Grant opens up more study abroad opportunities for UTA students
A federal grant will help give more University of Texas at Arlington students a chance to take their studies abroad, building their resumes while experiencing the world firsthand.
UTA is one of just 44 colleges and universities around the country to be awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program. The $35,000 grant will fund a service-learning course for 15 to 20 UTA students from diverse backgrounds, creating more inclusive and accessible learning opportunities.
The proposal is led by School of Social Work faculty members Eusebius Small, Karla Arenas-Itotia and Tracy Orwig. The goal is to recruit mostly undergraduate minority students as well as low-income students who may not have considered studying abroad.
“Some of them are first-generation college students who do not know anyone who can say, ‘They studied abroad and did well. Let me also go study abroad,’” Small said. “We want these students to hopefully become ambassadors of study abroad so they can share their experiences with others.”
Small is a believer in the impacts studying abroad can have, not just for a student’s education, but for their future.
“We have become a more globalized world,” Small said. “You see companies and industries located in China, India, Nepal and other places that want people who can speak the language. You can be able to experience a diversity of thoughts and ideas. Studying abroad helps develop those ideas.”
UTA student participants will take part in a service-learning course on campus where they will learn aspects of strength-based experiential learning that they will take with them on a three-week program to Kenya scheduled for summer 2023. There, they will work with students in five Kenyan schools in their classrooms, while also learning about a rich culture they may not be familiar with.
Small said he hopes the experience serves as an opportunity for the development of knowledge, essential skills and personal networks that will enhance students’ prospects in the world’s marketplace and their potential as global problem-solvers.
“No one has a monopoly on knowledge,” he said. “They learn from us. We learn from them.”