Global Education Office (GEO) Faculty-Led Student Abroad Programs Policy

Plattsburgh has a long history of global encounters that goes back 400 years to the arrival of Samuel de Champlain in the Lake Champlain valley in 1609. At SUNY Plattsburgh, the first normalized study abroad programs appeared in the 70’s through the Center for the Study of Canada and International Education. Then, in the spring of 2006, SUNY Plattsburgh changed the name of the International Education Office and became the first SUNY Institution to have a Global Education Office (GEO). GEO now administers study abroad programs with universities in Australia, Canada, Chile, China, England, Italy, Mexico, Spain and Switzerland as well as faculty-led, short-term programs. While most of our students study abroad for a full semester or on summer programs at other universities, SUNY Plattsburgh has experienced a substantial increase in faculty-coordinated short-term study abroad programs. Typically, faculty coordinated short-term programs consist of a semester-long course on Plattsburgh’s campus that culminates with or includes a short (mostly 7–14 days) field-study abroad. Many faculty and staff ask how a short-term program comes to be and how they can learn more about leading a group of students abroad. This document is meant to help answer those questions, educate faculty and staff on what leading one of these programs involves and explain the program proposal process.

The Global Education Office has the responsibility of administering all of the college’s study abroad programs. The principal role of the Global Education Office in faculty coordinated programs is to assist in developing new programs, and, after the program has been approved, to manage the programs’ organizational, fiscal, health and safety aspects.