By Whitney Oliphant, Staff Reporter
CNM is partnering with UNM and the Global Education Office to bring study abroad to students, said Dr. Paula Smith-Hawkins, associate dean for administration.
“Global Education is coming,” Hawkins said.
The first trip will take place in July 2016, and will be held in Limerick, Ireland, she said.
Smith-Hawkins said that students will actually be staying in the dorms at the Mary Immaculate University in Limerick while they do their studies.
During the Limerick trip students will earn 6 transferable credits in history and service learning, Smith-Hawkins said.
Smith-Hawkins said that it will be a month’s worth of work put into two weeks but that it will be a great experience for those involved.
There will also be a week of prep work that students will do on Blackboard the week before they leave for the Limerick trip, she said.
“Students may not be aware that they can use their financial aid to help cover the cost of the trip,” Smith-Hawkins said.
Students think that they cannot afford to do study abroad because of financial reasons but there are scholarships, savings plans, and financial aid to help students with the costs, she said.
She said that even though students may be able to use their financial aid toward the trip it is important that students plan in advance so that they can get their financial aid set up for studying abroad.
For more information on getting financial aid for studying abroad contact the financial aid office at (505) 224-3000 prompt (2,0).
Students should start the planning process at least two semesters in advance, Smith-Hawkins said.
The fall semester should be the time that students make the decision about studying abroad, then spend the spring planning while getting their financial aid in order and ultimately leaving over the summer, Smith-Hawkins said.
Smith-Hawkins said that although studying abroad is brand new to CNM, it is actually much more common in community colleges than most think.
CNM opening the door to studying abroad also allows foreign students to come and attend CNM as well as CNM students to attend various schools overseas, she said.
The Limerick trip is sort of like a test run for CNM because this will be the very first study abroad trip, she said.
CNM hopes to eventually narrow their focus on Latin America for their study abroad experiences, she said.
Places such as Cuba and Colombia could be in the works as soon as 2017, she said.
“CNM is joining the rest of the world,” she said.
Latin America studies
https://www.cnm.edu/programs-of-study/all-programs-a-z/latin-american-studies
UNM Global Education Office
