It is ingrained in our campus culture--fall semester, juniors study abroad. Perhaps it can be attributed to the popularity of basketball season, the beautiful North Carolina spring or a desire to study abroad the same semester as friends. However, regardless of the reason, it is a fact that there is a discrepancy between the number of students who study abroad each semester.
The gap between fall and spring study abroad numbers has grown so much over the past few years that it has become a strain on spring housing and leaves a void in campus leadership. The administration is seeking to even out the number of study abroad students between fall and spring in an effort to alleviate these problems.
Having the majority of students go abroad in the fall is not a serious problem until it reaches the extreme. This year, for example, 410 students went abroad in the fall as compared to only 118 in the spring. This causes an influx of juniors who, because of the three year on campus living requirement, must live on West or Central.
It is evident that a problem exists since this spring Residential Life and Housing Services had to allow some juniors to live off campus and was forced to convert commons rooms to living space.
The overwhelming number of students that go abroad fall semester also means that many highly qualified juniors who would normally fill campus leadership positions are not doing so.
The gap between fall and spring semester study abroad has grown to be problamatic, and the University should even out the numbers in order to alleviate these problems.
The Study Abroad Office should offer more spring programs in addition to actively recruiting students from the spring programs. Summer study abroad programs should also be encouraged and promoted as an option so students can both study abroad, fill a campus leadership role and be here for basketball season. By availing students who would normally study abroad in the fall--simply because that is what students at Duke do--of the advantages of summer and spring programs, the numbers may become more even.
The Study Abroad Office could also consider implementing more stringent academic requirements for fall programs and simply allow fewer students to leave first semester. This is not to discourage study abroad in general, simply to defer some of the students who would otherwise study abroad in the fall to the spring.
If the numbers between fall and spring semester were more even, this would eliminate the housing problems, and would ensure that a greater number of juniors--potential campus leaders--were here first semester. This is a move that would be best for the University as it will solve several problems without detracting from the opportunity students have to study abroad.
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