Education Abroad Professional Learning Community (EA-PLC) October 2022
Message from the Co-chairs
Thank you so much to everyone who supported and engaged with the Education Abroad Professional Learning Community (EA-PLC) over the past year. Each year, the EA-PLC has an opportunity for renewal and growth. In 2022, we welcomed 40 new members to the EA-PLC. We were also able to amplify the conversations of our subgroups through webinars and by leading monthly meetings to share important information about accessibility and inclusion, virtual education abroad, benchmarking in education abroad, wraparound supports for students and faculty, and intercultural competence.
Diving deeply into these issues through regular updates and monthly features allowed the broader membership to consider how these topics intersect with their daily work. We have also encouraged further use of the Hub to share resources in these areas to support this work.
In the coming year, the EA-PLC will continue to focus on holistic inclusivity, begin conversations around education abroad and the SDGs, and we will listen to you, the membership, on how the EA-PLC can best support you in your work.
In 2021, during our session Education Abroad: Building Back Better, Dr. Sharon Stein reminded us that as we come out of the pandemic, we should remain reflective of our practices and consider how our work can be more equitable, fulsome and relevant. In 2023, we encourage EA-PLC members to keep pushing boundaries to pursue these goals.
Purpose
The Education Abroad Professional Learning Community (EA-PLC) provides a forum for professionals in the fields of education abroad and global learning to share resources, ideas, successes, and challenges in a supportive environment. It also aims to identify and work to address the needs of those facilitating education abroad at our respective institutions.
Mission
The EA-PLC’s mandate is to facilitate the role of education abroad professionals at educational institutions across Canada, create an informed and effective support network and forum of discussion amongst education abroad professionals, and speak on behalf of the Canadian education abroad community and their institutions for the purpose of providing information to CBIE that supports its advocacy efforts.
Objectives
The goal of the Education Abroad PLC is to:
- Establish tools and resources that encourage the free exchange of ideas and information between professionals involved with education abroad (EA) programs at different institutions/organizations.
- Encourage the sharing of resources and best practices within the EA-PLC community.
- Develop and/or promote education and training for education abroad professionals.
- Support research activities in the field of education abroad.
- Work cooperatively with agencies supporting student mobility.
- Identify and work to address the needs of those facilitating EA at our respective institutions.
- Initiate discussion on the development of support services for EA programs in Canada.
- Collect and disseminate information that aids with advocacy for financial support for EA initiatives.
- Support and promote the internationalization of Canadian campuses through EA programs.
- Raise education abroad in Canada to a high-profile issue within our institutions and organizations, including CBIE and its partners.
Steering Committee
Janine Knight-Grofe
Janine Knight-Grofe
Director,
International Education,
Durham College
Colleen Packer
Colleen Packer
Director,
Global Learning,
University of Calgary
Zhi Jones
Zhi Jones
Associate Director,
Education Abroad (Services),
University of Alberta
Shabnam (Shay) Ivkovic
Shabnam (Shay) Ivkovic
Director,
International Strategic Initiatives,
Co-Operative & Experiential Education,
University of Waterloo
Karima Ramji
Karima Ramji
Associate Director,
International, Indigenous & Strategic Initiatives,
University of Victoria
Heather Tobe
Heather Tobe
Interculturalist,
University of British Columbia
Elissa Cressman
Elissa Cressman
Manager,
Safety Abroad,
University of Waterloo
KK (Kristina) Miller
KK (Kristina) Miller
International Mobility Coordinator,
Seneca College
Ada Lee
Ada Lee
Global Development Manager,
Kwantlen Polytechnic University,
Eunjung Riauka
Eunjung Riauka
Director,
International Learning,
Western University
Overview of Membership
300 Members
From 260 members in 2021 to 300 members in 2022, the EA-PLC membership has steadily increased, with 40 new members joining in the past year.
Institution Type
Role Type
Members by Province/Territory
Events & Initiatives
hosted webinars
hosted webinars
presented at conferences
presented at conferences
including a session in collaboration with Global Skills Opportunity at CBIE2021.
Special Thanks
We want to thank Geneviève Boutin, Mike Lafleur and Rebecca Trautwein, previous EA-PLC subgroups co-leaders-PLC subgroups, whose commitment to education abroad shone through as some of the first individuals to lead the new EA-PLC subgroups. We would also like to thank Elissa Cressman, Zhi Jones, Ada Lee, KK (Kristina) Miller, Karima Ramji, Eunjung Riauka, Shabnam (Shay) Surjitsingh Ivković and Heather Tobe for their ongoing dedication and leadership of the EA-PLC subgroups.
Thank you to Global Skills Opportunity for financial support to spur innovation and accessibility in education abroad and the Canadian Higher Education Travel Safety Network (CHETSN) for enriching our conversations and inviting us into your network. Special thanks to CBIE for their support and for providing a platform for professionals to get together to share and learn. Most of all, thank you to everyone who attends the monthly meetings, accesses resources through the Hub, interacts through conferences and other engagements, and who works to increase their networks and knowledge in education abroad, leading us all to improve our work and push important conversations around education abroad.
