Education Abroad Fair will be held virtually Sept. 28-29

The University of North Georgia (UNG) will host its Education Abroad Fair as a virtual event this fall. Set for Sept. 28-29, sessions will be available between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. both days in Microsoft Teams with channels highlighting all of the options available to UNG students.

Current UNG students will have a variety of methods to access information through the fair's webpage:

• Links to video meetings with UNG faculty and program representatives who can tell them more about the experiences and answer all their questions. Students can enter with video and microphone turned off and ask questions via the chat, or engage face-to-face.
• A tab will contain general information about the programs to view, organized by major, region and alphabetically, without entering the video meetings.
• An option within each program's listing to sign up and receive more information about the programs via email.

"We have designed the fair to help our students interact with faculty and partners in as natural and helpful of a way as possible," said Daniela Martinez, associate director of the Center for Global Engagement (CGE). "We hope students will take advantage of the opportunity to speak with program representatives and learn about our many offerings."

UNG is currently accepting spring and summer 2021 study abroad applications. The application deadlines for those programs — Oct. 30 for spring trips and Feb. 1 for summer trips — will serve as the dates to determine whether the study abroad opportunities will proceed based on COVID-19 health and safety guidance.

One of the unique opportunities the fair will present is information on remote international internships.

"It's a great way to still be a part of something with an international perspective and not have to leave home," said Sheila Schulte, associate vice president of international programs.

Each day of the Education Abroad Fair will feature two half-hour sessions on more general topics: one on choosing a program that fits within a student's plan of study and the other on financing education abroad.

The sessions on finances will feature information from UNG's Financial Aid and Nationally Competitive Scholarships offices.

To help students navigate the new format, CGE will have a digital information booth available from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the fair webpage to answer questions about education abroad or how to get around the fair.

The virtual format will allow more of CGE's partner organizations to join the event and provide information for students. One of those partners is Aberystwyth University in Wales, a school UNG signed a partnership with in 2018. Aberystwyth will have some international students who have studied there previously as part of its session.

"We want to make this experience valuable for the students," said Lisa Cummins, a study abroad adviser for CGE.

UNG offers a wide variety of study abroad options, from faculty-led programs to direct enrollment options to exchange programs and third-party options. Schulte said she looks forward to helping students get excited about study abroad, with the goal of reaching these students as early as possible in their time at UNG.

"This allows us to share with the campus community all of the options available to our students," Schulte said. "We want to entice them to take advantage of these amazing opportunities to learn abroad."