Larry Basirico, dean of international programs, wrote an op-ed piece on the benefits of study abroad in the Sunday, Dec. 11 edition of the Greensboro News & Record. Basirico was asked to speak to the Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program last spring about the importance of study abroad at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ and the impact it has on students. The commission recently called on Congress to provide enhanced funding for study abroad programs.
“The study abroad experience, just a generation ago thought to be reserved for only the wealthy and worldly, is now becoming a part of mainstream academic programs,” Basirico wrote. “…Aside from the language skills that students develop in programs in non-English speaking countries, students who study abroad return as more mature citizens and as better learners.”
Included with the op-ed were photos of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ students Sakeenah Thompson, Amy Jo Jenkins and Matt Dawson during a 2004 study abroad course in Belize.