The student portal has been in place now for two sending cycles. During this time, many have joined us in discovering hiccups along the way. We’ve kept the application developers busy with updates and system tweaks which means that there are some aspects of the process that have been adjusted, improved, or redesigned completely. As such, we’d like to make sure that everyone is up-to-speed on these changes and armed with a good knowledge base on all matters related to sending. To help facilitate the important role that you play in the application process, we are planning a series of Sending Trainings. The trainings will be led by the Study Abroad Specialist assigned to your geographic region, and will cover the basics of sending, including an overview of how the application process works, how to work with and guide applicants, where to find program information, what the important sending deadlines are, and we’ll demonstrate the new sending widget.

Study Abroad Specialists, until recently, were assigned to programs and countries, meaning that it was sometimes difficult and frustrating to contact the person working with a specific student. While it’s valuable for our staff to establish strong relationships with our overseas partners, it became clear that we were, in turn, doing a disservice to our AFS-USA Volunteers. Now, our Study Abroad Specialists are tied to geographic regions (as is the case with Support staff, for example) and are encouraged to work much more closely with the Area Teams/volunteers to whom they’ve been assigned, all with the goal of providing better service, easier communication, and a more collaborative focus on meeting our sending goals.

We are confident that these new regional assignments will establish a stronger link between NY-based staff and Team Development Specialists and Volunteers. We invite you to meet all of our staff by visiting our bio page.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for the dates and times of the sending training sessions!