Here - LaGuardia Community College - CUNY

One-Time Competitive Grants Program (2c):
Study Abroad by LaGuardia Visual Arts Students in Chile
Introduction to LaGuardia Community College
In many ways, LaGuardia Community College is the prototypical urban community college –
founded in 1971 in Western Queens as an open admissions institution, part of the City University
of New York, attracting over 17,000 credit students and 35,000 non-credit students, and located
in an industrial zone in converted factory buildings. But, in many other ways, LaGuardia is an
uncommon place.
First, there is the history of innovative educational practices sustained over long periods of time.
Since its founding, LaGuardia has required its students to engage in cooperative education and
has played a leading role in the cooperative education movement. LaGuardia was an early
pioneer in the development of learning communities, successfully merging credit-bearing
academic content and non-credit remediation. More recently, LaGuardia has incorporated the
construction of student ePortfolios into the rhythms of academic life and has created a dynamic
Center for Teaching and Learning and faculty development programs that have merited a TIAA-
CREF Hesburgh Certificate of Excellence in 2004. LaGuardia’s innovations are chronicled in
the literature on community college by such well-known educational researchers as Vincent
1 Vincent Tinto and Anne Goodsell Love, A Longitudinal Study of Learning Communities at
LaGuardia Community College (University Park, PA: National Center for Postsecondary
Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, 1995); W. Norton Grubb and Norena Badway, Linking
School-Based and Work-Based Learning: The Implications of LaGuardia’s Co-op Seminars for
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Tinto, W. Norton Grubb, and Betsy O. Barefoot. 1 As Barefoot, Co-Director of the Policy Center
on the First Year of College, wrote in concluding her study of LaGuardia:
While much of American higher education seems engaged in playing the ratings
game and gaining a market edge through spending on more and more elaborate
residential and recreational facilities, we found it refreshing and reassuring to
visit a campus where those dynamics never come into play. Rather, LaGuardia
Community College’s faculty and administrators spend their energies finding
ways to support new students and spend their money where it counts most:
in direct support of student learning. Whatever stereotypes we, as members
of the research team, had about the limits of community college education,
those stereotypes vanished during our visit. As a true leader in American
higher education, LaGuardia Community College attests to the power of human
potential – not only student potential but also the potential of faculty and
administrators who have spirit, passion, and a clear sense of purposes to shape
an educational experience that is second to none. 1
School-to-Work Programs (Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational
Education, 1995); Janet Lieberman and Julie Yearsley Hungar, Transforming Student Lives:
How “Exploring Transfer” Works, and Why (Washington, D.C.: AAHE, 1998); Gail O. Mellow,
Phyllis van Slyck, and Bret Eynon, “The Face of the Future: Engaging in Diversity at LaGuardia
Community College,” Change, Vol. 35, No. 2 (March/April 2003), pp. 10-17; Gail O. Mellow
and Rosemary A. Talmadge, “Creating the Resilient Community College,” Change, Vol. 37, No.
3 (May/June 2005), pp. 58-66; Betsy O. Barefoot and Michael J. Siegel, “LaGuardia Community
College: A Window on the World” in Betsy O. Barefoot , John N. Gardner, et al., Achieving and
Sustaining Institutional Excellence for the First year of College (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2005), Chapter 4, pp. 59-83.
1 Barefoot and Siegel, p. 83.
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In great part because of its innovative history, the College has garnered many honors and
accolades that validate the quality of the educational experience offered by LaGuardia: (a) The
Policy Center on the First Year of College named LaGuardia in 2003 an “Institution of
Excellence,” one of only 13 colleges – including just two community colleges – selected
nationally from 130 nominees; (b) LaGuardia was named in 2004 a “Best Practice College” by
the MetLife Foundation, one of nine colleges honored; (c) In 2004, LaGuardia was named one of
the top three large community colleges in the United States by the Community College Survey of
Student Engagement; (d) In 2006, LaGuardia received the MetLife Foundation Community
College Excellence Award for helping underserved students reach their academic and career
goals; (e) In 2007, LaGuardia received the Bellwether Award from the Community College
Futures Assembly for its instructional programs and services.
Beyond the institution, individuals at LaGuardia have also been honored for their contributions:
in 2004, Janet Lieberman – a professor emeritus and former administrator – received the Harold
W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education which recognizes outstanding individuals who have
dedicated themselves to improving American education; in 2007, Dean Paul Arcario was named
“The Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate” by the National Resource Center for The First-
Year Experience and Students in Transition; for 2009-10, Edgar Romero – an exemplary
LaGuardia honors student – has been elected to serve as the International President of the 1.5
million-member Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society of the Community College.
Second, LaGuardia is an uncommon place because of the student population that the College
serves. A College Task Force on Internationalization wrote: “We have the world not only
knocking at our door, but already sitting in our classrooms.” LaGuardia terms itself “The
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World’s Community College,” with students born in over 160 countries and speaking more than
110 native languages. LaGuardia’s diverse student population includes 35% Hispanic, 21%
Asian, 17% Black, and 12% White, along with 15% Other or Unknown. Sixty percent are firstgeneration
college students; two-thirds of entering students report a family income of $25,000 or
less. Close to 60% of LaGuardia students were born outside the U. S.; indeed, half of our
incoming students have lived in the United States for less than five years. In short, LaGuardia is
one of the premier gateways for today’s immigrant population.
LaGuardia’s Latest Project: Creating Chile’s First Community College
LaGuardia has established an historic partnership with the Universidad Central de Santiago in
Chile. The leadership at LaGuardia and at the Universidad Central (UC) desire to educate “the
missing middle” in Chilean society and create greater social mobility. In the past, a small
portion of the Chilean student population was chosen to attend public universities. High-priced
private universities provided the remainder of college education, offering few opportunities for
low-income students. Based on testing, many high school graduates belonging to the middle and
working class were channeled into Technical Training Centers and Professional Institutes; but,
these centers and institutes – equivalent to U.S. vocational high schools – train narrowly. They
are not recognized as part of higher education and their credits never transfer. Missing are more
highly-trained technicians whose knowledge allows them to solve problems and adapt to rapidlychanging
technology.
Because of its exceptional history, LaGuardia can rightfully claim that it has transformed the
lives of countless students. But, LaGuardia is poised to change the life of an entire nation –
Chile. Over a five-year period, LaGuardia has established a strong relationship with the
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Universidad Central de Santiago. Founded in 1982, Universidad Central enrolls 10,700 students
and has four campuses in Santiago, as well as branch facilities in the cities of Antofagasta and La
Serena. Universidad Central offers 28 undergraduate majors, Master’s degrees, and Doctorate
degrees and is organized into eight faculties.
LaGuardia and Universidad Central (UC) have taken significant steps in building their
relationship:
1. The UC Dean, Sergio Quezada Gonzalez, first visited LaGuardia in 2004 and became
acquainted with the nature of an American community college. In February 2005, UC and
LaGuardia entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that provided, among other things, for
collaboration on professional development for faculty, pedagogy, curricular development, the
use of instructional technology, and assessment through LaGuardia’s Center for Teaching and
Learning.
2. In July of 2005, UC and LaGuardia entered into an Academic, Scientific, and Cultural
Agreement that provided a stronger framework for sharing information and for the joint
development of courses, seminars, symposia, expositions, and strategic plans.
3. Beginning in mid-2007, a student exchange program began. By the end of Spring 2010, 25
students from UC will have spent a semester at LaGuardia, most studying ESL in order to
become English teachers.
4. On November 17, 2008, LaGuardia President Gail Mellow hosted a roundtable discussion at
LaGuardia entitled “A Dialogue on a Community College System in Chile.” Educators from
UC, via a live teleconference, joined members of the Chilean-American business community and
LaGuardia faculty and students.
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5. On December 15, 2008, President Mellow led a delegation from LaGuardia and keynoted a
conference in Santiago with academic, military, business, and government leaders. Business
leaders included the CEOs of Chile’s largest supermarket chain and largest bank and Santiago’s
largest construction company. President Mellow’s address was entitled “Connecting the Heart to
the Hand: Chile and Community College, La Universidad de Communidad.” On December 16,
2008 President Mellow met with the Chilean Minister of Education, Monica Jimenez de la Jara,
who enthusiastically endorsed the community college concept in Chile. On December 17, 2008,
President Mellow and officials from UC – the Rector, Luis Lucero Alday, and the President of
the Board of Directors, Hector Aguilera Segura - signed a formal agreement to create Chile’s
first community college.
6. On September 17, 2009, Dean Quezada delivered the UC curriculum planning document
Informe Preliminar Instituto Community College Central to President Mellow. In addition,
President Mellow agreed to join the newly-formed Board of Trustees for the new Community
College. On January 13, 2009, in a letter to Rector Lucero Alday, LaGuardia Vice President of
Academic Affairs Peter Katopes authorized UC to commence with the courses, programs, and
competencies outlined in the curriculum planning document.
7. The UC inaugurated the Instituto Community College Central at the beginning of their Fall
semester in March 2010. On April 29, President Mellow will be in Santiago to help celebrate the
opening of Chile’s first community college.
Key provisions of the agreement, signed on December 17, 2008, between the two colleges
include: (a) The new community college will primarily educate low-income students from
underserved communities. (b) Students will be prepared either to enter directly into the
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workforce or to transfer into an academic program without the loss of credits. (c) Students will
pursue five-semester degree programs with credits equivalent to those at LaGuardia and will, in
fact, graduate with dual degrees from UC and LaGuardia. (d) LaGuardia will lend its expertise
in defining the academic courses of study and developing appropriate administrative structures
and support services. (e) UC will create Chile’s first University Advisory Board, which will
encompass leaders drawn from public, private, and non-profit sectors. (f) There will be a robust
exchange of students and faculty.
The Curriculum document includes the curricula, courses, and course competencies for the
following associate degree programs: Computer Operations, Network Administration and
Security, Computer Science, Computer Technology, Telecommunications, Business
Administration, Accounting, and Civil Engineering. Final approval for the awarding of a joint
degree from LaGuardia Community College lies with the City University Board of Trustees; this
approval is pending, awaiting further review by the LaGuardia Curriculum Committee.
Clearly, President Mellow of LaGuardia has demonstrated personal leadership in reaching out to
UC and laying the foundation for a community college system in Chile. President Mellow has
become a national leader in community college education, delivering recent keynote addresses at
conferences of the American Council of Education and the League for Innovation in the
Community College and participating in China’s first U.S.-China Community College
Conference and the U.S. State Department’s Higher Education Summit for Global Development.
She has served on the Boards of the American Council on Education, the American Association
of Higher Education, the Community College Research Center, The Center for the Urban Future,
and the American Association of Community Colleges. With Cynthia Heelan, she co-authored
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Minding the Dream: The Process and Practice of the American Community College (2008). She
will serve as the leader of LaGuardia’s Chile project with Universidad Central.
LaGuardia believes that establishing Chile’s first community college is a three-step process that
will require three years. The pressing need is for LaGuardia advisers who can assist with
curriculum development and establish a program of faculty development that introduces critical
elements of community college pedagogy (e.g., ePortfolios, developmental studies, learning
communities). Moreover, UC requires assistance with developing systems for recruitment,
advisement, and program evaluation. The three-year plan has the following components: First,
a vanguard of LaGuardia personnel – three faculty and three administrators – will visit UC in
order to help design the basic administrative and instructional structures. A two-week period of
close collaboration is envisioned. As detailed below, UC will also undertake a major survey of
local businesses in order to assess the need for workers with two-year degrees. Second,
LaGuardia has decided that a significant, unprecedented commitment is required: a delegation of
five faculty and two members of the administrative staff will be released from their regular
responsibilities in New York and sent to assist their Chilean counterparts for an entire semester
(i.e., five months). Each faculty member will lead a semester-long faculty development seminar
in their discipline that will meet weekly. Each seminar will enroll 20 UC faculty members; thus,
a total of 100 UC faculty will learn about innovative pedagogies from a disciplinary perspective.
At other times, the LaGuardia faculty will consult with individual UC colleagues on curriculum
development, innovative pedagogical tools, recruitment, advisement, and program evaluation.
The two administrative staffers – ideally, drawn from LaGuardia’s Center for Teaching and
Learning – will support the five seminars and other aspects of professional development. In the
third and final step, three members of LaGuardia’s administrative staff will visit Chile for a
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month in order to evaluate the ongoing program and assess progress, with particular attention to
(a) the comparability necessary to justify the awarding of dual degrees and (b) gains in the
promotion of social mobility.
A Missing Element: LaGuardia Students Studying in Chile
LaGuardia is scrambling to find the financial resources required to fulfill its responsibilities as a
partner to Universidad Central. It is hoped that the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
program for colleges with less than four years of experience in the area of student exchange can
help fill one gap by inaugurating a pattern of robust student exchange between the U.S. and
Chile. As noted previously, since 2007, 25 students from Chile who were interested in becoming
teachers of English as a second language have studied at LaGuardia. It is clear how a period of
study in the U.S. can advance their educational and career plans.
However, to this point the exchange program has not been reciprocal. Students from LaGuardia
have not been traveling to Chile for either short-term or longer-term periods of study. In campus
discussions speculating on why LaGuardia students generally do not participate in study abroad,
three reasons for non-participation are most often cited:
1. There is no academic department or group of faculty or office on campus that regularly
promotes study abroad.
2. The added cost of study abroad is prohibitive for a great many LaGuardia students who are
generally low-income, yet live in a high-expense city.
3. Because of family responsibilities and the need to work in order to afford college and take
care of their families, students do not feel they can afford a great deal of time away from home.
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To mitigate these negative factors, LaGuardia will incorporate a number of features into its pilot
program. First, LaGuardia will offer its first study abroad program in an academic area that is
known for its close ties to its students and that has successfully engaged its students in
imaginative projects. The first study abroad program for Chile will feature the visual arts, a
program housed in LaGuardia’s Department of Humanities. The visual arts have thrived at
LaGuardia, not only because of the College’s proximity to the vibrant international arts
communities of New York City and the availability of first-rate artists ansd scholars as full-time
and part-time faculty, but because the College has provided first-rate arts facilities. The painting
studios have glorious, sun-filled spaces because of skylights. The photography program recently
moved to larger quarters that feature its own gallery space. Indeed, to work or study at
LaGuardia is to be surrounded by the visual arts. From the founding of the campus, vast
expanses of long corridors have been hung with changing exhibits of student art work. Nor have
the photography students been neglected. For example, the College is currently in the middle of
an extensive, multi-year project entitled “The Faces of LaGuardia” where photography students
have produced remarkable portraits of their fellow students, both displayed on campus and
accessible through a website (http://www.laguardia.edu/faces/). Given the history of providing
an eminent place for the visual arts at LaGuardia, it seems sensible to enlist this program and its
students in study abroad in Chile.
Beyond choosing an extremely successful program to inaugurate study abroad at LaGuardia, the
College will initially offer a short-term program (i.e., four weeks) in order to mitigate student
misgivings about being absent from their families and jobs. Finally, LaGuardia will do
everything possible to reduce the cost of the program for the students (e.g., favoring hostels over
hotels, picnics over restaurant meals, and regions of Chile over Tuscany or Provence).
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Note that LaGuardia intends to expand its capacity to conduct study abroad in Chile without
establishing a separate study abroad office at this time. Hiring even a single full-time person
would exhaust the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs grant. Instead, LaGuardia will
begin by (a) calling on members of the visual arts program to provide leadership in consideration
for a small amount of release-time and (b) working with existing offices within the City
University of New York (CUNY) that have relevant expertise and experience. While few
LaGuardia students have taken advantage of its programs, LaGuardia is a member of the College
Consortium for International Studies (CCIS). CCIS offers many short-term and long-term study
abroad programs; however, most are too expensive for LaGuardia students. Within CUNY, the
College of Staten Island (CSI) has taken the lead with study abroad and CCIS. LaGuardia will
call upon CSI’s Office of Study Abroad to provide advice on a broad range of topics (e.g., visas,
travel arrangements, emergency situations, pre-departure orientation). On the subject of visas, it
should be mentioned that, because of its multinational student body, LaGuardia has a large
Office of International Student Services with experience in assisting students with visas, DS-
2019 forms, and other needs. Moreover, Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC)
has been successful in getting its College Association to earmark funds for scholarships that are
offered to students studying abroad, often off-setting 60% of the student’s cost. In order to
strengthen its study abroad program, LaGuardia will spend a part of its first grant-funded year
conferring with study abroad experts at both the College of Staten Island and BMCC.
The Visual Arts Study Trips to Chile
The faculty in visual arts are planning to sponsor two study abroad experiences in Chile. During
Year #1 of the grant, the two faculty members – Hugo Fernandez and Scott Sternbach - will
prepare to lead their study groups. During the year, they will each receive six hours of release-
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time (i.e., 3 hours in the Fall and 3 hours in the Spring). In return, they will: (a) consult with
experts on study abroad within CUNY, including at the College of Staten Island and Borough of
Manhattan Community College, (b) make arrangements for travel and accommodations, (c) plan
their detailed syllabi and lesson plans, (d) start the process of recruiting LaGuardia visual arts
students, (e) prepare orientation materials specific to travel and art in Chile, and (f) prepare
evaluation materials appropriate for visual arts students. At present, the plan is to use our own
travel agent.
Two groups of 12 students will travel to Chile in Year #2. It should be noted that LaGuardia
follows a unique academic calendar that accommodates short-term study abroad extremely well.
Sequentially, LaGuardia has a 12-week Fall I Semester, a 6-week Fall II Semester, a 12-week
Spring I Semester, and a 6-week Spring II Semester. While each student will spend 4 weeks in
Chile and earn 6 credits – 3 credits in HUN192 (Art and Society) and 3 credits in either HUA230
(Intermediate Photography) or HUA203 (Intermediate Drawing) – each group will have a
distinctive experience.
Professor Fernandez will fly with his students into Santiago during Spring II (Chile’s winter).
After 2 or 3 days in Santiago, including a visit to Universidad Central and the Chilean Museum
of Pre-Columbian Art, the group will fly north to Calama (976 miles) and then take a bus to San
Pedro de Atacama (61 miles). The main attraction in San Pedro is the Archeological Museum
“Father le Paige.” Father le Paige, a Belgian missionary, gathered a remarkable collection of
pre-Columbian art and artifacts from the surrounding Atacama Desert. The climate of this high
altitude desert has been extremely effective in preserving its ancient treasures. As Professor
Fernandez did in his earlier days, the LaGuardia students will spend three weeks participating in
an archeological dig, documenting their work through both their drawings and photography.
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Additionally, the students will visit nearby natural attractions such as the Atacama Salt Flats, the
Valley of the Moon, the Tatio Geysers, and the Hot Springs of Puritama, meccas for artists and
photographers. After their stay in San Pedro, the group will return to Santiago for 4 or 5 days
before flying home to New York. The vitality of Santiago will once more inspire the visual arts
students to pull out their cameras and drawing pads.
Professor Sternbach will fly with his students into Santiago during Fall II (Chile’s summer). For
a 4-week visit, using Universidad Central as a base and possible site for classroom lectures,
students will seek inspiration and insight in the museums and neighborhoods of Santiago, all
accessible through a 5-line metro system. Visual arts students – whether principally
photographers or artists – will be attracted to the vistas of a major city with a European feel that
features cathedrals, civic buildings, and other architectural gems (including some buildings of
Universidad Central itself), an ornate cemetery, parks, plazas, cobblestone streets, the Mapocho
River, a sensational zoo, and the antique stacks of the National Library. The city also has a rich
collection of museums – the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, the Museum of
Contemporary Art, the Colonial Museum, the Museum of Visual Arts, the Museum of Fine Arts,
the Museum of Science and Technology, the City Museum of Santiago, the Natural History
Museum, and the Salvador Allende Solidarity Art Museum.
It should be mentioned that, after returning to campus, both groups will be invited to display
their best drawings and photographs as part of a gallery show at LaGuardia. The opening
reception will resemble a poster session at a conference, with students available near their
artworks in order to make a brief presentation on their experiences and answer questions posed
by visitors to the gallery.
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Vision, Program Activities, and Other Elements
Because of LaGuardia’s status as a relative neophyte in the ambit of study abroad, the College’s
proposal may lack some of the specificity on topics such as program evaluation and follow-on
that more experienced study abroad programs could provide. As stated previously, the first year
of the grant period will be used by Professors Hernandez and Sternbach to investigate successful
study abroad programs and script detailed plans for their study tours to Chile. Indeed, it is
envisioned that the two faculty leaders – working in a wiki-like manner – will use Year #1 to
compile an electronic resource book that gathers general information and resource material on
operating a study abroad program, as well as both a collection of reference sources on art and
culture in Chile and pragmatic entries on negotiating daily life in Santiago and San Pedro de
Atacama.
A critical area of research will relate to the issues of sustainability. Unless LaGuardia students
are subsidized, most will not be able to avail themselves of study abroad opportunities. Thus, an
important assignment for Professors Hernandez and Sternbach will be to delve into possible
funding for study abroad. At this early stage, six possibilities appear promising. First, we need
to confer with the financial and experts on campus and beyond to understand the manner in
which Pell grants can be used for off-campus study. Second, we need to understand STOCS
(Study/Travel Opportunities for CUNY Students), a CUNY program offering $1,000 to $1,650
scholarships to undergraduate students participating in CUNY short-term study abroad programs.
Third, we need to develop expertise in the State Department’s Benjamin A. Gilman International
Scholarship Program because of its emphasis on assisting low-income students, community
college students, and students interested in traveling to less traditional destinations. Fourth, we
need to learn the particulars of the scholarship program at the Borough of Manhattan Community
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College which covers 60% of student costs for BMCC’s summer study abroad programs. Fifth,
we need to explore the possibility of developing public private partnerships for purposes of
sustainability, as well as tapping other sources of scholarship funds (e.g., DiversityAbroad.com).
Sixth, looking to the future when LaGuardia contemplates opening its Chile program to students
from CUNY and non-CUNY schools, we need to consider a price structure for non-LaGuardia
students that would help sustain the program.
With these comments about the work that Professors Fernandez and Sternbach will accomplish
in Year #1 as preamble, this proposal will address other project areas:
Vision. The LaGuardia project addresses a number of needs: (a) LaGuardia wishes to live up to
the spirit of its agreements with Universidad Central de Santiago and facilitate the exchange of
students; in particular, LaGuardia wishes to address the central disparity which has seen students
from Chile traveling to LaGuardia without a reciprocal flow of students from LaGuardia to
Chile, (b) LaGuardia wishes to create a pathway for low-income students from diverse
backgrounds to participate in study abroad programs in order to reap the rewards of immersion in
a foreign culture (e.g., transformation of one’s worldview, maturity, exposure to global concerns
and global citizenship). Given that more than 80% of LaGuardia’s student population is from
minority backgrounds, there is no doubt that the students attracted to the Chile study abroad
program will be overwhelmingly diverse in terms of racial identity.
The goals of the LaGuardia project are to build LaGuardia’s capacity for study abroad by
launching the College’s first study abroad program and to provide for two diverse groups of
visual arts students to study in Chile during the 2011-12 academic year. The benefits of
LaGuardia’s project will include a stronger relationship with Universidad Central, an electronic
resource book where information on study abroad procedures and scholarship opportunities will
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e gathered, a broadening cultural experience for 24 visual arts students and their two professors,
an annual gallery show at the College featuring artwork developed in Chile, and a strong College
relationship to alumni of the Chile program.
Participating Organizations. Through this project, LaGuardia will build collaborative
relationships with the Universidad Central de Santiago, the Father lePaige Archeological
Museum in San Pedro de Atacama, the study abroad offices at the College of Staten Island and
Borough of Manhattan Community College, the College Consortium of International Studies,
and other study abroad and scholarship programs that can provide information and support for
the College’s vision.
Program Activities. In its initial effort, the College will rely upon attracting 24 visual arts
students from within LaGuardia. The opportunity to participate in the Chile program will be
advertised on campus through the methods that the College routinely uses to communicate with
its students: flyers, posters, emails, College website banners, phone calls placed by the Student
Information Center, and – most importantly – faculty announcements within visual arts classes.
Recruitment will include special meetings for interested students where Professors Hernandez
and Sternbach will explain the academic, financial, and other requirements of the program. Once
students have applied to the program, been accepted, and made a financial commitment, each
professor will provide a series of two or three orientation sessions, using resource materials that
have been gathered from other colleges and adapted for use at LaGuardia. As is true with all
programming at LaGuardia, encompassing the diversity of the College’s student body and
recognizing the diversity in Chile will be one leitmotif of the orientation sessions. The lead
faculty will develop lesson plans for the academic component of the study tour, offering
instruction on art and culture in Chile and supervising students as they apply their talents in
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photography and drawing. As a program grounded in the visual arts, the cultural component of
the instruction will be a quotidian element, whether the students are visiting museums in Chile,
participating in an archeological dig for pre-Columbian relics, or expressing artistry in their
drawings and photographs. The small size of each group will permit close participant
monitoring by the faculty leaders. Moreover, like most LaGuardia students, study abroad
students will maintain ePortfolios where participants post their work, journal-type entries, and
reflective essays; the faculty member accompanying each group will have access to the students’
ePortfolios and, thus, another tool for monitoring the growth and development of each
participant and for performing formative evaluation.
Program Evaluation. While a final evaluation plan will be crafted in Year #1, a preliminary plan
would encompass formative and summative evaluation, the tracking of outputs, and the
measurement of significant objectives/outcomes. (a) In terms of formative assessment, it should
be noted that LaGuardia is an ePortfolio school. More than 9,000 LaGuardia students have
active ePortfolios to which they contribute samples of their written work, personal statements,
and reflective essays. Rubrics have been developed so that ePortfolios can be used to measure
student progress in acquiring core competencies (i.e., critical literacy, quantitative reasoning, oral
communication, research and information literacy, and technological literacy). By providing
ePortfolio access to Professors Fernandez and Sternbach, the faculty leaders will be able to
assess student learning on a formative basis. (b) In terms of outputs, LaGuardia is prepared to
document the anticipated outputs from its project: in Year #1, a recruitment plan, detailed syllabi
and lesson plans, arrangements for travel and accommodations, orientation materials, an
evaluation plan, and an electronic resource book on study abroad; in Year #2, 24 students
traveling to Chile who are Pell-eligible and diverse, 24 students participating in a post-Chile
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gallery show. (c) In terms of measuring objectives/outcomes, the following chart links the levels
of outcomes, the anticipated objectives/outcomes, and performance measures appropriate for the
anticipated outcomes.
Level of Outcome Anticipated Objective/Outcome Performance Indicator
Participant Satisfaction 1. A minimum of 90% of
study abroad students will
express satisfaction with their
pre-departure orientation.
1. Student satisfaction survey
Participant Learning
Participant Behavior
2. A minimum of 90% of
study abroad students will
express satisfaction with their
experience in Chile.
1. Visual arts faculty, using
rubrics, will determine that
80% of students advanced in
terms of artistry.
2. Visual arts faculty, using
rubrics, will determine that
80% of students gained in
their understanding of Chilean
art and culture.
1. 100% of study abroad
students will participate in the
gallery show.
2. 90% of study abroad
students will persist to
graduation.
2. Student satisfaction survey
1. Assessment of student arts
portfolios and reflective
essays in ePortfolios on the
basis of rubrics
2. Assessment of student arts
portfolios and reflective
essays in ePortfolios on the
basis of rubrics
1. Printed program for the
gallery show
2. Registrar records on
graduation
Institutional Change
1. The Chile study abroad
program will continue in
subsequent years.
2. By the 2015 academic year,
LaGuardia will offer a second
study abroad program.
1. LaGuardia website report
on study abroad programs
2. LaGuardia website report
on study abroad programs
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The design and implementation of the evaluation plan will be assisted by Erez Lenchner, a
member of the staff in LaGuardia’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. Mr.
Lenchner holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from New York University, received postgraduate
training in statistics and research methodology at the University of Michigan’s highlyregarded
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), and served as
an NSF/National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)/American Institutes for Research (AIR)
Summer Fellow in 2006.
Follow-on. Beyond enrolling students in the State Alumni website and introducing them to the
rich collection of resources available through that site and the ExchangeConnect site, the
LaGuardia program will (a) employ alumni in sessions for the recruitment and orientation of
subsequent groups, (b) involve alumni in organizing the annual gallery show that will display the
artwork produced in Chile, and (c) invite program alumni to participate in CUNY’s newlyestablished
Annual Study Abroad Re-Entry Conference. In March 2010, CUNY held its First
Annual Study Abroad Re-Entry Conference, designed to “provide returned study abroad students
a forum to reflect and focus on the impact of international experiences on their academic,
professional, and personal development.” The event featured presentations (e.g., “Visual
Representations and Cultural Reflections,” “Life After Study Abroad”) and an International
Opportunities Fair where students could discuss opportunities for internships and working
abroad with a host of organizations (e.g., Fulbright, World Learning, Peace Corps,
InterExchange, Cross Cultural Solutions).
Project Management. Given the importance of the Chilean relationship to the College, Professor
Fernandez, the P.I. for the project, will report directly to the Academic Vice President. The
Records Management Program at LaGuardia provides that all grant-related materials are
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preserved for six years from the end of the grant-funded program; a secure site is maintained for
record storage. The Research Foundation (RF) of CUNY will serve as the fiscal agent for
LaGuardia. The RF currently administers over $300 million in grants and contracts with federal,
state, and city agencies, as well as private foundations. RF maintains a Project Director’s Guide
that compiles CUNY policies and procedures covering personnel/human resources, purchasing,
and legal issues and is regularly the subject of independent audits. Its e-services provide tracking
of all transactions, monthly financial reports, and services relating to payroll, purchasing, and
accounts payable. In the Grants Development Office at LaGuardia, there are two full-time
employees on the RF payroll who assist LaGuardia Project Directors with every aspect of postaward
grants administration. It should be noted that LaGuardia’s indirect costs already
compensate the Research Foundation for the work that they do, including the costs of audits.
As part of its management plan, LaGuardia is aware of its obligations to (a) coordinate with the
ECA program officer on collecting program data, (b) maintain an electronic database on program
participants and activities, (c) be attentive to ECA initiatives on improving outreach to program
alumni and update the ECA on alumni participation, (d) report on success in establishing public
private partnerships, and (e) file pre-departure final itineraries with the program officer for study
abroad activities.
Work Plan/Time Frame. The earlier section on “The Visual Arts Study Trip to Chile” laid out
the work plan and general time frame for the project. More detail can be found in the Calendar
of Activities, a separate attachment to this proposal. Year #1 will be devoted to planning the
study trips to Chile and building the general capacity for study abroad at LaGuardia. Year #2
will see two groups of students traveling to Chile for four weeks, one group to both Santiago and
San Pedro de Atacama and one group just to Santiago.
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