Creating and Facilitating a Successful Study Away Program

Abstract

This paper presents information to support facilitating a study away program for students. Many non-traditional students cannot easily take an entire semester to experience an internship experience. Therefore, the study away opportunity allows students to have the experience of in-depth experiential work while also taking a break from their otherwise very busy lives. It allows them to engage with the knowledge and skills they have been learning in course work, that they have been building theory behind foundational growth, and then put this into practice. This paper explains how to set up a study away program, the common challenges associated with study away programs, the benefits of a study away experience, a description of some of the student experiences, lessons learned and looking ahead.