Short Term - Provost Letter

A Letter from the Provost:

Dear Faculty Colleagues,

In recent years, Duquesne University faculty has offered its students many excellent opportunities to participate in Short-Term Study Abroad programs. In July, 2004, I established the Office of International Programs to bring our international initiatives under a central and easily accessible office. The Office of International Programs, in collaboration with the university-wide International Programs Steering Committee, has established guidelines and practices for the development and approval of Short-Term Study Abroad programs. In collaboration with the university faculty, this will ensure that Duquesne University ’s Short-Term Study Abroad programs meet the highest standards of academic rigor and appropriate student support and safety.

I ask all faculty to use the established guidelines and process for seeking approval your Short-Term Study Abroad programs. If for no other reasons than student safety and protecting potential university liability associated with study abroad, no Short-Term Study Abroad program can be approved unless the proposal format and process established by the OIP and the International Programs Steering Committee are followed. Furthermore, it will be essential that faculty have full approval before marketing a program to students. It is important that we do not disappoint students. Within this framework, the faculty continues to design the curriculum of the Study Abroad program.

At Duquesne University , we recognize the transformational nature of study abroad in shaping young adults who are intellectually aware, culturally sensitive, and professionally prepared to become global citizens of the twenty-first century. I encourage you to consider leading a Short-Term Study Abroad Program, and I invite you to visit our Office of International Programs for their support in this endeavor.

Sincerely,

Ralph Pearson

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs