SPACER
ACADEMIC PROJECTS
Client-based, graduate consulting courses have been marked with **
**Marketing and Student Recruitment:
The goal of this group-focused course was to create a marketing plan for our assigned client, in this case a plan for attracting more STEM students to study abroad for the University of Connecticut’s Education Abroad Office. The project included data research, an analysis of study abroad trends, analysis of obstacles students face, and implementation of marketing techniques and strategies. Close collaboration with our contact at the EA Office helped to guide our decision-making and gave us a measure of accountability. Project components included elements such as a strategic analysis of the University of Connecticut, identification of SMART goals and objectives, competitor analysis, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, identification of target market opportunities, promotion plan, as well as a pricing structure analysis and value proposition.
Work Samples:
Strategic Analysis of UConn (Individual Assignment)
Final Marketing and Recruiting Plan for UConn Education Abroad (Group Assignment)
Budgeting in Higher Education Organizations:
Each budgeting group was given a set of budgets for a division of the fictional Alpha University. These budgets provided the basis for applying real-life budgetary situations, such as an excess of funding, budget cuts, and planning of a new fiscal year budget. With each of these situations we were required to apply ethical decision-making skills to figure out how to best allocate new funding, or how to make the best of a budget cut situation.
Work Samples:
Life Sciences - Budget Proposal (Group Assignment)
Budget Philosophy Statement (Individual Assignment)
Developing Intercultural Training in Organizations:
In this two-week workshop, groups were charged with the task of creating a workshop for a group of people heading to another country. My group chose to design a pre-departure orientation workshop for Brazilian students wishing to study at U.S. universities. We were required to create a workshop implementing elements of intercultural theory (e.g. Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions) as well as intercultural training activities to best convey the message of how we wanted our students to think about their upcoming experiences in the U.S. We also thought about what kinds of things our students would need to know before arrival, such as U.S. classroom norms, pedagogical style, cultural differences, and stereotypes.
Work Sample:
Developing an Orientation Workshop for Brazilian Study Abroad Students (Group Assignment)
Cross-Cultural Crisis Management:
This intensive January Term workshop focused on the different types of disasters that can occur during a study abroad program in a cross-cultural setting. The goal was to make sure we, as international educators, know how to respond quickly and efficiently in the case of a problem overseas. The course included protocols for practioners both on-campus and overseas to respond to natural disasters, health issues and suicide, political turmoil and terrorism, missing persons, financial emergencies, and criminal activity. We also looked at infuential factors such as the role of social media in a crisis, repatriation and legal matters, differences in how cultures view rape and sexual harassment, as well as the role parents play. Also included were considerations regarding on-campus relations and cultural and physical realities when creating a crisis management plan. Assignments included a cover memorandum and outline for a univeristy international crisis management plan, a risk assessment and vulnerability audit for a specific country (keeping in mind cultural norms), a "pull-out" document with information regarding the protocols for a specific crisis in the chosen country, a pPowerPoint presentation on "Mitigating Student Risk", and a case study analysis of crisis management preparation at a US university or college.
Work Samples:
Crisis Plan Outline (Individual Assignment)
Mali Risk Assessment & Vulnerability Audit (Individual Assignment)
Terrorist Attack Pull-Out Document (Individual Assignment)
UConn Int'l Student Risk Mitigation (Individual Assignment)
Institutional Partnerships:
This January term workshop focused on how educational institutions create and maintain partnerships both domestically and internationally. We studied what types of partnerships exist (e.g. exchanges, research-based, transnational education), reasons for pursuing partnerships, and type of relationship (e.g. exploitative, transactional, or transformative relationships). We analyzed existing Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between universities and looked at potential shortcomings, studie characteristics of an effective international partnership, and negotiated international agreements in the form of role-play. As a final group assignment, we analyzed a partnership that one group member had had experience with.
Work Sample:
Kyoto Exchange Final Paper (Group Assignment)
**Program Design and Assessment:
Similar to the International Student Marketing and Recruiting course mentioned above, the Program Design & Assessment course required close collaboration with a client. Students worked in pairs, and were responsible for finding ou their own clients. My partner and I were very fortunate to be able to work with International Student Exchange Programs (ISEP), a third-party provider based in Washington, D.C. Course goals included studying theories of program design and asssessment in the context of international education, learning about and implementing program design models and assessment tools, as well as how to select a model or tool based on best fit for the client and project. Additionally, we practiced networking skills in successfully partnering with a client, business writing, and engaging stakeholders and their needs. In collaboration with our contact at ISEP, my partner and I created a design proposal for a re-entry program for the diverse student body ISEP serves. The proposal included a literature review, program logic and theory of change models, program design outline (an online module to be distributed to students overseas, with subsequent "Critical Content" modules), assumptions and limitations, recommendations and implementation plan, as well as sample content.
Work Sample:
ISEP Re-Entry Plan Final Report (Partner Assignment)