part of the expectation for participants. Recruit Quality Students. Students should, at minimum, submit quality applications and be in good academic and disciplinary standing at MSU in order to be eligible to study abroad. The submission of an application should not be considered an automatic acceptance. You will read every application. Recruit selectively, and do not be afraid to reject students or require individual or group interviews prior to issuing acceptance.Recruit Students who are a Good Fit for YOUR Program. Make sure students fit the course and location and if they don’t, let them know about the 100s of other programs they can choose from. Build Relationships with Students. Students want to earn your respect. They have immense admiration and respect for you and want to get to know you more, which is why they want to study abroad with you. Capitalize on that admiration and respect and build personal relationships with students that they both need for their future recommendations and research and want for their personal success. Build Relationships with your EAO Staff. The Education Abroad team at MSU is here to help you. Get to know us, come to the trainings required for teaching abroad, and learn how study abroad programs operate, the aid that is available to students, what is required to apply, etc., so that you have the greatest chance of success in recruitment.APPLICATION PROCESS FOR STUDENTSApply to MSU at murraystate.edu/studyabroadapplicationApplication includes a Budget Sheet that is only required if a student is using federal aid or scholarships. Students complete a google request within their online application. This goes directly to the Financial Aid Office for their portion to be completed. Students may also attend a Scholarship & Budget Sheet Workshop to discuss program expenses. These dates will be announced later this semester.Students can apply for MSU education abroad scholarships via the Scholarship Office online system. Students are linked to this site directly within the education abroad online program application.Deadline for scholarships is the same as the application deadline. Scholarship question is posted on the Funding portion of the EA websiteStudents do not have to select which scholarships they are applying for within the scholarship application. OPEN ADVISING: Direct students to the EAO Open Advising sessions for help with their application, finding a program, budget sheet help, or other general questions. During the 2017-2018 academic year, these take place: Every Monday at 3:00Every Thursday at 11:00in Waterfield ClassroomFUNDINGStudents need your help to discuss funding options. Even the most excited students will ask the price and assume they cannot afford it. It’s your turn to become a financial advisor for students and cheerlead them on to apply and participate in the program. Consider the following: Fundraising: Art student sold custom art on and raised $2334 for his program costOdd jobs like yard work, babysittingPresentations or cultural events for hometown churches and civic groupsVocal major put on a concert to raise money for his program Cutting CostsWhat are current costs that can be reduced to save for study abroad? Student on a winter program sold her new car and got a cheaper one, using the difference to pay for study abroad.ScholarshipsAPPLY for MSU education abroad scholarships! Too many students just wait til the last minute and don’t get their application in on time. The deadline is not until 11:59 p.m. of the deadline date. Federal Financial Aid: Students MUST see the Financial Aid Officers, the EAO cannot assist students or advise on Federal Aid.Students receiving federal aid may do so for summer in some cases as long as they are taking 6 credit hours toward their degree completion. Pell Grant students can receive the Pell Grant for the summer if they are taking 6 hours toward their degree completion.Encourage students to go to the Financial Aid & Scholarship Office to seek exact advice on how their current aid applies to study abroad program costs! The Budget Sheet will tell them this as well if they request one during their application process.Please take time to peruse the EAO website, murraystate.edu/educationabroad, especially the Funding section. This section walks students through fundraising possibilities, all scholarships available, loads of FAQs about scholarships and financial aid, and national funds that are available.Students on the PELL Grant are eligible for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, provided by the US government. This award can fund up to $5000 for summer or semester study abroad! Students work directly with Robyn Pizzo in the EAO to strengthen and submit their application. For 2014-2018, TEN MSU students were awarded the Gilman!A note about Tuition: All MSU students who study abroad on a Signature program do pay MSU tuition, whether for fall, winter, spring, or summer term. How to handle this with students: Remind students that ALL students pay tuition hourly at MSU now. Any course over 15 hours in the semester incurs hourly tuition charges. Encourage students to enroll in their study abroad class as part of their 15 full-time hours of tuition. CREDITStudents will study abroad to take a course that applies to their degree. Promote your program based on its credit options!Know how your course(s) apply to student degree plans at MSUKnow how the other courses on your program apply to degree plans at MSUIf you forget or want to give students a place to seek this information, go to murraystate.edu/studyabroadapplication and find your program there. CREATING YOUR RECRUITMENT PLANFaculty and Directors who take the time to sketch out a multi-faceted recruitment plan are the most successful. If you think you’re talking about your program too much, we can tell you that you’re not. Students report that it is most often not the first time they hear about a program that they jump at the chance to study abroad, but rather the 3rd or 10th time they hear about it. So keep talking.Determine how you will keep up with students!Google Interest formSign-up sheet in classBecome a Walking Billboard for Your Program. Syllabus. In the semesters before your study abroad program, put an announcement about your program into every course syllabus.Email Signature Line. Put a link to your program information webpage in your email signature line; some faculty create a full color banner in their signatureCourse Powerpoints. Have your first slide every day be your program flyer. Incorporation into Current Courses. Find ways to talk about your program abroad in the context of your current course – that theorist you are discussing whose home you’re going to visit while abroad, for example. Post to Department www and Social Media (Twitter, FB feeds). Contact the website and social media mangers for your department and ask them to post about your program and study abroad deadlines in general.Classes. Speak to students in your classes about study abroad AND to those in the classes of your colleagues. Ask for 5-10 minutes in colleagues’ classes to pitch your program. Think about inviting an Education Abroad Advisor to help when you have 10 minutes or more. Include the following points in your presentation:Why: How will the class count toward the degree for your audience? What are the benefits of study abroad for students in your field? Do not discount this point – students want evidence that your course counts toward their degree AND they want to take courses abroad in their major.What: What are the course and itinerary highlights; how do the course and itinerary coincide?When: Dates or TermWhere: Program LocationHow to Apply: Provide the application deadline and URL as well as informing students of scholarship availability and the URL for more information on those. murraystate.edu/studyabroadapplication AND murraystate.edu/studyabroad 2018-2019 APPLICATION DEADLINESWinter, Spring: September 21st Spring Break: October 12th Early deadline for summer/fall: November 30th Summer/Fall/Full Year: February 1stIdentify classes that are feeder classes for your study abroad course(s). If you are part of a team, identify who will speak to which classes.Need help speaking to classes or conducting an Application Session? Call the Education Abroad Advisor assigned to your college: Find us at murraystate.edu/educationabroadColleagues. Make sure your academic colleagues know about your program. If you cannot get into their classes, ask if they will take flyers to their classes for you. Ask colleagues to help plug your program in various venues such as student clubs or a department-wide email listserv for your students. Get in touch with previous teach abroaders and with your department’s Faculty Study Abroad Ambassador for assistance in recruitment and awareness. For a list of Faculty Study Abroad Ambassadors, see the Education Abroad website at murraystate.edu/facultystaffabroad. Identify faculty colleagues who may assist you: Personal Contact. Build on class visits with follow-up emails to students. Set up one-on-one office time with students who want more information. Create a Communication Plan to use with those email addresses you’ve gathered – send group and individual emails to students to alert them of upcoming deadlines and/or interesting things you plan to do on the program. Example 1: Looks like Patrick Stewart will be playing Othello next winter in London! Join me for the Theatre course abroad December 26 – January 9th and we’ll enjoy his performance together!Example 2: Don’t forget the Study Abroad application AND scholarship deadline is next Friday! Get your application in by 4:30 to be considered for the amazing Human Rights class in Paris-London this winter and be sure to get that scholarship app done by 4:30 as well so you can be considered for funding from MSU. 96% of students who applied for study abroad scholarships received them last year! Let me know if you still have questions you need answered before hitting submit!Identify activities and deadlines you can highlight to create a Communication Plan for study abroad recruitment: Application Follow-up. As recruitment begins and applications are submitted, login occasionally to Horizons to keep track of your students (see the Horizons Help sheet under Step 7 at murraystate.edu/teachabroad) Follow-up with both those applications that are Pending (completed applications) and those that are Incomplete. Add the Pending students to social media outlets for the program for updates. Encourage Incomplete applicants to complete their application and/or speak with you or the Education Abroad Office concerning any questions they have. Social Media. Consider creating a Facebook Group for recruits OR to help recruit. Twitter is a fun way to get to students with short information on activities you may be planning. Ask the Education Abroad Office to highlight your program on their Facebook page as well with a fun photo or event.Flyers. Create a flyer that can be used as you speak to classes. The Education Abroad Office can print these for you so that you have enough for every interested student. Flyers will include more detailed information about what you are teaching, tentative itinerary highlights, how to apply, etc. Flyer samples are on the Recruitment section of the Teach Abroad site at murraystate.edu/teachabroad. BONUS: The Education Abroad Office will create an 11x17 poster for your program. These will be simply designed and highlight course and location. These will not be reviewed for multiple edits and are done as a courtesy.You should design your own flyer, but once it is designed, send it to Robyn Pizzo at rpizzo@murraystate.edu for review before posting. This must be done well in advance of when you need them. Posters. Posters will have less information than the flyer. These are designed to hang around campus and catch student’s attention so they will have larger photos and less detailed program information (no prices, for example). Posters are printed in the Education Abroad Office. Contact us directly at rpizzo@murraystate.edu to inquire. Events. Study Abroad Fair (fall only) organized by the Education Abroad OfficeSummer program faculty should consider proposing a session during International Education Week that would dually help promote your program and be part of your own service to campusInternational events, such as trivia or a curricular or topical forum can help to recruit students. Consider events in the residential colleges, Curris Center, or other campus locations that your students frequent. Avoid the general program information session as a recruitment tool unless you have a regularly planned student meeting that you can repurpose for study abroad recruitment. Consider holding an Application Session with the EAO once you have lists of interested students. This will be held in a computer lab to help walk students through the application process.Invite an Education Abroad Advisor to events and meetings you have so that s/he may assist with application and financial aid/scholarship information.Identify events within your department, related clubs, residential colleges, etc., that are currently planned or for which you could take the lead to plan for recruitment: 2018 Study Abroad Fair:Thursday, September 13th, 11-2, Curris Center Dance LoungePublic Displays. There are multiple venues you can consider for public displays of information about your program. Posters. It never hurts to paper campus with posters to garner interest in your course and program. Ask for new quantities printed from the EAO anytime. Also consider contacting foreign tourist boards to request posters of the country that you can add a sticker of info to.Library Table Tags can be designed as a miniature version of your poster or flyer. These also have to be requested and scheduled in advance. Contact Robyn Pizzo at 2959 for details.Display Monitors in various campus buildings are often available to add announcements. Contact Robyn to request specific buildings and which information you want displayed. College Bulletin Boards are available all across campus. Ask the Education Abroad Office where yours is or ask them to make sure your flyer/poster is there.Remember that recruitment is ongoing. A multi-faceted approach that is directed to the students who need your course(s) and continues for several months leading up to the application deadline is the key to recruitment success. ................
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