Arcadia Update 2009 Dedicated to Global Leadership Winter Issue
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Arcadia Receives "Licensed Sponsor Status" for UK

We are delighted to announce that Arcadia has recently been granted sponsor status as a licensed academic sending institution by the UK Borders Agency (UKBA). As entry requirements for students have been increasingly tightening across the UK, the recognition of this status for Arcadia University is absolutely vital and will greatly facilitate students’ entry into the UK. Arcadia is on the UKBA Sponsors register, with an 'A' status (the highest) and recognized by immigration agents at airports around the country. This new points-based system begins in March 2009 and will first affect students enrolling in summer programs in the UK. Please direct any questions or concerns to
Traci Chupik, Senior Program Manager for UK programs.

See You in Portland!

Many of our senior staff including Dr. Nikki Christensen (Executive Director), Dr. Dennis Dutschke (Dean of Studies), and Lorna Stern (Director of Institutional Relations) and regional assistant directors will be attending the Forum on Education Abroad conference in Portland, OR, on February 17-19. We welcome the chance to see you there! Please contact Jessica Madoll at madollj@arcadia.edu to arrange a meeting.

Our very own Elise Rayner, Assistant Director for the Mountain Region, was part of a three-person team that coordinated the development and analyzed the results of the Forum on Education Abroad 2008 State of the Field Survey, which will be distributed at the conference in Portland.

Arcadia Application Process Goes Green

In an effort to work more efficiently with our partner institutions in the U.S. and abroad and an ongoing commitment to be kind to the environment, we ask that you encourage your students to submit their applications to Arcadia online. Beginning in September 2009, we will waive our application fee for on-line applications and will raise our fee from $35 to $50.00 for all paper applications submitted. Our staff will make every effort to provide assistance to study abroad offices to help with this transition to electronic submission. Institutions wishing to explore the submission of electronic file application information to Arcadia on behalf of their students are encouraged to be in touch with Beth Hunter, Director of IT Services and Student Support, at hunterb@arcadia.edu or 1-866-927-2234 with any questions or concerns.

Changes to the Internship Program in Sydney

Our popular internship program in Sydney, Australia, which combines coursework with a three-day a week unpaid internship, and an 8-day trip to the Kimberley in Northwest Australia, will now run concurrently with our program at the University of Sydney to allow students to enroll in a course. Students on the Sydney Internship program earn 18 credits for the program (4 credits for coursework at Univ. of Sydney, 4 credits for “Australian Issues” course, 4 credits for “Workplace Realities” course, and 6 credits for the academic project), and work in a variety of organizations, from marketing and finance, to public policy and social welfare, to journalism, communications and graphic arts. Please contact
Andrew Downs, Senior Program Manager, for details.

Arcadia Selected to Host LEAP Intern


We are very fortunate to have been selected as one of 9 universities nationwide to host a LEAP intern, Emino Imazu, of Nagoya University, in Nagoya, Japan. LEAP (Long-term Educational Administrators Program) is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in cooperation with Montana State University. The program aims to help participants improve their English and learn about the U.S. higher education system, specifically, the operations and programming of international programs offices.

Emino is supervised by Amanda Zimmerman, Program Manager for Arcadia programs in Ireland, and Dr. Dennis Dutschke, Dean of Studies.

February 2009 news

Life of The Mind Series: Dedicating 2009 to Global Leadership


Dear Colleagues,

This semester at our program sites around the world, we kick off our Life of the Mind Series, dedicating 2009 to the theme of Global Leadership. We at Arcadia firmly believe that the world can be led in new and promising directions when informed by a global view. It is hard to find a mission statement or strategic plan that does not say one of the purposes of education is to create globally aware, competent international citizens. We have never needed such citizens and leaders more. We recognize and accept our role in helping students to fulfill their potential as one of the most effective and credible diplomatic assets we have. To this end, our overseas staff has been working tirelessly to organize exciting lectures and events, which will introduce students to local leaders who are making a difference in their home countries and around the world. From our first Leadership Symposium in Rome this spring, to visiting with Members of the South African Parliament in Cape Town, to volunteer opportunities with the Greek Council for Refugees in Athens, we are confident that these unique experiences will have a long-lasting impact on students’ lives.

We were delighted this past fall to welcome our 50,000th student abroad in our 60-year education abroad history. We look forward to shaping the next 60 years, and as we do so it is critical that we embed the insistence on standards that is the hallmark of academic conversation; that we attend to the long term and not just the short term rapid returns; and that we display the qualities of reflection and thoroughness and resistance to sensationalism in our “best thinking” standards as well as our best practice standards. Since we live in a society where cult status and celebrity frequently are bestowed as a reward for the provocative rather than the profound, there will be an inevitable pull in the direction of the instant headline which all of us must resist. We must rather focus on what will enrich our colleges and universities and inform the world in which our students live.

One thing we do know about ourselves is that we are willing to embrace the complex and diverse possibilities produced by a changing world just by the very nature of the profession we have chosen to pursue. I am confident that many of our new program development initiatives will be a success and a model for future, similar undertakings, and will come to be viewed as one of the defining moments in the history of study abroad.

My best wishes for a happy and successful 2009,


Nicolette De Ville Christensen, PhD
Vice President, Arcadia University
Executive Director, Center for Education Abroad

Exciting Developments in Barcelona

As we kick off a new semester in Barcelona, students will have the benefit of taking classes in our recently remodeled, state-of-the-art center there. Renovations that were completed over the holiday break include a new library, cutting-edge classrooms, and a brand-new student computer room. Students will also enjoy several additions to the co-curricular program in Barcelona, with numerous day trips, cultural events and activities in and around Barcelona and the region of Catalonia as well as a weekend trip to Seville. In addition, our Dean of Studies, Prof. Dennis Dutschke along with Christine Kelly-Vereda, Resident Director for Spain, and our faculty in Barcelona have developed several new courses and curricular tracks, including a core course on Catalonia and Catalan language. Please visit www.arcadia.edu/abroad/Barcelona for the most up-to-date information.

Special Scholarships: Making Study Abroad Affordable

The Arcadia University Center for Education Abroad has one of the most extensive scholarship programs of any study abroad organization, providing more than $2 million per year in financial aid and scholarships As we begin this new semester, we would also like to draw your attention to a number of special scholarships that may be available to your students. Learn more.

  • The Society of the Sons of St. George is offering three scholarship opportunities for the 2009-10 academic year: one award in the amount of $12,500 for a student undertaking a full year of study; and two awards of $6,000 each for either a full-year or fall term/semester student. The Sons of St. George Society provides scholarship money for students who will attend a university in England, have a minimum GPA of 3.2, can show English ancestry, and reside in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks, or Chester counties in Pennsylvania or Camden, Burlington, or Gloucester counties
    in New Jersey.


  • Arcadia in Paris: generous support is available for students participating in our semester
    program in Paris.


  • The Gilman Scholarship: Students receiving a Pell Grant may be eligible for this scholarship which provides up to $5,000 for any semester or year abroad. Any recipient of a Gilman scholarship will receive a scholarship of at least $1,000 from the Arcadia University Center for Education Abroad Scholarship Fund.


  • University of Melbourne and Victorian College of the Arts – additional scholarships are available to students participating in these programs.
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