HECUA News

HECUA -- HECUA News (updated February 20, 2003)

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Spring program director visits February
Martha Moscoso and Alberto Rivera visited February 16-25 to connect with faculty and prospective students on member campuses. Contact Elizabeth Petheo, Campus Relations and Student Services Coordinator, 651-287-3312, for campus visit information.

Member-Sponsored Events with HECUA Connections
-Carleton College Symposium to Honor Life and Work of Paul and Sheila Wellstone Feb. 28 & March 1. Visit www.carleton.edu for info.

-Gustavus Adolphus College Building Bridges Conference, March 15th. “Conflict Resolution at the International, National and Local Level,” will include speakers Dr. Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa. Lorraine (Heffernan) McIlrath, Northern Ireland Program Director, was invited but unable to speak at the conference.

-Augsburg College and Project for Pride in Living (where many HECUA interns are placed) are co-sponsoring a presentation by Jeanette Duncan on April 14th as part of the seminars on “Building Futures: Community Building in the 21st Century.” This event is free and open to the public.
Recognition

Recognition:
-Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad forthcoming special issue, “Experiential Learning & Study Abroad,” includes several references to HECUA. One is a tribute to Paul Wellstone by Amy Sunderland, HECUA Executive Director. Another is an article on pedagogy written by Chip Peterson, University of MN and former HECUA Board and faculty member, Jacquelyn Geier, HECUA Director of Programs, and Orv Gingrich, Augsburg Dean of International Education.

-Michael Eaton, Director of Enrollment Services and Marketing, Sara Carpenter, Program Development Assistant, and MUST alumnus Peter Elwell presented in November at Minnesota Study Abroad Professionals on the benefits of domestic off-campus study.

-Martha Malinski, Internship Coordinator, Sara Carpenter, and Barry Klann, MUST and Northern Ireland alumnus, presented at Minnesota Association for Experiential Learning on the topic of international internships in February.

-The HECUA Civil Rights January term featured in an article in the Birmingham paper as well as on Minnesota Public Radio. A feature will also appear in the Macalester alumni magazine next summer.

-On-site experts join program staff. Dr. Talim Hussain joined the program staff for the Bangladesh program. Multicultural education expert Olga Varentsova from Sochi, Russia is serving as a teaching assistant in Northern Ireland.

-HECUA celebrates employment milestones: Robyn Middleton and Christa Olson - 1 year; Bill Reichard, Jeri Lu Mattson and Michael Eaton - 2 years; Stephanie Clausen – 3 years.

New Alumni Educational Travel Program: CUBA: Politics, Culture & Society -

Participants will see the effects of the U.S. embargo while learning how life has changed since the revolution. They will meet with Cubans to learn their perspectives on issues like immigration, human rights, health care, food supply and religion. This 9-day HECUA English-language program in Cuba will be led by Cynthia Thomas and Michael Eaton. Thomas sits on the Executive Committee of Americans for Humanitarian Trade with Cuba. This U.S. group is working to lift the U.S. embargo. She recently led a group of agricultural executives to Cuba. This trip was shadowed by Ed Bradley and included in a piece titled, "The End of the Embargo," which aired in October, 2002. Eaton has previously led student and adult trips to Guatemala and Peru. He works at HECUA as Director of Enrollment Services & Marketing. He is also active on the Board of Directors for the National Model United Nations, a non-profit simulation of the U.N. for 2600 college students annually. Click Here for Information

Partners Internship Program Selections Announced
21 organizations have been selected to receive funding to hire a summer intern as part of the Partners Internship Program (PIP). Students must apply directly to the organizations by April 15th. Projects range from coordinating the Run for Peace for the Grand Forks, ND Community Violence Intervention Center to re-designing the web site of Minneapolis-based Galumph Interactive Theater. Click here for a pdf document containing information on the selected organizations and internship projects. For more information about this and other HECUA programs, CLICK HERE.

Graduate Fellowships: HECUA’s New Philanthropy and Human Rights Fellowship Program is Currently Recruiting Graduate Students to work with the Otto Bremer Foundation.

The Philanthropy and Human Rights Fellowship offers paid fellowships to graduate students studying in Minnesota, North Dakota and northwestern Wisconsin. Graduate fellows will have the unique opportunity to work part-time with the Otto Bremer Foundation for the duration of a semester and will be paid a $6,000 through either a stipend or scholarship. Applications for fall or spring fellowships are due March 31st. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

New Fellows Program on Experiential Learning and Resources will be held June 13 for College Presidents, Deans, and Funders in Higher Education
“Tools for Engagement,” will be led by HECUA’s Phil Sandro and Garry Hesser, Augsburg College professor and recipient of the Distinguished Sociologist award. The program will provide a day-long immersion into current issues, with discussion centered on experiential learning and resources for the college. For additional information contact Jacquelyn Geier, HECUA Director of Programs, 651-287-3306 or by e-mail, [email protected]

Member Colleges and HECUA Partner for Innovative Programs and Seminars

-The University of St. Thomas, using funds from their Lily grant supporting learning around vocation, will pilot new one-day training program led by HECUA. The program will immerse student leaders in simulations and panel discussions on community partnerships and service.

-Williams College faculty took part in a half-day seminar on experiential education/curriculum design led by Phil Sandro, HECUA’s Senior Program Director and Jacquelyn Geier, Director of Programs.

-The College of St. Catherine will send a group of students in March to HECUA’s Ecuador site. The ten-day immersion focused on “Women and Work” is embedded in a course that meets the Global Search for Justice capstone requirement. The program will run again in January and March 2004.

-St. Olaf College’s Diversity Initiative included campus-based January Term courses with a Twin Cities immersion that was successfully hosted by HECUA for the second year of a three-year project.

-Carleton College embedded a HECUA experience abroad as part of an anthropology course. Students spent two intensive weeks in HECUA’s Guatemala site meeting with community leaders and engaging in a number of field exercises.

-Macalester College partnered with HECUA for an Intensive Spanish January-term program at HECUA’s Ecuador site. Based on success, this program will be repeated. The program met intermediate Spanish language requirement and explored contemporary issues of globalization and social change.

Organizational News
• Consortium members came together in December for a strategic planning retreat focused on excellence in programs, new program development, marketing, membership and alumni relations. The ongoing planning promises continued innovation to meet member college needs.

• HECUA January-term programs served 54 students from across the consortium at sites in Bangladesh, Ecuador and the United States. Another 48 students are currently enrolled in spring programs at sites in Guatemala, Northern Ireland and the United States.

• Preferred application deadlines for Fall 2003 programs are March 15th (abroad) and April 15th (domestic). For information on programs, contact HECUA at 651/646-8832.

• Phil Sandro, Senior Program Director, will lead the Scandinavia program in Fall 2003. Sandro will focus the curriculum on contemporary issues in Norway such as identity and immigration. He will also conduct faculty development seminars on experiential education and community partnering at the University of Oslo.

• The program director for the new Environmental Sustainability program will be on board soon. We are currently interviewing an excellent pool of candidates.

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