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Announcement: Forum a Partner in Capacity Assessment Project
The Forum on Education Abroad announces its participation in a project to assess education abroad capacity in overseas programs and host institutions. The project is being conducted in cooperation with the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), with financial support provided by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).
The purpose of the project is to assess the capacity for hosting U.S. students in non-traditional education abroad locations, and make recommendations for the improvement of programs to meet expanding need. For the initial pilot study, Brazil, Morocco and Senegal have been selected.
According to Forum President and CEO Brian Whalen, “the Forum will play a key role by contributing its expertise in the area of standards of good practice and quality improvement for education abroad.” The Forum’s Quality Improvement Program (QUIP) provides a tool for the comprehensive assessment and improvement of education abroad programs by using the Standards as its basis. Whalen says that “institutions and programs will be oriented to the Standards and trained in QUIP through workshops and webinars, and I expect that a number of institutions and programs will participate in full QUIP reviews as part of the project.”
The first goal of the project is to compile as complete a list as possible of education abroad programs in Brazil, Morocco and Senegal. Information about all types of programs is desired: existing programs, those in the planning phase, programs based at higher education institutions in these countries, programs offered by local independent organizations, and programs offered by U.S.-based providers.
If your institution or organization sponsors an education abroad program in one of these countries, please send the name of the program, your institution/organization, and contact information to Rachel Marcus at rmarcus@iie.org. The deadline for receiving information is January 9, 2009. After all information is compiled, more details about how to participate in the project will be made available.
To further its strategic goal of developing and implementing standards to improve the quality of education abroad programs, the Forum on Education Abroad provides its institutional members with the opportunity to participate in its Quality Improvement Program (QUIP) for Education Abroad.
The goal of QUIP is to promote high standards of practice throughout the field of education abroad.
QUIP consists of a guided self-study and peer review process, resulting in a comprehensive report and recommendations in the areas of program design, evaluation and assessment, marketing and promotion, student advising, and resources and operations.
Unlike accreditation, QUIP supports an institution’s own quality assurance initiatives and can be easily adapted to organizations with different philosophies and infrastructures.
QUIP is based on the Forum’s Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, which were developed in consultation with many colleges and universities and third party providers. Hundreds of education abroad professionals have contributed to the Standards.
Those institutions and organizations participating in QUIP will benefit from its rigorous, systematic, and objective self-study and peer review process to improve the quality of education abroad programs. This is an ideal program for Forum member organizations that are in the process of re-accreditation or simply seeking to evaluate and improve their operations.
To assess the value of QUIP, it is helpful to consider the per student cost for a review amortized over the 8 years for which a review is valid. For example, imagine that your organization’s total price for QUIP is $5,000, including the costs associated with hosting peer reviewers. If your organization has 500 students a year participating in study abroad, the total number of students over 8 years, assuming steady enrollments, would be 4,000 students. This would make the per student cost of the QUIP review $1.25.
Types of QUIP Reviews
The Forum on Education Abroad is pleased to offer three types of QUIP reviews:
1. Comprehensive Program Review
This QUIP review is intended for institutions and organizations that offer Education Abroad Programs either exclusively for their own students, or for the wider US undergraduate market. Examples of institutions for which this review is appropriate include:
- A US college or university that offers several programs that are only available to their own students;
- A US college or university that offers several programs and markets them to the wider US audience;
- An overseas institution (college, university, or other) that offers one or more programs and markets them in the US;
- A third-party provider.
Fee: Starts at $2,000 (see QUIP fee structure for full details)and will vary according to the scope of the review. The institution or organization under review pays travel expenses for peer reviewers.
2. Review of Evaluation Processes or of Affiliation Processes
This type of review is appropriate for providers and institutions with elaborate education abroad evaluation systems as well as institutions that do not offer their own programs and seek to evaluate their mechanisms for sending students on programs sponsored by providers and other institutions.
The review of a provider or university education abroad evaluation system involves a review of evaluation mechanisms, including what use is made of the evaluations and the recent history of improvements that have resulted. This type of review is appropriate in cases where an institution or organization has an elaborate review process, involving independent parties, and has a mechanism for ensuring that reviews are used for quality improvement.
For institutions that send their students on programs offered by other schools or providers, this review will involve a Self-Study of the mechanisms that relate to program approval, the student application process, and granting of credit, as well as a review of mechanisms in place to determine on an ongoing basis how well the programs used are serving students. This type of review is appropriate for institutions that depend largely on programs offered by other institutions and organizations. Examples of institutions for which this type of review is appropriate include:
- A provider with a well-established system for evaluating its programs;
- A college or university that has a well-established system for evaluating its Education Abroad Programs;
- An institution that runs very few, if any, of its own study abroad programs.
Fee: Starts at $1000, and will vary according to the scope of the review (see QUIP fee structure for full details).
3. Guided Strategic Planning
This type of review will assist institutions and organizations that are either just beginning the process of developing Education Abroad Programs, or those that want assistance in moving in new directions. Organizations in this QUIP category include:
- An institution or organization that is rethinking its strategic plan in light of recent changes such as new leadership, opportunities, or challenges;
- An institution that has recently decided to establish a study abroad office or program and needs assistance in planning for its development;
- An institution or organization that has decided to expand or enhance (or has already done so) its programming and needs assistance in navigating this expansion.
Fee: Starts at $2,500 and will vary according to the scope of the review (see QUIP fee structure for full details). The institution or organization under review pays travel expenses for peer reviewers.
The QUIP Review Process
The QUIPComprehensive Review process is described in the QUIP Guidebook for Participants and Peer Reviewers. All QUIP reviews share the same basic process.
QUIP Peer Reviewers are established experts in the fields of international education, assessment, or academic disciplines related to education abroad. They are selected from a pool of highly qualified applicants, and trained according to strict standards. Institutions are matched with peer reviewers whose knowledge and expertise are best suited to the particular review. Each peer reviewer is carefully vetted for any potential conflicts of interest, and signs a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement specific to each Review . The QUIP Guidebook for Participants and Peer Reviewers provides a full description of the role and responsibilities of the Peer Reviewer.
Peer Reviewers must complete the Peer Reviewer Training Workshop. These workshops will be offered at regular intervals, and at a variety of locations.
The next Peer Reviewer Training Workshop will be offered in Portland OR at the Forum's annual conference. Please visit the Conference pages for full information.
Download an application to become a Peer Reviewer here: Peer Reviewer Application
In this first year of the Forum’s Quality Improvement Program, we anticipate providing fifteen to twenty full QUIP Reviews; however, the exact number of QUIP participants will be determined by the pool of applicants. Applications will be considered on a first come/first-served basis, with scheduling of the QUIP Reviews on a rolling basis.
Download the Quip Application form here: Forum QUIP Application
QUIP FAQs
Questions? Consult our QUIP FAQs, or contact the Forum at 717-245-1031 or info@forumea.org.
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