Academic Excellence

In 1976, IES Abroad began conducting regular, formal reviews of its programs, the first in the field of international education to do so. Academic consortium members have played an integral part in ensuring IES Abroad program quality through participation in on-site program reviews. During these reviews, U.S. faculty and administrators from IES Abroad’s academic consortium provide first-hand evaluations of our overseas programs, which IES Abroad uses to continually improve its academic programming. Using innovative, proprietary program measurement and standards tools, such as the IES Abroad MAP for Study Abroad Programs, teams review programs and then provide recommendations in virtually every area of a Center’s operation and a program’s execution. Recommendations cover facilities, faculty, teaching methods, cultural programming, and curriculum enhancements.

IES Abroad surveys all students about their academic and personal experiences on IES Abroad programs every academic term using a variety of evaluation instruments. These methods include course evaluations and comprehensive, end-of-term evaluations tied to the IES Abroad MAP for Study Abroad Programs to name only two of numerous tools utilized. The results are analyzed, shared with key staff members worldwide, and improvements implemented. A recent evaluation indicated that students in one program wanted to practice their language skills more outside the classroom. As a result, the Center created a “Language Buddy” program that pairs IES Abroad students with local students.

The quality, effectiveness, and comprehensiveness of IES Abroad’s evaluation efforts were recognized in 2010, when IES Abroad was the first third-party study abroad provider to receive the prestigious Quality Improvement Process (QUIP 2A) designation from the Forum on Education Abroad. The recognition was the end-product of an 18-month process that involved written and on-site examinations of IES Abroad’s program evaluation and quality improvement process. An independent, external team of faculty and staff conducted the review. The designation confirmed IES Abroad’s conformity with the Forum’s Standards of Good Practice, the highest standards in the education abroad field.

Our 3-D Program Model connects the quality standards of the IES Abroad MAP for Study Abroad Programs with the three dimensions of student learning and development: cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. This model reflects our belief that carefully planned programming will foster students’ learning as they acquire new knowledge about their host country and culture, adapt to their new environment, examine their cultural and social values, and consider their role in a global society. Our faculty and staff receive detailed training in the model and continually apply the strategies in their classrooms.

We are in the implementation stage of a curriculum audit that examines the IES Abroad curriculum as a whole, across all programs and at all IES Abroad Centers. The overall goal of the audit is to determine how best to serve the academic needs of future students in terms of the expectations and requirements of their home institutions and the latest curricula of specific disciplines. The Curriculum Audit Task Force, which first convened in 2004, analyzed data from consortium member schools and enrolled students, as well as the IES Abroad curriculum. The IES Abroad Academic Council reviewed the findings and has set priorities for developing programs or curricular tracks. To date, programs and tracks have been established in Health Studies, Business, Engineering, and Environmental Science. Further curriculum development is underway in Communications and Psychology.

Cultivating academic excellence at all levels of the organization includes developing the scholarship of faculty and staff of academic consortium schools and the overseas IES Abroad faculty. We offer faculty development seminars and familiarization trips, both designed to enhance the knowledge, experience, and insights of consortium member faculty and staff.

The Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning Abroad (CETLA) was established in July 2022 to promote and facilitate the tradition of academic excellence that IES Abroad is well known for. CETLA also celebrates the many accomplishments of our talented faculty as we encourage students to reflect upon and articulate the value of their study abroad experience. As the foundation of everything we do at IES Abroad, CETLA poses the question “What is excellence in teaching and learning?” within the context of study abroad.