Value of IFDS & Testimonials
Evidence of Effectiveness and Value
For the past 19 years, CIEE International Faculty Development Seminars have proven to be a catalyst for faculty and administrators to incorporate international perspectives into their classrooms and throughout their institutions.
Alumni report that the impact of their seminar experience goes well beyond their immediate return; they continue to utilize the new information, skills, and outlook in their classrooms for years.
I can't express how much CIEE means to me. The seminars that I have attended had a major effect on my outlook on the world.
Roger Even Bove, PhD
West Chester University
Department of Economics & Finance (retired)
Croatia, China, Czech Republic and Hungary, Ireland, and Peru IFDS Alum
In fact, IFDS alumni are our biggest supporters. In 2009, over 30% of IFDS participants had already attended at least one previous IFDS seminar.
Results from our 2009 participant survey (of which over 75% of our participants completed) attest to the personal and institutional gains.
The Educator
- 98% Would highly recommend IFDS to a colleague
- 95% Experience personal growth
- 92% Increase their knowledge of the seminar subject significantly with up-to-date information on recent academic, economic, environmental, political, social, and religious developments overseas
- 88% Give their seminar leader a top rating of excellent
- 70% Develop new courses, revise existing ones, or improve the quality of lectures
Educators also reported:
- Building lasting collegial networks with faculty counterparts from home and abroad
- Discovering resources needed to expand faculty and student exchange opportunities
- Fueling new research, publishing, and fellowship opportunities
The Institution
Institutions find that funding faculty development opportunities abroad greatly expands internationalization efforts on campus. Quite a few institutions have made IFDS the cornerstone of their campus's faculty development efforts, sponsoring multiple faculty members each summer. With their new experiences and information, returning educators influence hundreds of students and colleagues each semester. Specifically, institutions report the importance of IFDS in helping to:
- Enlarge the pool of faculty and administrators conversant in international issues
- Internationalize curricula
- Increase international awareness and interest on the part of undergraduate students through exposure to faculty with overseas knowledge and experience
- Research and develop study abroad opportunities for students
- Increase awareness of diversity issues on campus through exposing faculty to new ideas, research, and colleagues overseas
- Create institutional, faculty, or student linkages with institutions abroad
- Raise the institution's profile abroad