InteRDom Forms New Relationships with Universities at the Forum on Education Abroad Annual Conference

The 2015 Forum on Education Abroad’s 11th Annual Conference created the perfect networking environment for InteRDom representatives, who joined more than 1,500 international education professionals and educators to discuss topics surrounding this year’s theme, “It Takes a Campus and More: The Faces of Education Abroad.” Program representatives also formed new relationships with university representatives and industry
professionals from across the US and abroad. The 3-day conference was held in New Orleans, Louisiana from March 25-27, 2015.

Before the conference, InteRDom visited Tulane University’s campus, where they met with members of the Cuban & Caribbean Studies Institute and connected with representatives from the Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching Programs to discuss future collaboration opportunities and programs. During the conference, InteRDom
representatives also formed new relationships with study abroad professionals and university program faculty and staff, bringing awareness and exposure to the Dominican Republic as an educational and professional destination for students.

When they were not networking with universities, InteRDom representatives attended panel presentations and discussions on topics ranging from meaningful reflection in student’s experience abroad to the role of
sustainability and environmental justice in study abroad to mental health challenges on study abroad. The information gained from this conference will strengthen InteRDom’s services and programs and help us to continue providing the highest quality experience possible to future students.

The Forum on Education Abroad is a non-profit organization recognized as the Standards Development Organization (SDO) for the field of education abroad, for creating the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad, a set of guidelines that develop and present voluntary consensus standards for education abroad programs, for domestic colleges and universities and entities in other nations
that provide or partner in providing education abroad programs for students from U.S. colleges and universities; and to present standards and methods for assessing performance against the standards that can be used by the smallest and simplest organizations interested in self-improvement, through to the largest and most complex organizations in the education abroad field.

At this year’s conference, InteRDom representatives took the first of six workshops to
complete certification in education abroad through the Forum, and hope to complete certification by 2016. Certified individuals contribute significantly to the goal of ensuring high quality education abroad programming at institutions and organizations.

InteRDom, an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), is the premier internship, research and academic study program in the Dominican Republic. It offers international students the opportunity to research important topics at the forefront of the United Nations agenda, obtain professional experience by interning with Dominican organizations and businesses related to their fields of study and/or earn academic credits by taking courses and seminars at a local
university.