Despite the move of the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) to Santa Barbara, UC Davis students shouldn’t see any changes in their ability to study abroad.
The decision to move the administrative oversight of EAP from the UC Office of the President (UCOP) located in Oakland to UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) is being made in an effort to run the systemwide program more efficiently. The change will take place July 1.
“Each UC campus was invited to submit a proposal to host EAP, and our Santa Barbara campus was chosen based on our deep-rooted, historical commitment to international education in general, and EAP in particular,” said UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang in a statement.
EAP was established at UCSB in 1962 by Chancellor Emeritus Clark Kerr. Yang and UC President Mark Yudof signed a Memorandum of Understanding, officially transferring administrative control of EAP from UCOP to UCSB on May 4, said Andrea Delap, senior EAP analyst, in statement.
Under the new agreement, EAP will remain a systemwide academic program, but its operations will now take place out of UCSB, he said. This model is meant to generate cost efficiencies and provide better accessibility for program participants.
By partnering with UCSB, EAP will be able to utilize UCSB’s infrastructure, such as informational technology, human resources and financial support, said Zachary Frieders, associate director of the UC Davis Education Abroad Center (EAC). EAP is trying to save its resources, which is why it’s looking at partnering with UCSB for some of these administrative processes.
EAP will remain an independent program, separate from the UCSB campus, Frieders said in an e-mail. It will have its own budget and personnel, ensuring that budget decisions made on the UCSB campus won’t have an effect on EAP operations, and vice versa.
“So, it’s cost savings for EAP, not necessarily the [UCOP],” Frieders said.
The goal is to realize cost efficiencies and eventually build that into the overall budget of the program, ultimately saving students money on the program fees, he said.
EAP will continue to serve all UC campuses and UC students, Delap said. Students won’t see any changes to EAP or their opportunities as a result of EAP’s relocation.
At UC Davis’ EAC, just off of campus on Third Street, four study abroad programs are offered the systemwide EAP is one.
In a given year, EAC sends anywhere between 350 and 400 students to study abroad through EAP. It sends between 160 and 175 students abroad every year through its Quarter Abroad program and between 550 and 570 students abroad through its Summer Abroad program.
Since EAP is a systemwide program, its offerings are the same across every campus. All of the aspects of this specific program are managed by EAP’s office in Goleta, which is close to UCSB’s campus.
UC Davis faculty leads the Quarter Abroad and Summer Abroad programs and students take UC Davis courses during their regular terms.
“Our office is responsible for recruiting students and advising them, but we also run and manage the logistics for the program,” Frieders said.
EAC also helps students with independent study abroad programs, through which students usually plan to study abroad with third parties, nonprofit organizations or foreign universities. EAC only helps in advising with courses and financial aid.
TRISHA PERKINS can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
