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For Faculty: Study Abroad Advising

Study Abroad Advising for Academic Advisors

​It is a requirement that all study abroad students meet with their academic advisor. You will need to implement the following steps with your advisee to assure they meet their academic objectives.

Step 1: Student and academic advisor meet to add studying abroad to their my.bw.
Step 2: Student and academic advisor discuss learning objectives for semester abroad.  
Step 3: Student meets with the Study Abroad Center to choose an appropriate program. 
Step 4: Student will apply to the program through the Study Abroad Center website. As part of the application, students are required to complete an Interest Statement and to request an online Advisor Recommendation. Students are responsible for sharing their Interest Statements with their Academic Advisor
Step 5: Academic Advisor will receive an email from the Study Abroad Application system asking them to fill out an online Recommendation Form.
Step 6: Once the student has been accepted by the Study Abroad Center to participate in the program, the student will need to choose courses. The student will be responsible for meeting with the Study Abroad Center and for gathering program course information (i.e. course descriptions and syllabi).  Most of this information is available on the host programs website.
Step 7: Student will meet with academic advisor.
  • Academic advisor and the student will complete the Study Abroad Program Permit form. Using this form, you will create a list of appropriate courses for the student to take during their semester away. (The student should bring any course information that he/she has gathered, listed in step 4 above).
  • Student needs to choose 6-8 course options even though they will only take 3-5 courses abroad. Students need to have alternative course choices in case a course is canceled or closes, etc. Some students will not finalize their course schedules until they arrive at their host institution:
Step 8: Once you have approved the course choices and reviewed how the courses will fit into the student's major, core, etc., it will be up to the student to take the Program Permit Form and host course descriptions to Department Chairs to determine equivalency and approval.  
Step 9: The final step will be for the students to return the form to the Abroad Center, where we will complete the student's registration for the semester abroad.

Completing an Online Recommendation for a Study Abroad Application

The Study Abroad Center utilizes an online application system. This system requires academic advisors to complete an online recommendation that accompanies student's Study Abroad Interest Statements. It is important for advisors to complete the recommendations as they receive them as students will not have access to the second phase of their application until this recommendation has been submitted. Please follow this link for step by step instructions on how to log in and complete the form Instructions for Advisor Recommendation Form.pdf. The Recommendation form should only take a couple of minutes to complete.

The Student Application Process:

When a student begins a study abroad application they will be prompted to complete an Interest Statement and to share the statement with their academic advisor. Students are also prompted to request a recommendation. After a student requests a recommendation, the advisor will receive an email from the Study Abroad Center with a link to access the online recommendation form. If, you lose the email with the link, do not worry, you can access any pending recommendations by logging in to the Study Abroad website, with your BW credentials, at any time.