Framingham State reviving study-abroad initiatives

Alexis Schlesinger / THE GATEPOST

By Julien Fernandez

Staff Writer

Fewer Framingham State University students are studying abroad than before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Joanne Farley, director of International Student Services and Study Abroad.

She said her office is undertaking initiatives to familiarize students with new study abroad opportunities.

On Sept. 24, Farley’s office held a study abroad fair to inform students about the options they can explore with the program.

Farley said this year's fair was successful. The fair attracted 127 students, whereas in the past it would draw 80-100 students.

“We’re trying to get into classrooms. We're trying to just be more visible and let students know that as long as you get the grade and you get the course approved, it’s going to transfer back, so you don’t have to worry about falling behind, and also that you are able to use your financial aid to study abroad,” Farley said.

Farley said she understands why fewer students are studying abroad since the pandemic.

“I get it, because it's anxiety-inducing if you spent two years at home and all of a sudden, I’m asking you, ‘Hey! Go spend three months in Italy!’ That can be scary to people and I get that, but it can also be life-changing,” Farley said.

Junior Marlín Polanco, who works for the study abroad office and spent a semester at Harlaxton Manor in England, said, "There's a lot of personal growth that happens when you study abroad. It really pushes your boundaries and your idea of what you can do. I found that after I came back, I kind of learned that I’m a lot more capable than I think I am.”

Farley said 95 students studied abroad for the 2018-2019 academic year, with 30 students participating that fall semester. 

In Fall 2019, 25 students traveled abroad, Farley said.

In Spring 2020, 28 students went abroad but returned home because of the pandemic. There were no students travelling abroad that summer, Farley said.

“I think COVID did quite a lot to people’s wanderlust,” Farley said.

During the 2021 academic year, 31 students studied abroad, and 54 studied abroad in the 2022 academic year, Farley said.

She said 33 students studied abroad the 2023 academic year, and 32 students studied abroad the 2024 academic year.

Farley said four students are studying abroad this fall.

“We’re really hoping to get more students to realize studying abroad is an option,” she said.

Farley said Framingham State has direct partnerships with universities abroad, but is also in contact with study-abroad providers through the University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC).

The providers offer study-abroad opportunities in multiple countries depending on what a student is looking for beyond FSU’s partnered colleges, Farley said.

“USAC has programs starting at $8,000 for a semester with tuition, fees, and housing. So if you want to go on a budget, we can certainly get you places that are not as expensive, but you still get the full experience. You’re not missing out on anything when it's not as expensive,” Farley said.

Farley said that in Fall 2026, the program is hoping to enroll a class of 25 students to study at Harlaxton Manor, located in Harlaxton, Lincolnshire County, England. 

Harlaxton Manor is a Victorian manor owned by the University of Evansville, and functions as a study-abroad location for foreign students, according to the Harlaxton Manor website.

According to their website, the manor is host to one of England's largest and most unique walled gardens, which was built in the 19th century.

Polanco said, “It was around the same that I would be paying for FSU since my financial aid was able to travel with me. I didn't have to pay much out of pocket.”

Farley said students with a 3.0 GPA or who are in the Commonwealth Honors Program are eligible to go.

“If we get 25 students, it’s only going to be $13,000 for the whole semester. This covers tuition, housing in this beautiful manor, as well as meals. A lot of study-abroad programs don’t include the meals,” Farley said.

She added FSU English Professor Alexander (Sandy) Hartwiger will be teaching at Harlaxton Manor in Fall 2026.

Hartwiger said, “I was asked to be the first faculty representative for this program. FSU has not run this as a cohort model to Harlaxton Manor before, so we’re hoping to get upward of 25 students for next fall.”

Hartwiger said he was chosen because of his prior experience in international education, traveling with students to the Dominican Republic on a faculty-led trip, and teaching students at an international boarding school in India earlier in his career.

He said he will be teaching Contemporary Global Literature and Introduction to Global Studies.

“The hope is this will be an ongoing program and that a lot of faculty will have the opportunity to participate in it. It's just getting it off the ground in the first year,” Hartwiger said.

Hartwiger said he intends for his class to be experiential, taking students on field trips to London and the city of Leicester.

Hartwiger said studying abroad “absolutely empowers students to take advantage of opportunities and not feel like they’re too daunting or overwhelming, that they can handle new experiences.

“It’s transformative, and now is the perfect time to do it, because once you graduate, you take on responsibilities that are hard to let go of to say, ‘I’m going to go travel for an extended period of time.’ You might take trips or vacations, but to actually live abroad becomes a little bit difficult,” Hartwiger said.

Freshman and Environmental Science major Thomas Ryan-Sutton, who plans to study abroad in Greece, said, “My goal is to do it next semester, sophomore year in the spring. That's when my two other siblings did it … and I think that it’s earlier on in my career for environmental science. It's easier to transfer credits and get the classes I need and I think it's better to do it when you’re younger.”

Sophomore Emma Schor, who works for the study abroad office, said she intends to study abroad in Italy during the summer of 2026.

She said participating in the study-abroad program is a great way to experience different cultures and meet new people. “You basically get to learn what a whole other world is like and it is just so cool and so interesting.”

Farley said another opportunity for students to go abroad is through shorter, faculty-led trips. “They are usually tied to a credited course, but you also don’t have to take the course if you just want to travel.

“If you don’t want to go for a long time or if you don’t want to go alone, it’s a great experience to start traveling. Even if you don’t take the class, you are definitely going to be learning something because it is centered on whatever the professor’s specialty is,” Farley said.

English Department Chair Lisa Eck, who has led three-week excursions to India, said, “What gave me the confidence to attempt a faculty-led trip was my own experience as a student.”

As a college student, Eck said she spent 11 weeks in Asia, where she visited Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China.

Eck said, “I think faculty-led trips are great for a variety of students. It is especially ideal for students who have some hesitation about going abroad.”

In January 2023, Eck led her most recent excursion to India.

Eck said she led a pre-trip curriculum to inform students of the history, culture, and language of India.

“Even if people join the cohort and don’t know anyone, they will know people even before they leave. We try to build group cohesion,” Eck said.

Eck added, “In my heart of hearts, I want FSU students to go abroad for a semester. …  It really is confidence-boosting.”

Eck said faculty-led trips are more immersive. She travelled with students throughout northern India and they resided in a town named Kalimpong. “You see Everest from Kalimpong. It’s just like the roof of the world.”

Eck said they visited Darjeeling in the west, to Rishikesh, a Hindu holy city, which is where The Beatles wrote “The Beatles (The White Album),” and then finally Agra, home to the Taj Mahal.

Farley said faculty-led trips are conducted during winter, spring, and summer breaks, to avoid conflicting with class time.

Each year, trips are based on faculty interest and availability, Farley said.

Upcoming trips include the Business department travelling to Panama in the spring, and the Fashion department going to Hong Kong, Japan, and Vietnam in the summer, “and you don’t have to be a business student or fashion student to go,” Farley said.

Fashion Design Professor Virginia Noon said, “A trip such as this is a jam-packed 10 days on the ground experience.” 

She said students will gain access to behind-the-scenes retail operations, participate in immersive workshops with local designers, and attend unique cultural events “such as the Japanese tea ceremony and Kimono experience.”

Noon said alongside her leading the trip is Fashion Design Professor Laura Kane. “Dr. Kane polled prospective students during Spring 2025 and determined that there was a keen interest in Japan.

“To be sure, we were offering a competitive price and value for the trip. We were required by the University business office to obtain competitive quotes from two additional companies. This was an important process that assured we could offer the best value and international travel experience to students,” Noon said.

Farley said this past summer, the Art, Design & Art History department took students to Peru and studied art, architecture, and archeology.

Art Professor Ellie Krakow conducted the trip with Art History Professor Yumi Park. Park proposed the excursion to their department and it was approved, Krakow said.

Krakow said they took a group of 18 FSU students plus three faculty members to Peru. 

Park said the three faculty members were Professor Sandra Sanchez, Painting Instructor Carol O’Malia, and Administrative Assistant of the Art, Design & Art History department Helen Tretiak. 

Krakow said, “This trip was deeply meaningful to me. I loved having the experience of supporting students to use their creativity to deeply understand the art and architecture of another culture, and to use creative practice as a vehicle to relate to another culture. It was inspiring to get to work closely with students in this immersive experience. 

“I learned so much about each student, Peru, and myself as we learned about history and the way art and architecture relate to it and got a sense of the contemporary Peruvian society,” Krakow said.

She added, “Many parts of our travels showed how intimately the past and present are connected, intertwined and impact one another in Peru.”

Krakow said on their 10-day itinerary, they went to Lima, visiting museums of contemporary and ancient Peruvian art, and Urubamba, a launching point for all the sites in the Sacred Valley, and then Machu Picchu.

Senior Studio Art major Charlotte Johndrow, who went on the trip to Peru, said, “My favorite part of the trip was visiting Machu Picchu! I remember being taught about this ancient place when I was really young and it's been a dream of mine to visit since. We also went to a textile shop where they taught us how they made their fabrics from the yarn all the way to a finished piece. It was incredible.”

Krakow said they went to Cusco, where they saw the Temple of the Sun, and concluded their excursion “with a day trip to the Rainbow Mountain, a mountain with various minerals that produce colored striations in the landscape. This area is a recently exposed natural wonder due to the melting of the glacier that until recently covered it.”

Johndrow said the experiences she gained were unmatched because she saw one of the seven wonders of the world in Machu Picchu, and then climbed “the Rainbow Mountains, that are 16,000 feet above sea level, using a canister of oxygen to get me there.”

She added the trip strengthened her bond with her professors and created friendships with students she had never spoken to prior.

“I’d recommend an experience like this to everyone. If people are unsure, I say, ‘If it interests you and you can afford it, go for it.’ Even if you don't know anyone, go for yourself,” Johndrow said.

Park said, “It was incredibly rewarding to work with a friend, Ellie, and to travel with other faculty friends, Sandra, Carol, and Helen, as well as students, in a cohesive manner. We truly experienced fRAMily.”

The University also supports students who are trying to find internship experiences abroad.

Farley said in the past three years, two students completed internships abroad. In 2022, a student participated in a communications internship in London their fall semester, and this past summer, Senior Adrien Gobin completed a social media internship in Ireland.

Gobin said, “I always wanted to study abroad, or some sort of abroad program. I’m just always so busy during the semester. I have so much going on between classes and internships here at Framingham that the summer program worked really well for me. I did a two-month internship in Galway, Ireland.”

Farley said if a student comes to the program with an interest in participating in an internship abroad, “we can look up and see what’s available for them.” 

Gobin said the study abroad office was helpful in the application process for her internship.

She said, “With what I did, because I wasn’t there for longer than three months, I didn't need a visa to go, but if I did a study-abroad program, because I was there longer than 90 days, you would need a visa.”

Farley said housing comes with a fee, but study-abroad providers usually place students in an internship and provide housing based on their major and interest.

These internships are available in the summer, but students can also take a semester and internship abroad if they want to, Farley said.

Whether a student is able to work and earn a wage abroad depends on their visa, Farley added.

Lorretta Holloway, vice president of Student Success said, “Even during the years where we had a lot of students going abroad … we didn’t have a lot of students doing internships abroad.

“We lost a lot of the momentum [since COVID]. A lot of the students who had studied abroad graduated, and I can tell you that studying abroad is wonderful all I want, but I’m old. Seriously! Students are going to pay attention to other students,” she added.

“And we had a big cohort of students who had studied abroad, who were able to be our international ambassadors … and they had a lot more success talking about going abroad and their experiences … and that cohort is gone,” Holloway said.

Holloway added the majority of students who consider interning abroad usually find it easier to instead study abroad due to the changing laws other countries have concerning internships and work visas.

“It’s difficult because of the way the world is right now,” Holloway said.

These laws impact international students and their ability to work in the United States while studying for their undergraduate and graduate degrees, Holloway said.

Holloway added in the last four years, three international exchange students spent a study abroad semester at Framingham State: one in Fall 2021, one in Spring 2024, and one in Fall 2024.

Holloway said the University tracks the number of international students enrolled each semester without differentiating how many are new enrollees.

There were 50 international undergraduate and graduate students in Fall 2020, 45 in Spring 2021, 45 in Fall 2021, 36 in Spring 2022, 36 in Fall 2022, 34 in Spring 2023, 42 in Fall 2023, 48 in Spring 2024, and 48 in Fall 2024, Holloway said.

She said she did not have the numbers for Spring 2025. 

According to ucis.gov, international students have F-1 visas that allow them to enter the United States as full-time students.

Holloway said when compared to the number of students studying abroad, FSU’s number of international students remains stable.

Iris Godes, vice president of Enrollment Management, said, “As far as whether or not FSU plans to bring in more international students, I can tell you from an undergraduate admissions perspective, we do not have a strategy to recruit more international students at this time.

“However, for various reasons, both those living in the U.S. and those abroad do find us, and we’re happy to assist them in enrolling at FSU if they are able to obtain the appropriate visa,” Godes said.

Aleksandra Basova, an international student from Russia majoring in Computer Science, has been a student at FSU since Fall 2023 and hopes to earn her master’s degree as well.

She said her student visa (F-1) allows her to work on campus and participate in paid and unpaid internships, but only in the field relating to her major.

“I'm glad I was able to work on campus - as an IT Service Desk technician, a Computer Science tutor, and a junior program facilitator for space-mission simulations at the McAuliffe Center - and to complete software engineering internships at a tech startup, which were amazing learning experiences.”

During her admission process, Basova said, “The [Russo-Ukrainian] war and ensuing restrictions made the process difficult, but FSU was the one institution able to process my transfer quickly, and I'm grateful for that.”

[ Editor’s Note: Adrien Gobin is an Associate Editor for The Gatepost.  ]