Mission Statement
The Study Abroad Foundation (SAF) is student-centered and committed to the promotion of student mobility on a global basis. It works with universities worldwide to provide high-quality integrated semester and academic year study opportunities for undergraduate students. It does this because it believes that giving students the opportunity to study abroad increases international understanding and provides students with the intercultural skills necessary to succeed in and contribute to their own societies and the world community.
To this end, the Foundation works in three broad areas:
Academic
The Foundation develops and promotes study abroad programs in countries where universities and colleges are experiencing increased interest in opportunities for their students to study abroad for a short period as part of their overall undergraduate experience. The Foundation is committed to meeting the needs of its partner institutions while ensuring that where possible its programs are an integral part of students' degree programs.
Professional Development
The Foundation uses its resources to strengthen institutional capacity through the professional development of university staff working in international education.
Fundraising
The Foundation seeks, encourages and provides financial resources to help students afford study abroad, thereby increasing their intercultural and transnational competence. The Foundation is particularly concerned to help students who traditionally have not had access to opportunities to study abroad.
Values of the Foundation
The SAF and its member universities believe that international education is fundamental to fostering peace, security, and human well-being and that the opportunity for students to study in a country other than their own makes a significant contribution to this process. Therefore the SAF and its member universities believe that where possible the opportunity to study abroad should be integral to the academic programs of students at all universities.
The SAF is committed to providing qualified university students with integrated and excellent academic study abroad experiences for one or two semesters or a year at member institutions abroad, complemented and strengthened by comprehensive student support services.
Goals for the SAF Student Experience
It is the SAF’s goal to assist students to become more culturally aware and better able to contribute as effective and involved citizens of an interdependent world.
The SAF intends that students participating in its programs benefit by:
- Advancing their academic achievement especially their problem-solving and critical thinking skills
- Developing their foreign language skills
- Strengthening their understanding of the world community through cultural exchange and discussion
- Strengthening their understanding and appreciation of diversity
- Growing in personal understanding and respect for others
- Becoming more independent and self-confident
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