Learning around the world

Heavener School students invest in their future through international education

Study abroad has always played an important part in the Warrington student experience, and demand for international education continues to rise among undergraduate students. To address the continued interest to study and intern abroad, the International Education Program Office and the Heavener faculty have taken strategic strides to expand study abroad program types and integrate a project-based model of learning to enhance students’ global perspectives and career success post-graduation.

Although UF offers many study abroad options, the Heavener School provides several unique education abroad models to strengthen the cultural and global intelligence of business students specifically. Heavener’s signature programs in Dublin, Europe, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome and South Korea provide a range of academic and experiential opportunities that fulfill curricular and degree requirements. Depending on the program, students enroll in business courses through partner institutions, pursue UF business core courses online and simultaneously engage in internships while abroad.

Students may also select programs such as the South Korea model and pursue only an internship abroad for 6+ weeks during summer semesters, allowing students to become deeply immersed in the culture, gain work experience in an international context and become informed about business practices on a broader global scale.

Heavener also has strategic partnerships with 15+ top-rated business schools around the world to offer exchange programs that allow undergraduates to directly enroll in prestigious partner institutions abroad, where they select courses and engage in culturally immersive experiences.

Heavener leadership knows not all students will be able to study abroad, but they don’t want that to keep them from a global mindset.

“It’s important that we look for alternate pathways to expose students to international contexts to advance their global awareness and understanding,” said Dr. Monija Amani, Director of the International Programs Office.

To address this issue, Senior Lecturer Megan Mocko created a virtual study abroad program that enables students to further their cultural and international understanding. This initiative connects UF students with peers from Universidad de San Francisco de Quito, Tecnologico de Monterrey Mexico, University of Newcastle England, and Bridgewater State University, and they work in international teams and complete a joint project.

“Students get the opportunity to learn about different feedback styles from different cultures and critically think about their own feedback style,” Mocko said. “They also analyze data and present their findings to their peers. This allows students to practice explaining quantitative data and analysis to a diverse group of students from different countries.”

Students who participated raved about their experience.

“I absolutely loved the virtual exchange component of the class,” said Derya Caglayan (BSBA ’27). “Being able to work in group assignments with people from all over the world like Ecuador, Colombia, the UK and Mexico, really taught me invaluable skills. These include cultural sensitivity, having a global mindset, flexibility, teamwork and critical thinking.”

Increased demand leads to growth

Growing interest in studying abroad requires the necessary staff support. The International Programs Office will hire four additional international educators to help students through their journey, from the point of application all the way to returning to UF.

“With international studies as one of the four pillars of Heavener, the International Programs Office is providing advising to business students, as well as providing opportunities to enable each student to internationalize their curriculum through options that align with their academic and professional goals,” Amani said. “Students will now have more access and assistance with planning their international education experience.”

Upcoming innovations for international studies

• Heavener is introducing a project-based model of study abroad for students in 2025. UF in Japan: Intercultural Communication and Business Consulting will be a six-week study abroad program. Students will have the chance to serve as consultants with local or multinational organizations abroad to solve a complex business problem and enable students to further develop their professional skills. While working with the organization, students will also interact with UF alumni and receive mentorship.
• Another opportunity that provides project-based learning will be UF in Quito: Exploring Business in Ecuador. This one-week program at the end of the spring 2025 semester will allow students to earn credits while interacting with the businesses in Quito. Students will learn about communication, data use in business and culture, culminating in a 48-hour business case study to examine problems facing companies in the developing world.
• The Global Business Leaders (GBL) program will give students interested in pursuing international work a unique degree program designed to provide study abroad experiences embedded as a required part of their curriculum. Students in this cohort-based degree program will do experiential learning abroad through project consulting, internships and gaining cross-cultural perspectives on business through a variety of cultural contexts.
• Leadership Launch is an international opportunity allowing students to study abroad for one week during spring break.