The Forum on Education Abroad - SOAR Whitepaper - Your Cres…

The Forum on Education Abroad - SOAR Whitepaper - Your Cres…

SOAR STRENGTHS | OPPORTUNITIES | ASPIRATIONS | RESULTS WHITEPAPER

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Your Crescendo spoke with internal and external stakeholders of The Forum on Education Abroad in a series of focus groups and individual interviews to capture their thoughts and insights surrounding basic tenets of the organization. These stakeholders included board members, staff, affiliates and forum members. Perspective from a variety of individuals affiliated with The Forum on Education Abroad in a broad range of capacities enables the team at Your Crescendo to get a more comprehensive view of where the organization stands as well as prospects and priorities for the future. Their input helps clarify the current situation to better address next steps for the organization to move forward. Participants were asked to weigh in on topics specific to the Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results of the organization.

The questions they were asked included:

STRENGTHS 1. What does the organization excel at? 2. What are the organization’s greatest accomplishments? 3. What are you most proud of? 4. What makes the organization unique?

OPPORTUNITIES 1. What partnerships would lead to greater success? 2. What changes and trends in the market align with the organization’s strengths? 3. What threats do you see? 4. Are there gaps in the market that the organization could fill? ASPIRATIONS 1. What do you want to achieve in the future? 2. What should your future business look like? 3. How can you make a difference? 4. What is the organization passionate about? (Stated differently, what does the organization love to do?)

RESULT 1. What measures will tell you that you are on track to achieve success? 2. How do you translate your vision of success into tangible outcomes? 3. How do you know when you’ve achieved your goals?

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The SOAR exercise creates a baseline to help The Forum on Education Abroad define and articulate its strategic direction by determining the current situation as well as the vision for the future. Responses and comments were reviewed, analyzed and organized to be incorporated in decision making by the leadership of the organization. Several key themes emerged from the exercise including strong communications and effectiveness; opportunities for partnerships and outreach; aspirations to improve funding sources and diversity; and a desire for tangible economic and environmental impact, among other significant fundamental tenets.

There is an overwhelming sense of commitment among all those interviewed to make a difference and have real impact both on the forum members and the students they serve.

There is much work to be done to process and integrate the full results from the SOAR exercise, but the organization has a solid base and quality leadership with a wealth of opportunities to improve in a number of areas.

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RECURRING THEMES

STRENGTHS

OPPORTUNITIES

ASPIRATIONS

RESULTS

Unique status as the standard’s development organization for the field

Going Virtual

To be the Go To Source in Education Abroad

Qualitative Measures of Impact (learning, global citizenship, etc)

Expanding Beyond US Centric Approach

Continued and Growing Advocacy

Provides a sense of community for study abroad practitioners

Membership Renewals and Growth

Forum can prioritize and advocate for the voices of the underrepresented in the industry

Expand Sphere of Influence/Relevance through partners and other schools, institutions, etc. Be more aggressive about expanding the membership and audiences

Continue to grow diversity and set new standards and models for members and partners

Forum serves as an advocate for the education abroad field

As a trusted institution, Forum can do/provide research on study abroad

The Value and benefits of Membership

Research initiatives through grant funding

Nimble, Adaptable and Responsive to the changing needs of education abroad

Provide Post-COVID Guidance, Innovations

Creating Global Citizens

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After conducting these interviews and focus groups, recurring themes emerged. Here is a topline summary of those themes and excerpts of the comments shared by participants:

STRENGTHS

The Forum on Education Abroad has strength in:

■ STANDARDS:

“One other thing that I think is a strength of the Forum is our unique status as the standard’s development organization for the field, because there’s no other professional organization or association out there that can claim to fill that role. It’s a designation we get from the department of justice and Federal Trade Commission, and so that’s one thing that makes us unique” - Elizabeth

• Unique status as the standard’s development organization for the field • Provides a sense of community for study abroad practitioners • Forum serves as an advocate for the education abroad field

“For me, when I’m looking for professional development opportunities or resources, I know that the forum is going to be my one-stop-shop.” – Kyle

“I think the fact that the Forum in Education Abroad is recognized by federal agencies as the standard development organization for the field really professionalizes the field.” – Joy

• The Value and benefits of Membership

“The standards speak to all of us and allow us to have the continuity and speak the same language.” – Keshia

• Nimble, Adaptable and Responsive to the changing needs of education abroad

“Certainly, I think the Forum’s greatest accomplishment is in the standards and it’s probably what it’s most notable for, really driving for the field high standards and best practices that many organizations have gone to in terms of strengthening their delivery of education abroad programming, as well as the integration of student learning outcomes in it. I mean, without a doubt I think that’s the greatest accomplishment.” - Craig

“I think more voices from abroad have been included in this process, as now we’ve reached the sixth edition. And so I think that, that’s a really strong testament toward both the applicability, and the interest that the people have in using them.” - Mark

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■ COMMUNITY:

“I think something else that we do well and what I hear from our members and feedback from our events is providing a space and opportunities for members and professionals in the field to have discussion, talk about best practices... I think we do a good job of kind of fostering that conversation in giving platforms for members to do so.” – Lindsay

• Provides a sense of community • Dialogue Rich - Providing a space/opportunity for members and professionals in the field to have discussion, talk about best practices. • Variety of ways to involve the membership • Annual conference brings everyone in the field together

“I always have loved it when it was really fireside, it was dialogue rich… I think Forum’s great strength is when it’s the most conversational… I think that’s really, in whatever way Forum is able to retain, genuine, vulnerable dialogue, that isn’t posturing of any kind. That to me is what I loved about it, to be honest…I like meaningful substantive, relational, genuine, authentic kinds of frameworks, and I think Forum has one of the best shots of that.” – Lorna

■ BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP:

“I think it’s always been a space that there’s been a lot of nurturing and professional development that was both formal and informal, and really targeted in a very specific way to education abroad.” – Keshia

• Value of Membership • Training/Professional

Development - Nurtures the professional development of those in the field • Networking

“I think the Forum has done very well in terms of certification and training programs that help to reinforce the role of the Forum within the field. So, you look at everything from QUIP to the certification residency program, those are all opportunities I think that are unique to the field, that meet the needs of really many of the different members, whether that is a college or university, or an education abroad provider. And is also accessible to our international colleagues who are looking at the standards as kind of a grounding point for the entirety of the field.” - Craig

■ ADVOCATE IN THE FIELD: • Leadership • Forum serves as an

“I think you’ve seen that role of the Forum being an advocate for everybody, especially through this COVID-19 crisis… I do think the past few months have really brought that strength. I mean, it was always there, but I think we’ve just seen it in action.” - Elena

advocate for the education abroad field • Independent/Impartial Professional Organization for the Field • Brings in new voices (US, abroad and the underrepresented) • Field support of the Forum

“I think also having a leader who truly believes in equity, in the language that she uses, but also in the practices that she uses to reach the goals of the organization. That is something that I’m proud of, to be a part of the forum. When Melissa came in, she had these ideas, she had this philosophical perspective, that we are going to be concerned about equity issues from our international partners, to historically black colleges and universities, Latinx serving institutions, and excuse me, and she has been committed to making sure that those voices are at the table at every turn.” - Dawn

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■ FOCUS ON EDUCATION ABROAD: • Specialized focus on Education Abroad • Produces consistent, high quality products for those in education abroad (attracts members)

“I think one of the things that makes the Forum unique in the field of international ed and higher ed is that it focuses solely on education abroad. Whereas many of the other organizations are focused on other parts of international ed, the Forum exclusively focuses on ed abroad, which I think makes it unique amongst peer organizations.” - Tracey

■ ADAPTABLE:

“I think just the shift, not only pulling the conference off and the logistics but having such a quick shift shows that the Forum can be nimble, and the fact that it also coincided with this pandemic and challenges being faced by our members. So not only did we shift the conference and provide this platform for people to gather, but also being able to respond to needs with other resources and services to address the challenges going on at the same time. Shows that we could be nimble and quick on our feet.” - Lindsay “One of the things that we’ve really tried to strike here at the Forum is to try to adapt to how the field is shifting and kind of meet those needs...We kind of tried to step in and identify those needs at the moment when they’re happening, even if that means kind of throwing everything to the side to focus on this because that’s what the field needs at that moment...I think that’s something that we always try to be conscious about and try to provide as much support as we can in those critical moments.”

• Nimble/Adaptable/ Responsive to the changing needs of education abroad • Being flexible to make participation affordable and manageable for institutions of different sizes and strengths, and individuals • Ability to reinvent ourselves

■ REPRESENTATION IN THE FIELD: • Wide representation of voices

“That sense of very close ties that are literally a phone call away, I find Forum keeps growing and what it’s offering as a product, but it manages to my mind to still feel accessible, small, relatable, and that almost anybody can participate.” – Lorna

■ FOCUS ON D&I:

“I know that in this present moment, so where we are right now, the forum is doing a lot to make it affordable and manageable for institutions of different sizes and strengths, and individuals, like I’m grateful for the amount of opportunity they’re providing, even for people who don’t really have the resources right now to pay to go to the conference, or to be paying members.“ – Keshia

• Working towards diversity and inclusion

■ ACCESSIBLE:

• The organization (staff) is accessible, relatable and almost anyone can participate • All services do not have a fee attached (accessibility to other schools and institutions that can’t afford full membership.)

“I think that’s a strength that the forum does have a lot of resources that are not behind a paywall.” - Joy

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OPPORTUNITIES

The Forum on Education Abroad has the opportunity

■ GOING VIRTUAL:

“But I think also, one thing I’ve seen happen in some organizations in the field right now is an increase in just webinars on particular topics that are open and accessible for free and just really some incredibly powerful speakers. So, it gives you access to conversations from very interesting people that relate directly to our field and at no cost. I was thinking about that as a potential opportunity for the field.” – Mary

• Explore Forum’s role in virtual global experiences (workshops, webinars, events, etc.) • Virtual exchange/mobility • Explore “What is global education in a virtual world?” • Opportunity for Forum to help the field to better leverage technology via resources and professional development

“I think another potential opportunity, given how slow higher ed has been to embrace technology relative to other industries, would be the forum kind of stepping in and providing more resources and professional development opportunities for us to think as a field about how we can leverage technology. I think within higher ed, we probably have been some of the better stakeholders to use technology, just because we’ve been forced to because of the nature of our work, but I think it could go so much further, and that’s what we’re beginning to see now, are some really innovative ideas of how do you bring technology into the work that we do. That could be another space the forum might want to dive a little bit deeper in.” - Kyle

“I think that is something that we have real potential, to lead, and to show the power of virtual exchange, and to still show the power of education abroad.” – Dawn

■ EXPAND BEYOND US CENTRIC APPROACH: • Expand US centric approach • Include non-US perspectives • Go beyond focus on US and Europe • Extend our outreach and services for our international members • International Membership • International conference needs to evolve to serve students of non-US based institutions who have a global imperative

“I also think that international membership is an opportunity. The Forum does excellent work but it’s still a very U.S. centered Organization. So I think to outreach the non-U.S. members is important.” – Thomas

“It’s a big world out there, and I still think that, expanding beyond again, US institutions is something that, needs to be still highlighted as far as, the forum’s work moving forward.” - Mark

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■ CONTINUED ADVOCACY:

“Institutions have to be able to make much more nuanced region-specific, country- specific, sometimes city-specific decisions. And we don’t have a framework or an argument for that right now, but it’s absolutely critical because we’re painting with a very broad brush… I guess what I’m getting at is advocacy, nuance advocacy is absolutely critical to the Forum’s mission and to the future.” – Lorna

• Nuanced advocacy • Forum can be the voice of the industry • Forum can prioritize the voices of the underrepresented in the industry • Advocate for legitimizing education abroad in an academic sense - make sure that they understand that this is a vital and critical component of a student’s academic career. • Direct the conversation of how do we grapple with our identities as intercultural educators, rather than international educators • Boost confidence about the reopening of study abroad

“One of the things that I’ve been hearing more and more from our university partners is what opportunities are there for the Forum to really be the voice for the field, and look to present and speak for the voice of the industry.” – Carri

“But I would love to see the forum do more work in the space of legitimizing education abroad in an academic sense. I think they’re uniquely positioned with its organizational composition to contribute in this space… I think just being the centralized body they are for our field, there’s a lot of opportunity here to really help us legitimize the profession.” – Kyle “We really do do more work than just send students to take classes abroad. I think there’s a lot more to be done in helping those who don’t speak our language, who don’t do this work on a day-to-day basis, understand the sheer breadth and complexities that we are grappling with and the work that we do.” – Kyle “How do we grapple with our identities as intercultural educators, rather than international educators, and find ways to pivot to these modalities that will allow us to accomplish that. Again, the Forum, just because they’ve established credibility as the go-to resource for those of us in the field, this could be an opportunity for them to direct that conversation.” – Kyle “I think we’ve seen more of this with the Forum, especially recently with the pandemic, is an opportunity for advocacy, both at the federal level and then providing some resources for us perhaps for advocacy at the state level, and even at the local level if necessary.” - Tracey

■ RESEARCH:

“Maybe there is kind of a gap in research on the results of this kind of hybrid model. So I think Forum could be a good platform for that kind of research and it would be useful I think for many of us and for many stakeholders to have that from the Forum, which is a trusted institution who can have that kind of level of research.” - Rosa

• As a trusted institution, Forum can do/provide research on hybrid study abroad model • Opportunity for Forum to do industry research • Incentivize industry professionals to contribute to a larger research study by providing >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21

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