Study Abroad At Villanova: Analysis Of An Evolving Program

Abstract

One way to prepare students for life in a "flat world" is through study abroad experiences. The Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Villanova offers students several ways to go abroad during their time in our department: one or two semesters at a university overseas, summer programs run by Villanova, and internships. Since the class of 2001, 35 civil engineering students have studied abroad either at a university or through a summer program run by Villanova. Civil engineers comprised 37% of the engineering students that studied abroad in that time period; however, typically civil engineers make up 22% of each graduating class. In addition, the numbers of students participating in such programs increases every year: in the class of 2001 just one student went abroad as compared to 12 in the class of 2007. This indicates that within our college, the civil engineers are eager to study abroad and that they are enabled to act on this desire. This paper will discuss what we have done to increase the number of students studying abroad and provide student perspectives on their experiences. We will also describe how we propose to assess the program systematically so that we may continually enhance the program.