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Pictured, from left, are WIU Office of Study Abroad and Outreach Director Pedro Bidegaray; grant director and WIU Educational Studies Professor Gloria Delany-Barmann; SRC President Curtis Oldfield; SRC Nursing Educator Penny Pollock and WIU Sociology and Anthropology Professor Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, the program's academic director.
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Federal Grant Helping WIU, SRC Faculty, Students with Academic Travel Opportunities

April 14, 2017

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MACOMB, IL – A federal grant to benefit international travel opportunities for faculty and students at Western Illinois University and at Spoon River College (SRC) is already offering a variety of options to study abroad this summer and during upcoming semesters.

The $424,812 grant from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) grant is allowing Western to offer the project, "Communities as Agents: Language and Area Studies for a Sustainable Future." Only 24 grants were awarded nationwide.

The grant is directed by WIU Educational Studies Professor Gloria Delany-Barmann and covers three years of academic travel offerings. The program offers faculty the chance to develop short- or long-term travel programs for students and scholarships for students to take advantage of the resulting opportunities.

In addition to funding study abroad opportunities for students, the grant also provides faculty at both WIU and SRC the opportunity to internationalize their curriculum. Each year of the grant there is support for eight faculty members to received $3,000 for curriculum enhancement. The faculty may also choose to travel, but they also have access to information and resources gathered by those who have already traveled abroad, such as video clips, photos and blog posts.

This is the first year of the grant cycle and already WIU faculty have developed academic travel opportunities to Puerto Rico and Ecuador. Seven WIU students will study abroad in those two locations this summer, accompanied by WIU faculty.

Delany-Barmann said the goal now is to involve SRC students.

"We have created this partnership with SRC so we can get their students to study abroad with us," she said.

Opportunities are available in a variety of academic majors, including nursing and public health, business, biology, anthropology, and education, among others.

SRC President Curtis Oldfield said he is excited for the opportunities the partnership with Western provides to SRC students.

"This also builds a bridge for our students to move into a baccalaureate program," he said.

Delany-Barmann and WIU Sociology and Anthropology Professor Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, the program's academic director, traveled to Puerto Rico in January to work with two WIU alumni to set up internship sites there.

Project Co-Director Pedro Bidegaray, who serves as the director of the WIU Office of Study Abroad and Outreach, said so far there have been about nine faculty submissions seeking funding for academic travel opportunities. Bidegaray will accompany students on a trip to Ecuador this summer.

"It is important to have class work with an emphasis on global perspectives," he said.

Some of the travel opportunities are for a few weeks or a month long, up to a semester-long trip.

"We have some students who are postponing their graduation because they see the value in this experience," said McIlvaine-Newsad.

Delany-Barmann said there is a common thread among the trips to expand and enhance the study of the Spanish language and Latin American cultures.

Another partnership developed through the grant is with Western's Peace Corps Prep program, to combine knowledge and skills with international and community development work.

Delany-Barmann said the hope is that as WIU students return from these travel opportunities, they can speak at SRC about their experiences.

The grant will pay for 12 student scholarships each year for study or internships in other countries. It also helps sponsor guest speakers, free Spanish workshops at the SRC Outreach Center, and film screenings to advance the program's mission.

For more information about the project, visit wiu.edu/sao/outreach/prof_dev/index.php or contact Delany-Barmann at GA-Delany-Barmann@wiu.edu; Bidegaray at PE-Bidegaray@wiu.edu or McIlvaine-Newsad at H-McIlvaine-Newsad@wiu.edu.

Posted By: Jodi Pospeschil (JK-Pospeschil@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing