Winter/Spring program offerings are now available live on the website and can be accessed from: https://umap.org/usco We received program offerings from a total of 39 institutions, representing 11 countries across the UMAP region. The period for students to apply and for institutions to nominate them will run from September 16 until October 8, 2021. This is a shorter period than normal, so we ask that all participating institutions spread the word to interested students and encourage them to start on their research and applications as soon as possible. The listing of participating institutions can be found here.
Networking and Partnership Development Initiative: Now Open!
The UMAP Networking and Partnership Development Initiative (NPDI) has launched and is open to applicants!
The NPDI is an opportunity for individual faculty from UMAP member institutions to participate in online networking sessions that will introduce them to colleagues from across the world. Participants will be matched with colleagues with whom they share professional backgrounds, expertise, or collaboration interests. After these facilitated networking conversations, participants will be invited to follow up with any of the new colleagues that they think they might be interested in working with to develop new online course content based on Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) methodology. Selected pairs will be invited to join a new online platform for professional collaboration and will receive guidance and training through the development of their collaborative course project.
Timeline:
The deadline to complete and submit the form will be September 8. Once we have received all the responses, we will begin the process of identifying potentially productive sub-groups or cohorts based on areas of collaboration or interest among the group. For the first round of the pilot program, a total of 100 participants will be invited to one of two networking sessions that will be scheduled for September 20th-24th.
To express interest in participating and to submit details about your professional background and interests, complete this online form.
USCO Application platform opens for Spring 2022 programs!
Participating institutions who anticipate being able to host students for physical mobility programs starting in or after January 2022 can upload their Program A/B plans from now until September 14 for programs that will begin take place in Spring 2022. The new Timeline can be found below.
Please note that the ability of any institution to send or receive students will depend on national and institutional guidelines at the time when student selection and preparation for travel is taking place. Ultimately, each student and home/host institution, in consultation with relevant public health orders, will have to decide if it is safe to travel at that time.
As you get ready to log-in to USCO for the first time in a long time, check out our USCO Resources page. Here you will find short videos showing the step-by-step processes for adding or changing coordinator details, adding institutional information, navigating timelines, and uploading Program A/B information.
Networking and Partnership Development Initiative
Keep your eyes on this space for announcements about our new pilot program: the Networking and Partnership Development Initiative (NPDI)! This two-part initiative will create opportunities for selected faculty from UMAP member institutions to meet one another, identify shared interests, explore opportunities for collaboration, and jointly create Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) course materials. Full details here.
Continued Hiatus of In-person Mobility Through 2021
Due to COVID-10, in March 2020, The UMAP International Secretariat made the difficult decision to cancel all UMAP programs requiring international travel. At the Spring 2021 virtual Board meeting, the UMAP board agreed to continue the hold on UMAP physical mobility programs through December 2021. UMAP member institutions are encouraged to share with the UMAP network any virtual program offerings which they develop during this time.