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Mount Allison is serious about its commitment to
providing an international university experience.
Whether it’s in the form of academic exchange
or study abroad programs, internships with corporate or nongovernmental
organizations, course-based travel, independent
study, or volunteer roles in Canada or abroad — these
experiences provide a context for students to better understand
themselves and their place in the world.
Mount Allison currently has exchange programs and study
abroad opportunities for students in 15 countries around the
world. These international experiences are transformative
and life changing. Students form friendships, learn foreign
language skills, and gain cultural immersion opportunities
that encourage them to become globally-minded citizens.
“Spending a year on exchange in Japan was definitely the
most challenging, but also the most exciting and rewarding
experience of my life. Living in a country where I had a limited
grasp of the language and culture was certainly difficult,
but there was no shortage of people willing to help me out,”
says recent biology graduate Rachael Buell (’11).
Most importantly, students who study abroad say it changed
the way they think and they returned with an expansive view
of the world and the desire to make a difference.
Fran and Edmund Clark believe in the power of international
JumP uPdate
Supporting student mobility
student mobility. Earlier this year they created the Fran and
Edmund Clark Mobility Fund, valued at $200,000, to assist
deserving students who lack the necessary financial means to
participate in an international experience.
In a campus-wide survey on internationalization, more than
30 per cent of students expressed a keen interest in studying
abroad. Fewer than 10 per cent actually applied for a study
abroad or exchange program, and fewer than two per cent
ended up going. With a one-year exchange program costing
as much as $20,000 and an eight-week study abroad program
approximately $6,000, those students who wanted to go, but
did not, said cost was the deterring factor.
Over the past three years approximately 200 students have
participated in one of these opportunities. Mount Allison
has ambitious plans to strengthen the program and more
than double that number in the coming years.
“This generous gift by Fran and Edmund Clark will assist
us toward our goal of ensuring that any student wishing
to study overseas, either through an exchange or other
international opportunity, will not be barred from
participating simply because of their financial situation.
We wish to thank the Clarks for recognizing the importance
of internationalization to our students’ education,”
says Mount Allison vice-President, International and Student
Affairs, Ron Byrne.
JUMP CAMPAIGN GOAL: $86,000,000 JUMP CAMPAIGN TOTAL: $85,100,000
As of October 1, 2011
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