Dear Volunteers,
Happy March! This is a busy time of year for all of us involved in study abroad at AFS-USA. I am sure you are receiving many requests to conduct interviews and we want to say a huge THANK YOU for all your help in getting these interviews completed! We cannot tell you how important the interview is, and how seriously it is reviewed by the hosting partners and the volunteers in the hosting country. We really appreciate all your hard work in conducting these!
If you have raised your hand to be a national interviewer- also THANK YOU! We have successfully recruited a good group of volunteers that we may reach out to when push comes to shove. We really appreciate you!
Study Abroad Advisory Group (SAAG) Update
Speaking of interviews, we wanted to give you an update on what the Study Abroad Advisory Group is up to. The group is deep into a project to review and update the whole Study Abroad Interview process. This will include- updating reports, updating resources in MyAFS Help and Learning, reviewing communications that go out to applicants and volunteers, and reviewing the interview form and interview experience. We have already made progress in a few areas! The new Study Abroad Programs and Pipeline Report is a product of the group’s work, and soon new updates to the Send Participants Abroad Help and Learning pages will be published which will hopefully ease the process of conducting interviews. Stay tuned for additional updates coming soon!
Volunteer Sending Roles
Have there been changes to those with sending positions within your team? Folks moving or changing roles? Please be sure to let the Study Abroad team know of any changes to sending affiliated roles (Sending Coordinators, Sneding Interview Coordinator, or Sending Interviewers specifically) so that we can make sure that the right folks are getting the right notifications! Email us at studyabroad@afsusa.org. If you have anyone interested in becoming an interviewer or getting more involved in study abroad programs with AFS, look up the Study Abroad Team contact on your staff list in MyAFS and let us know! We are happy to engage with folks about the work of study abroad staff and volunteers alike!
Programs
We are working on transferring applicants for our Fall (NH) Year and Semester programs throughout this month! There are some programs whose deadlines are later, so please encourage any applicant you might be working with to be in touch with their Study Abroad Specialist and to complete their application ASAP.
We are preparing to launch Spring (SH) 2023 programs by April. Please stay tuned for more information on this. When we do launch the SH23 programs we will be sure to include an update in MyAFS News for your reference.
Summer Programs are almost full! If you are working with an applicant interested in the two-week Spain program or Kenya program there is still space! Please encourage applicants to pay their deposit and work with their Specialist to complete the remaining pieces of their application right away!
AFS Global STEM Academies- Semi-finalists have been notified and we are in the process of interviewing these candidates. Once interviews are completed, AFS-International will review all semi-finalist applications and interviews and begin notifying Finalists beginning the week of March 25th. Please contact STEMChangemakers@afsusa.org with any questions or concerns!
Scholarships
We would like to ask teams who have any local scholarships to review the details and instructions for applying. Please click here to review the list of local scholarships available. A lot has changed over the past two years, and we want to be sure that all our scholarship information is accurately reflected on the Local Scholarships webpage!
If you are interested in making a change to your local scholarship information, or if you are interested in getting a local scholarship started in your team, please contact Caitlin Schneider at cschneider@afsusa.org.
The Study Abroad Team is working on opening up a new scholarship application that will be available to all those with completed applications and whose applications have been transferred to our hosting partners. We are exploring different ways to maximize the scholarship funds that we do have available in order to support our applicants as much as possible! Please let any applicants who are confirmed for their program to keep an eye out for an announcement from the Study Abroad team regarding this new process. We will also post the information in MyAFS News once it is live.
Events in Ukraine
As I am sure you have as well, we have been closely watching what is unfolding in Ukraine with sadness and bewilderment. We look to AFS International to provide guidance around programming to AFS-Russia and our Eastern European partners. We do not have any applicants headed to Russia, or any partners who share borders with Ukraine. We do have many applicants preparing for a program in Europe, so we remain vigilant in understanding how this ongoing war might impact our programming. We plan to send out regular communications to all of our applicants and parents and will post those communications in MyAFS so that you are aware also. The first of these communications went out on March 4th and a copy of this email can be found here.
Reminder that there is a New School Presentation
You can promote AFS-USA study abroad opportunities using resources on Help & Learning! Resources include a new virtual study abroad presentation, sample recording, and materials found in the Promote AFS section. Make sure to check MyAFS News and AFS-USA social media for additional promotional resources and opportunities for students interested in going abroad!
Please reach out to studyabroad@afsusa.org with any questions! Thank you for all that you do!
Sincerely,
The AFS-USA Study Abroad Team
Caitlin, Parker, Adriana, Jennifer, and Erin