University Relations

Dear Advisor:

Welcome to your dedicated section of CEA's web-site. It is always tempting to open a welcome page such as this by outlining all the reasons your students should be studying abroad. And you know we believe they should. However, we also know you know this, too. So, we will address instead the important role that you play as your students' academic advisor and, in this case, guide to a wider world.

Student learning is based on opportunity, but opportunity is not always taken. The role of the advisor in persuading the student to make the most of an opportunity reminds me of that of the physician trying to persuade a patient to follow a needed regimen. We can make the health care needs known, prescribe the treatments and even check up periodically. International Education advising is not dissimilar, even though we are prescribing for the health of the mind rather than simply the body.

At CEA we know that it is your pre-departure advice and counsel that opens the curricular opportunity and generates the enthusiasm and commitment in the student; our academic and developmental program that provides the learning platform; and our combined efforts on re-entry that maximize the study abroad experience for our students.

In every important sense of the word, this is a team-based project, and we understand the professional responsibilities that you agree to share with us when you advise your students to join a CEA program. This is not a one-time placement of a student – it is a sharing of responsibility in the education of our future leaders.

CEA and its domestic and overseas staff view the advisor relationship as a long-term venture in global education partnerships, not simply as something that is part of a recruitment process. You and your colleagues have prepared the student for an extraordinary opportunity and guided them to it. We will do all we can to see that they gain the maximum benefit, returning to you with new eyes, new ears and new capacities that will assist you in completing a first-rate education.

Thank you for all you do for future generations of leadership for our ever-smaller world. Our academic institutions are a worldwide source of pride and strength, but we know that much of that strength comes not from opportunities presented, but from opportunities used well. That is where we know you play your greatest role – in encouraging your students to take the leap, to prepare them to jump and to help them land safely. We are proud to be your partners in this global-improvement endeavor known all too simply as education abroad.

Sincerely,

Dr. Geoffrey Bannister
President & Chief Academic Officer
CEA - Cultural Experiences Abroad