Tuesday, May 25, 2010

We have arrived - All is well

Welcome. We have arrived and Barbados is fantastic. Our students are fantastic. The trip seemed effortless to all of them.

This ISLP is the first of what we hope will be a longstanding opportunity for our graduate students. A few years ago we hoped to create an experience for our graduate students in college student personnel/higher education.  The University of Louisville has fast become one of the premiere graduate preparatory programs for those seeking positions in higher education. It seemed fitting, given our efforts to provide meaningful international opportunities, to develop a program for graduate students. Dr. Michael Cuyjet took on that challenge and has worked with his small class all semester to prepare them for this unique experience. Each student worked with others either at Barbados Community College or the University of the West Indie – Cave Hill (Barbados) campus.

The International Service Learning Program (ISLP) is in its 13th year. It first started in Barbados in 1997. Since that time the ISLP has seen continuous service in Belize and has recently expanded to the Philippines and Botswana. The twelve person delegation in Barbados will work with the two tertiary-level institutions and offer insights into how they might evolve their current programs. Naturally we stand to learn a great deal from this well-developed community and educational system.

Over the next week the graduate students (which includes master-level and doctoral-level students) will be exposed to the culture of the island, as well as the educational systems of this region. At the beginning of the semester the students learn about the campuses, projects, and community. This is followed by intensive orientations prior to departure. Once travel begins, the ISLP model is built on a seven-day sequence of events. The program devotes the first two days to acculturation in country through cultural and local activities. The mid-portion of the stay is the actual service activities on the campus or in the community. The end of the week is spent back in cultural and social activities before returning the US. This model has been applied to all four programs across the world.

In the following blogs you will hear from the students and the faculty participating in the program. Please enjoy. Tom Jackson, Team Leader.

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