Greater Access to a Wider World ............................ Catherine Hutchison

What better place than Smith to start learning about the world as a global community and our responsibilities as world citizens? We asked Catherine Hutchison, associate dean of international study, to discuss how Smith is altering its study-abroad program to offer more-accessible options and make the program an integral part of the liberal arts curriculum. Q. How many Smith students study abroad? A. Each year about 30 percent of the junior class studies abroad for a term or the year. The actual number of students participating is higher but we don't collect statistics that would show how many study abroad during January term or in the summer. These non-term-time opportunities are great for students who may think they don't have room in their academic schedules for study abroad. Q. How is a student's study-abroad experience integrated into her Smith education? A. Students returning from abroad often develop a special-studies project, a senior thesis or an independent study out of their study-abroad experiences and coursework. Also, study abroad frequently enables students to approach their classes at Smith with critical and comparative insights derived from having studied their discipline from another perspective. Q. I understand there will be some changes in the study-abroad fee policy starting in the fall of 2000. What is the current study-abroad policy? A. Currently, students who attend Smith College Junior Year Abroad (JYA) programs, the Associated Kyoto Program, PRESHCO in Córdoba, Spain, or the Middlebury-in-Russia program pay the Smith College comprehensive fee and their financial aid is applied to the cost of their program. Students attending other approved programs pay those programs directly and can receive Smith grant aid (based on financial need and the cost of the program) only if the program they are attending is located in a non-English- speaking country. This policy will be in effect through 1999­2000. Q. What is the new study-abroad policy? A. Starting in the fall of 2000, all Smith students studying abroad on all approved programs-no matter what their class year-will pay the Smith College comprehensive fee and be eligible to apply for need-based financial aid, no matter what approved program they're attending or where it's located. Q. Why is this a good idea? A. The new policy makes study abroad affordable for everyone. Under the current policy, some Smith students who need the college's financial aid cannot study abroad. We have decided that we do not want to continue a policy that makes study abroad available only to the "privileged" and places restrictions on study in English-speaking countries. There are very good programs for art and science majors in England but if you want to study studio art or chemistry there, for example, and you're a student who needs financial assistance, under the present policy these programs are not available to you. What we're saying with the new policy is, "If you can afford to attend Smith, you can afford to study abroad." Q. Is Smith the only college adopting this "one-price" study-abroad policy? A. No, the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Pomona, Pitzer and Wesleyan are just a few of the colleges that have adopted a similar policy. Q. Is there a financial advantage for Smith associated with the new policy? A. No. Income that results from the new policy will help defray the cost of increased financial aid distributed under the new program travel required for faculty and staff to make site visits of study-abroad programs increased staff support in the study-abroad office. Q. Is it true that there may be changes to the Smith JYAs? A. Smith is currently evaluating its study-abroad offerings, including its own JYA programs in Paris, Geneva, Florence and Hamburg, and the general policies that govern study abroad. The foremost goal of the Committee on Study Abroad is to ensure that our programs and policies provide students with the best possible opportunities for study abroad. We value what is distinctive about the Smith JYA programs: students spend a full year abroad, fully immersed in the language and culture of the host country, guided by a resident director chosen from the Smith faculty. These features, increasingly rare among study-abroad programs, are ones Smith intends to preserve. Q. Many science students feel as though study abroad is not for them. Is that true? A. Not at all. Science students can take courses in the sciences at universities in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand or, through the School for Field Studies, participate in a field-studies program at any one of six sites around the world. In addition, courses in the sciences are offered at universities in Africa, such as the University of Natal at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa-and they're taught in English. Science students with strong language skills have studied in Paris, Geneva and Hamburg and have carried out academic internships in laboratories for cancer research in Paris. Q. There has been a lot of talk lately about the importance of internships. Do students who study abroad lose out on the internship experience? A. Not at all. We've worked hard to develop internship opportunities on our JYA programs abroad and we encourage students to pursue them. There are numerous possibilities in Geneva and Hamburg and for community service internship in Florence. Students on independent study-abroad programs are encouraged to apply for internships abroad and to seek funding through the college. Q. Could you sum up the advantages of the changes to study abroad that Smith is in the process of instituting? A. In a nutshell, they will: allow all students to apply for institutional financial aid, regardless of destination diversify and enhance opportunities for independent study abroad allow more direct support of study abroad programs by Smith increase knowledge of individual programs and improve the advising of students about study abroad facilitate better integration of study abroad into the Smith curriculum.

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