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October 27, 2006 > Opinion > Rice should build its own study abroad programs

Rice should build its own study abroad programs

By The Rice Thresher Editorial Staff | Thresher Editorial Staff

We welcome Barbara Harrison to Rice as she steps in to direct international opportunities, and we look forward to improvements she has planned for study abroad and exchange programs. (See story, page 1.)

Currently, almost all study abroad and exchange opportunities at Rice are available either through other universities or independent organizations such as the Institute for the International Education of Students. However, many universities run their own programs overseas. They facilitate direct enrollment in foreign universities, home stays or traveling programs, often led by the home university’s faculty. Some cater in particular to students whose major requirements would otherwise preclude many international opportunities.

Rice needs homemade programs such as these. We need sets of international curricula whose coursework is pre-approved for credit and equivalent to a semester or year’s coursework at Rice. Such programs could drastically raise student interest in international programs, especially if these opportunities appeal to majors in the natural sciences, music and engineering, which have rigid requirements for graduation.

While beginning any such endeavor is costly in both finance and personnel, we believe students would be more willing to study abroad if the program sponsoring them were affiliated with their own university. Rice already has such programs in place independent of the International Programs office. For example, the Summer Nanotechnologies Study Program in Japan, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and administered by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, is tailored specifically to students majoring in that department who want to study abroad.

As students move through their Rice careers, we hope everyone who desires to study abroad has the opportunity to do so, and we hope International Programs takes definitive steps to better prepare students for international academic travel.

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