ICISP Short-Term Study Visit Exchange Program for Administrators and Faculty

Overview:

SAU is a member of the Illinois Consortium for International Studies and Programs (ICISP).  ICISP offers a Two-Week Faculty/Administrators’ Exchange Program with the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.  The faculty member or administrator will be matched as closely as possible with a faculty member or administrator with similar job responsibilities.  Other match factors such as age, gender, personal interests, and family composition will be incorporated into the matching process when possible.  The two-week period will allow for approximately nine days of professional exchange, three days of weekend time, plus a day for orientation upon arrival.  English is spoken in most exchange locations, which enhances both the professional and personal aspects of the exchange.  However, in Finland, classes will be held in Finnish.

Arrangements for the exchanges are made by ICISP in cooperation with SAU.  These exchanges involve home stay to defray some costs of the exchange and to provide increased opportunities for exposure to the cultural aspects of the exchange.  ICISP exchange participants will first host their exchange partners from England in late September and from Holland, Switzerland and Finland in mid October, and complete their exchange in mid May.

Qualifications:

To qualify for the program, all participants must:

• Be a full-time employee of SAU;

• Complete the application form;

• Complete any home college procedures for application;

• Make a commitment to share the experience upon return;

• Make a commitment to complete an evaluation of the experience upon return.

Exchange Locations:

Regardless of your exchange location, you will be able to study and observe students, faculty and administrators in post-secondary studies. Most of the exchange sites are similar to American community and technical colleges.  The sites provide vocational career education to both full-time and part-time students of all ages.  Some of the sites provide a third or fourth year of study for students in particular fields.  General education courses are offered in all of these vocational programs thus enabling us to provide some exchanges for faculty teaching general education courses.

Exchange Variables:

A thorough completion of the application form is very important to the exchange process.  The professional objectives for the exchange are the primary criteria for making your match; however, factors such as age, gender, and personal interests will be taken into consideration because of the home stay exchange aspect.  We want our exchange partners to enjoy the home stay as well as the professional study part of their exchanges.  We will also try to take into consideration such factors as smoking and diet preferences.

Timetable:

February                    Applications made available

April 1                        Application with appropriate college--signatures due to ICISP         

April/May                   Preliminary matches made

June                          Notification of successful matches

July                           Late matches as necessary

Mid-September         Orientation

Mid-October              Arrival of European participants.

Mid-May                    Departure of US participants for Europe

US participants will be expected to make arrangements to pick up their exchange partner at O’Hare, Madison, Appleton, or St. Louis when they arrive and to get them to the airport when they leave.

Costs:

Host College’s Obligations

Air fare                                    $1000.00 - $1500.00

            (depending on destination country)

Administrative fee                  $100.00

Orientation fee for visitor       $100.00 (approximate)

Ordinary professional expenses (i.e. conference fees)

Host’s Obligations

Room and board (Includes breakfast/lunch/dinners with host

                            during entire stay.)

Ordinary entertainment or entertainment at the host’s invitation

U.S. participant health insurance (if needed)

Gifts

Optional travel related to return visit

Exchange Visitor’s Obligations

Optional travel related to visit

Gifts

Orientation:

After notification of acceptance into the program, all participants are required to attend the orientation scheduled for a Saturday in September.  Orientations are typically held at Madison Area Technical College, Joliet Junior College, Parkland College, and John A. Logan College.  This orientation is essential for all participants; attendance is a condition for participation in the program.  Detailed information about this orientation will be sent to all participants after their acceptance into the program.

Schedule of Activities:

To make this a valuable experience, a schedule of activities will be arranged for the European participant by the US host, taking into consideration the expressed interests of the European participant.  The following are some of the types of activities participants may elect to participate in:  lecturing or giving lab demonstrations on pre-arranged topics, speaking to faculty or community groups, observing the programs offered to learn about a different system of education, visiting other colleges or universities, visiting community-based professional, business, industrial, or social organizations, having a chance to socialize with people of another country, and seeing some of the local area. 

Housing:

During your exchange, you will stay with your counterpart while in their country and will be expected to provide room and board for your guest while he/she is in our country.  Accommodations do not need to be elaborate, but separate sleeping facilities and appropriate bathroom facilities are a necessity.  Consideration should also be made related to laundry, phone usage, and weekend family activities.

Assistance During the Exchange:

To ensure the best possible exchange, participants are asked to work closely with Dr. Ryan Dye and Sangeeta Kumar while in the States. 

Health Insurance:

Please check your home college insurance to see if out-of –country travel is covered.

Travel:

The short duration of this visit does not allow for extensive travel in your host country.  You can gain a great deal from spending your weekends with your host family during both parts of the exchange.  If you desire to extend your stay following the professional part of your exchange in May, you may make arrangements for this at the time that you arrange for your tickets.

Note: This is a professional exchange

Spouse/children/significant others are not allowed to join you during this exchange.  We encourage you to invite them to join you following the professional exchange, if you so desire.

Evaluation:

Following the exchange, participants are asked to complete an Evaluation of the Program form, which will be provided in June.  This information will assist ICISP in improving the program in subsequent years.

Additional Information:

Consult with Dr. Ryan Dye or another faculty or administrator on your campus who has participated in the program.

For additional information, contact Sangeeta Kumar at

(708) 596-2000, ext. 2574: email:skumar@southsuburbancollege.edu

or Albert Jackson at (708) 596-2000, ext. 2349:

email: ajackson@southsuburbancollege.edu