NAFSA 2008

Written by Jessica Smyser

The NAFSA 60^th Annual Conference and International Education Expo took place in Washington, D.C. May 25-30^th 2008. NAFSA reports that more than 9,000 registrants from more than 100 countries attended this year. As a leader in the International Education field World Learning had a strong presence in the committee room, in the presentations, and on the exhibit hall floor.

Potential students, sending school partners and alums all came by to visit World Learning in the Expo hall where representatives from SIT Study Abroad, SIT Graduate Institute, International Development Programs and Constituent Relations were all in attendance to talk about World Learning’s programs.

World Learning’s annual (and highly-anticipated!) NAFSA reception was held on Tuesday, May 27. This year’s reception was co-hosted by National Geographic-Glimpse at the National Geographic Society Headquarters. Over 400 sending school representatives, alums, partners and friends attended this event which featured a “Share Your Story” area and roving “radio” reporters. Guests were encouraged to record their experiences abroad and share the importance of international education and exchange from a very personal perspective.

It was a pleasure to see alums of the Experiment, SIT Study Abroad and the SIT Graduate Institute mingling and meeting each other as well as mixing with educators who traveled from all over the world and the US—We had guests from Iceland and Iowa—to attend the conference and, of course, our party.

National Geographic Glimpse President and Founder Nick Fitzhugh and World Learning President and CEO Carol Bellamy were both in attendance to welcome the lively crowd and thank them for all the important work they do promoting understanding and the exchange of ideas.

SIT faculty and staff currently hold important posts in the NAFSA organization and their work contributed to the success of this year’s conference. In its role as the leading association for international educators NAFSA creates Knowledge Communities that facilitate professional networking and promote best practices throughout the field. SIT Associate Professor Linda Drake Gobbo is the most recent past chair of NAFSA’s Teaching, Learning & Scholarship Knowledge Community.

NAFSA also conducts an academy for international education professionals. NAFSA’s Academy for International Education is a nine-month program providing an opportunity to share knowledge, expertise, and leadership within the international education community through multifaceted training and networking. Linda Drake Gobbo is a lead trainer in the Academy and SIT Assistant Professor Sora Friedman is a Trainer with the program. Friedman also serves as the Chair-Designate for the NAFSA Training Coordination Subcommittee. SIT director of International Student and Scholar Services Janet Hulnick serves with NAFSA as the Vermont Representative for NAFSA’s Region XI, and Professor David Shallenberger serves as Vermont whip.

SIT Study Abroad’s new Vice President and Dean Maureen Powers made two presentations at the conference, as did Director of University Relations Sarah Martin. Laurie Black, Lisa Chappell and Academic Directors Leonore Cavallero and Ginni Fleck also presented. University Relations Managers Akilah Clarke, Megan Wood & Katherine Yngve had a poster in the Work, Internship, and Volunteer Abroad poster group. The SIT Graduate Institute was represented by Rebecca Bell who appeared on a panel on student recruitment and International Development programs’ Assistant Director for Academic programs Dorothea Antonio presented at the Poster session for Sponsors and Program Agencies.

To see the rest of the photographs from the NAFSA reception, please visit our Flickr page. Next years NAFSA conference will be held in Los Angeles, CA. We’ll see you there!

Tags: nafsa, World Learning, SIT Graduate Institute, SIT Study Abroad, International Development Program, NationalGeographicSociety, Glimpse