Vice Chancellors, Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, Administrative Officers and Faculty:
I am pleased to announce the creation of a new International Education Office (IEO) within the International Institute. The IEO will serve as the administrative home for the Education Abroad Program (EAP), Summer Travel Study and Summer Sessions international student recruitment — simplifying for students and faculty engagement in overseas studies.
Approximately 2,000 UCLA students study abroad each year, primarily through the EAP and Summer Travel Study. Our faculty are engaged in countless teaching, research and public service activities around the world. So it is essential that we continue to facilitate and expand opportunities for our students to engage in academically appropriate and meaningful activities abroad and to offer students from other countries a variety of opportunities for study at UCLA. The creation of the IEO represents an important step in this direction.
The creation of this office grew out of discussions among the academic and administrative leadership of the campus to develop a more focused and coherent approach to international study and research at UCLA. The core of the new office merges the staff, space and functions of the EAP, Summer Travel Study and Summer Sessions into a single entity under the administration of the International Institute and Acting Vice Provost Nicholas Entrikin.
Beginning July 1, 2008, the academic and credit-bearing international opportunities currently publicized and coordinated by the Career Center will be incorporated into the IEO. Several years ago, the Career Center staff took the lead for the campus in developing an array of services for our students interested in study abroad. I am grateful to Career Center Director Kathy Sims and her staff for establishing a strong foundation on which we can build. Incorporating information and advising for non-UC, third-party study abroad programs into the IEO will strengthen and extend the existing services for our students and faculty.
The staff and faculty associated with the IEO will continue their exemplary work in promoting and expanding existing opportunities while also creating new study abroad and student exchange activities throughout the year. This office will provide administrative support for faculty seeking to develop new and innovative study abroad programs for our undergraduate and graduate students and serve as the first point of contact for international students planning to study at UCLA as part of a new or existing international exchange agreement. UCLA Extension programs for visiting non-degree international students continue; Extension and the IEO will work together to coordinate efforts.
Professor Val Rust, faculty director of UCLA EAP, will oversee the larger IEO through 2008-09. Ms. Hadyn Dick, who has directed the Summer Travel Study Program, will serve as the administrative director.
As we expand opportunities for study abroad and student exchange, it is essential that all academic and administrative units work closely together to ensure that all students and faculty are provided the opportunity for international study and that matters of health and safety have been properly assessed.
I encourage you to visit the IEO Web site and to familiarize yourselves with the useful information it provides as the campus moves forward in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Scott L. Waugh
Acting Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost