June 2021
UCEAP SPOTLIGHT
UCEAP SPOTLIGHT
Booking Office Hours online
The UCEAP systemwide office has launched Office Hours to give prospective students an opportunity to talk with a systemwide advisor about studying abroad with UCEAP.
To make it easier for students to schedule appointments, a promo has been added to the country pages of the website.
In conjunction with campus recruitment efforts, UCEAP staff is thrilled to be able to support the needs of current and future UC students with this new service.
Let students know they can register for a UCEAP Office Hours session in your student communications. Feel free to use and/or share the image in this message as well.
UCEAP news
UCEAP news
Academic Integration Awards
The UCEAP Academic Integration (AI) Grants have been awarded to five academic departments on four UC campuses.
UC Merced Languages, Literatures & Cultures
Prof. Nigel Hatton and Heidi Green
Integrating Study Abroad into the Global Literatures
in English Program
UC Santa Barbara East Asian Languages
and Cultural Studies
Prof. Fabio Rambelli and Alyson Alexander
Promoting Transnational East Asian Studies
UC Santa Barbara Religious Studies
Prof. David Walker and Berenice Lopez
Religious Studies Abroad
UC Santa Cruz Feminist Studies
Prof. Neel Ahuja and Anne Eickelberg
UCSC Feminist Studies Abroad Database
Increasing Student Participation in Study Abroad Programs in ERC
Prof. Frank Biess, Prof. Matthew Herbst,
and Dr. Johanna Peterson
UC San Diego Eleanor Roosevelt College
The AI grants program has funded a total of $13,500 (up to $3,000 per grant) this year. AI grant projects focus on making education abroad an integral part of every student’s academic experience. Through these grants, faculty and staff collaborate with UCEAP on AI projects, including web pages on study abroad, degree plans that incorporate study abroad, and pre-approvals for coursework abroad.
UCEAP news
Explore the World Social Media Campaign
UCEAP has created a social media campaign that highlights each country with a study abroad program.
For one week each month, a country is featured across several platforms.
Students can get basic facts, like the currency, to unexpected social customs, like New Zealanders’ lightning-fast speaking.
The posts include country introductions, graphics, and video reels with features like:
- Fun facts
- Trivia
- Statistics
- Things to do
- Related The Californian Abroad blog posts
Costa Rica:
New Zealand:
Next up, Ghana!
Watch for a new country each month and share, retweet, or forward to your campus social media.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Alumna Returns to Ghana to Work in Healthcare
Dr. Fatima Khambaty attended UC Berkeley and spent a year studying abroad in Ghana during the 1992-93 academic year.
Her experience abroad had a strong impact on her career choice. She got her first exposure to the operating room during her volunteer work with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana. This experience changed her career path because she had no intention of becoming a surgeon at the time.
She is now a US-trained and board-certified general surgeon with more than a decade of experience in her field. When she returned to Ghana in 2017, Fatima volunteered to perform surgery in hospitals in Sandema, Swedru, and the Volta region of Ghana.
In 2018, she joined LuccaHealth Medical Specialty Center in the Greater Accra region. Fatima worked with the center for three years as the it sought to build and develop a world-class health center in Ghana.
Returning to practice in Ghana has given her the chance to reconnect and offer her services to a community she loves. To students, she says, “Don't hesitate, jump in and be prepared for a change of life. Education abroad in Ghana was one of the best decisions I made in my life”.
UCEAP NEWS
UCEAP NEWS
New Video: Choosing a Study Abroad Program
UCEAP has created a video that helps students figure out which study abroad programs fit their needs.
The video, Choosing a Program, gives students tips on what to think about before deciding on a program:
- What they want to learn
- Where they want to live and travel
- What they cultures and languages they want to explore
- Who they might want to connect with
You can find the Choosing a Program video on the Experience pages of the UCEAP website as well as on UCEAP YouTube channel.
Share this video with students through your communications on email, social media, websites, and even email signatures.
STAFF UPDATES
Javiera Barandiarán
Javiera Barandiarán, an associate professor in UC Santa Barbara Department of Global Studies and former UCEAP faculty director in Chile, has received a 2021-22 Berlin Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Berlin.
The Berlin Prize Fellowship is awarded to scholars, writers, and artists, and allows recipients the time and resources to focus on academic and artistic projects, engage with their German counterparts, and experience Berlin’s cultural and political life. Javiera will be in residence at the American Academy in Berlin from January to May 2022 where she will work on her book, provisionally titled The Lithium Trade in Andes. It will examine the development of the three oldest brine mines, a major source of lithium, in the US, Chile, and Argentina.
Kitty Christen
Kitty Christen will retire on June 29, 2021 after 16 years at UCEAP as a Program Specialist.
Kitty has been an invaluable leader for Region 1 and a strong contributor to the UCEAP Operations team. Her organizational skills and work ethic are exemplary. Her enthusiasm and camaraderie has been felt throughout the Systemwide Office. Kitty’s dedication and attention to the needs of UC students as well as to systemwide, campus, and study center colleagues will be greatly missed. A virtual retirement celebration will be held on June 28 from 11 am to noon (invitations will be sent via email).
Inés DeRomaña
At the end of this academic year, Inés DeRomaña will retire as UCEAP Director of International Health, Safety, and Emergency Response.
With 17 years’ experience at the University of California, she has been instrumental in the developing health, safety, and emergency response for international education. Inés has provided steady leadership in countless and unpredictable crises that have run the gamut from terrorist bombings, suicides, tsunamis, fatal accidents, sexual assaults, arrests, and psychotic breaks to ... pandemics. She has supported our staff abroad as they have handled these incidents, demonstrating deep concern for their well-being. Inés models 360-degree thinking in managing a crisis, considering all parties, priorities, challenges, and solutions. Her institutional memory, leadership, and mentorship will be deeply missed.
Shaun Drong
Shaun Drong will assume a new role of Senior Drupal Developer/Information Architect with UCEAP.
Since 2020, Shaun has played a crucial role in developing the UCEAP Portal and has successfully guided the development team through the past year. In his expanded role, Shaun will act as the technical lead to design and maintain enterprise-level applications as well as programming best-in-class websites and apps.
Hsiu-Zu Ho
Associate Dean Hsiu-Zu Ho will retire at the end of this academic year.
Her dedication and research focus on Academic Integration have transformed the organization in multiple positive ways—and have strengthened UCEAP-campus cooperation significantly. UC faculty, staff, and students will long continue to benefit from the Course Credit Database, AI grants, and many other dashboards and databases she helped create. Her collaborative research on summer physics helped UCEAP fulfill UC’s triple mission of research, teaching, and service.
Her dedication and research focus on Academic Integration have transformed the organization in multiple positive ways—and have strengthened UCEAP-campus cooperation significantly. UC faculty, staff, and students will long continue to benefit from the Course Credit Database, AI grants, and many other dashboards and databases she helped create. Her collaborative research on summer physics helped UCEAP fulfill UC’s triple mission of research, teaching, and service.
Sabrina Kaiser
Sabrina Kaiser is leaving her position at UC San Diego to pursue a master’s program in marital and family therapy at University of San Diego.
She currently has a BA in Psychology and is looking forward to pursuing her new field. Her last day was June 11. Sabrina has worked with the UCSD study abroad office for over four years. “I have had an absolutely wonderful experience working with this team, our amazing students, and the whole UCEAP crew, so it’s certainly bittersweet to say goodbye,” she said.
Lauren Nestler
Lauren Nestler has been promoted to Associate Program Director with Team MEEA (Middle East, Europe, and Africa).
Lauren has a BA from UC Irvine and a M.Sc in Education from the University of Edinburgh. She has worked at UCEAP since 2009 in several capacities, including Program Advisor, Program Specialist, and since 2011, as an International Academic Specialist. In 2014, Lauren was a recipient of a Fulbright International Education Administrators grant and attended a two-week seminar in Germany. Along with her active involvement in a myriad of UCEAP workgroups, Lauren brings to the position an extensive understanding of UCEAP and a passion for supporting UC students on study abroad.
Lauren has a BA from UC Irvine and a M.Sc in Education from the University of Edinburgh. She has worked at UCEAP since 2009 in several capacities, including Program Advisor, Program Specialist, and since 2011, as an International Academic Specialist. In 2014, Lauren was a recipient of a Fulbright International Education Administrators grant and attended a two-week seminar in Germany. Along with her active involvement in a myriad of UCEAP workgroups, Lauren brings to the position an extensive understanding of UCEAP and a passion for supporting UC students on study abroad.
Kate Ostroff
Kate Ostroff has been promoted to International Programs Advisor for UC Los Angeles' International Education Office.
As a student advisor since January 2015, Kate has developed numerous resources, from webinars to cheat sheets. She was instrumental in transitioning the office to a virtual drop-in advising system. Kate graduated from Occidental College with a degree in Anthropology, where she had the opportunity to study abroad in Sienna, Italy.
Julie Pollard
Julie Pollard has joined UCEAP as the Director of International Health, Safety, and Emergency Response.
Julie has a BS in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA in Global Affairs from Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi in Istanbul, Turkey. She brings 15 years of experience in study abroad, most of which have been spent working with the Knowledge Exchange Institute (KEI). Julie has been KEI’s Director of Program Operations, based equally in Turkey and the US, and an expert in crisis response and communication since 2011. Julie is well-connected in higher education study abroad, particularly in the security sector.
John Witkowski
John Witkowski has accepted a new position with Pacifica Graduate Institute.
During his tenure as Applications Programming Supervisor with UCEAP, John contributed to the development of both the UCEAP student website and the Reciprocity website. John was active in the Web Technology Exchange group and the UCTech Annual Conference committee.
Do you have a success story? Want to recognize a colleague's contributions? Submit your news for UCEAPulse.
SHARE YOUR STORY