Global Learning staff publishes brief in financial aid journal
Contact: Nicol Tinsley
VCU Global Education Office
(804) 828-6463
nctinsley@vcu.edu
Richmond, VA (October 19, 2022) — Amy Leap Miller, assistant director of global learning and education abroad, and Stephanie Tignor, director of global learning, recently published a 'reflections in practice brief' in the September issue of the Journal of Student Financial Aid. The brief, Strengthening the Bridge Between Financial Aid and Study Abroad, written with Evan Udowitch, director of financial aid and scholarships, is about the successful collaboration between GEO and VCU's Student Financial Services.
Written in approximately a year, the brief answered a call for papers last September from The Journal of Student Financial Aid for a "special issue focused on the intersection of the finance of higher education, especially student financial aid, and international education policy and practice."
Tignor explains how the brief offered an opportunity to highlight the collaborative efforts of GEO and VCU's Student Financial Services, and allowed the two teams to strengthen their working relationship.
"We felt it was an easy opportunity to share the details and successes of our collaboration with the greater field of international educators and to gain a publishing experience for those of us involved," she said. "It also became evident that the collaborative effort of co-authoring an article deepened the partnership between our two offices."
Miller spoke of how writing the brief jointly will result in the teams working even more efficiently on future projects. She also anticipates communicating more easily to new staff and students how the departments work together to benefit them.
"Through working on this project, our Education Abroad and Student Financial Services teams developed an even more effective, efficient and collegial atmosphere for completing joint tasks that will benefit us in the future," she said. "Additionally, in succinctly writing about our collaboration, we can more easily explain our processes and procedures to new staff and relevant information to students and their families about how our joint operations impact them."
In addition to discussing the collaboration between the two units, Tignor explains in the brief specific measures both have taken to achieve their goals. "In the article we were able to highlight VCU's overarching strategy for success in addressing the financial barriers of study abroad. We shared actions like offering affordable programs, supporting students in identifying and applying for aid and scholarship funds, and offering innovative programs like the airfare voucher program," she said. "We highlighted partnerships between GEO and the National Scholarship Office, Military Student Services, TRIO, and mentioned our grant-funded passport events. There is a lot VCU is doing to support increased access to study abroad and this article presents us as a national model for other institutions seeking to do the same for their students."
Tignor expressed that the brief offers commendation to VCU for its continual efforts to make study abroad financially feasible to all students.
"VCU's attitude toward making study abroad financially affordable and accessible is unique and sets us apart from other institutions, especially regarding the wide applicability of institutional, state and federal aid," she said. "VCU deserves credit for its commitment to access, and this seemed like a good opportunity to do that."