7 After Return
The IU Education Abroad Program Evaluation Policy outlines the requirements for program organizers to submit required reports and supporting materials within 30 days of the program end date.
IU Education Abroad Program Evaluation Policy
All IU programs are subject to monitoring as a condition of their approval by the Overseas Study Advisory Council. Should program organizers not submit required reports and supporting materials they will be subject to losing OSAC approval which would automatically result in the cancellation of the program.
Program Types
There are three types of programs that fall under the purview of the Overseas Study Advisory Council:
- System-wide programs administered by Education Abroad which include exchanges, faculty-led* programs and direct enrollment arrangements that fall exclusively under the responsibility of Education Abroad.
- System-wide programs co-sponsored through Education Abroad that are administered by external organizations or institutions with which IU is affiliated.
- Unit-based programs which are campus or school-specific that are administered by other offices or units at IU. Some of these may be non-credit educational experiences.
*faculty-led in this context refers to any IU staff who has been approved by a unit or department to provide academic or administrative services for the program.
Types of Evaluation
In order to ensure ongoing quality assurance, OSAC has a Review Committee that works with the Education Abroad staff to determine procedures for ongoing evaluation of all IU programs.
Given the number of programs and the diversity of their administrative structures, the Review Committee has determined three levels of evaluation for IU programs:
- Monitoring involves assessing a program through required resident director reports, student evaluations and debriefings of directors and students.
- Site visit involves Education Abroad staff and/or IU faculty members who visit a program site and write a follow-up report.
- Review consists of an individual or a team, usually comprised of faculty member(s) and professional staff who systematically evaluate a program on-site using an established protocol.
All three levels of evaluation should focus on the critical aspects which have been recommended by the Standards of Good Practice of the Forum on Education Abroad.
Evaluation Guidelines
Monitoring
At the very minimum, all programs must be evaluated by a periodic monitoring process.
In order to monitor a program, Education Abroad collects written resident reports, student evaluations and, where possible, conducts debriefings with the director and/or the students.
All organizers of program, either administered through Education Abroad or their own units, receive guidelines for Post-Program Reports. They are asked to submit a report within a month of the end of the program describing it in detail, including a description of the participants, the pre-departure orientation, the academic program (description of courses, teaching methods, impact and influence of the overseas setting on the academic experience, etc.), grade distribution, description of student housing and meal arrangements, issues concerning student health and safety and recommendations for the program in the future. They are also asked to provide a detailed program schedule, course syllabi, handbooks or handouts distributed to students prior to departure and student evaluations.
Co-sponsored, exchange or direct enrollment programs are monitored through student evaluations and student debriefings, as well as close contact with the program administration (in the U.S. and/or abroad, depending on whether there is a third party provider).
Site Visits
Education Abroad staff and IU faculty routinely conduct site visits to administered and co-sponsored programs. These site visits are conducted in a methodical way and always entail a detailed report. These reports should address the categories that have been outlined in the Standards of Good Practice of the Forum on Education Abroad.
Education Abroad welcomes site visits by faculty who plan to be in a country or city where IU has a program in operation. In these cases, Education Abroad will contribute an honorarium and per diem, as long as the faculty members submit detailed reports to document their visits.
Reviews
On occasion Education Abroad organizes a formal review of a program, usually an administered program, often in conjunction with consortium partners. Programs are reviewed in pre-determined cycles, or the need for a review might be determined by issues that arise during the monitoring process or a site visit.
The review team is comprised of one or more faculty and/or professional staff. For IU programs, the categories that have been outlined in the Standards of Good Practice of the Forum on Education Abroad should guide these reviews.
Co-sponsored programs are systematically reviewed by a formal process organized by the agencies themselves and often include IU staff or faculty. In all cases IU has access to the written reports resulting from co-sponsored program reviews.
POLICY APPENDIX: IU Education Abroad Program Evaluation Policy
Post-Program Reports
Within one month of the end of the program, the director/lead administrator must submit a summary report to the Overseas Study Advisory Council (OSAC) via Education Abroad that addresses each of the points below. To do so, please click on the Post-Program Report link provided on our website to access the report form and provide the required information. For the three Educational Program Outcomes questions, please ensure that you provide enough detail for OSAC to be able to adequately review and reauthorize the program. The 500-word limit for each of these questions allows for approximately one full page of text per question. If there is not enough information provided, the report will need to be revised and resubmitted. Note: for ease of use, and for your own records, it is advised that answers be drafted in a word document and then cut/pasted into the form itself. There is no option to save and return.
Once submitted, your report will be routed to the Overseas Study Advisory Council for review. If any questions arise during the review process — including questions resulting from student surveys — that would prohibit reauthorization of your program, the Associate Vice President for Education Abroad will be in touch with you. Please consider your program reauthorized for the next iteration unless contacted. Please note that OSAC will contact you well in advance should they have any concerns about your program.
Note: It is the responsibility of the program leader(s) to proactively contact Education Abroad directly if they:
- Experienced any significant challenges with the implementation of their program;
- Have any concerns that they would like to discuss relative to their program;
- Wish to consult with Education Abroad Staff on potential program modifications;
- Have a Clery Incident to report; and/or
- Have a Title IX incident to report.
Report submission form includes the following:
- Report submitter name
- Report submitter email address
- Program name/title
- Program location(s)
- Program dates
- Program instructor(s)
- Program instructor(s) email address
- IUB School or Campus (e.g. College of Arts & Sciences, IU Kokomo)
- Number of participants
- Summary description of the student participants (credit/non-credit enrollment, graduate/undergraduate status, most common major, class standing, distribution by campus, etc.)
- Yes or No or Not Applicable: all IU faculty and staff who served as on-site staff for the program completed the required online Campus Security Authority training
- Yes or No or Not Applicable: For programs that fall under the IU Education Abroad Policy on Programs Involving Children, institutional protocols were followed
- Report highlights.
- Educational program.
- Outcomes: Please provide concrete examples of how the integration of the overseas setting (e.g. excursions, fieldwork, structure) enhanced the educational and intercultural experience for students in practice. Describe how you feel these activities could be improved in the future to enhance student learning. (limited to 500 words)
- Outcomes: Please describe the reflection activities undertaken in the field and how they impacted the student learning experience, including a couple of examples that illustrate this. How do you feel these opportunities for reflection could be adjusted in the future to enhance student learning? (limited to 500 words)
- Outcomes: What were the key learning outcomes for the program (academic, cultural, personal and professional) and how were they measured? Please provide a summary of the outcomes, including any thoughts you may have on the outcomes data itself (limited to 500 words)
- Describe any concerns about the program facilities, housing, logistics, on-site staff support, etc.
- List any issues concerning student academic performance, health, safety, conduct or behavior experienced on the program: Describe any concerns that you or others might have. For significant incidents, please submit the Education Abroad Incident Report Form with your report
- Describe any changes you would recommend for the future, if any.
- Indicate when you anticipate that the program would likely take place again.
Attach copies of the following:
- Final Data Sheet for Participant Information
- Completed Program Location Form(s) – Clery Act Compliance
- Summary of student program evaluation data
- If the program had a service-learning focus or engaged students in volunteer experience, please include a letter from the host community or host organization(s) (or other appropriate documentation) which outlines the outcomes for the host community
Optional: If you have any photos from your trip that you would like to share for use on our website and social media, please upload them here. Please give preference to high-resolution photos that include IU students.
Please see a SamplePost-ProgramReport.