FAE Centro Universitario, Brazil
Siena College, New York

Capacity-Building Program to Reach 100K Strong

FAE Centro Universitario created an updated study abroad program which enabled the institution to host more U.S. students and created opportunities for these students to attend regular academic programs in Portuguese through language trainings. This was done in conjunction with their U.S. partner, Siena College, which provides study abroad opportunities for FAE’s students. FAE met their project goals by receiving 15 students from the U.S. (15 projected) and sending 4 students to the U.S. (4 projected). They also engaged 10 faculty (9 projected) and 6 staff (6 projected) in order to increase communication efforts across various departments (e.g. The Language Center, The Marketing Department, College of Letters, etc.) for smoother development of study abroad programs. FAE was successful in generating a Strategic Plan for 2020, which highlights how the university intends on expanding their internationalization process. FAE is projecting a tripling in the amount of students southbound to their university by 2016 due to their increased capacities and marketing efforts, which is discussed in their Strategic Plan. Some of the well-received aspects of this program were the Portuguese Language Program and a trip to Valor Brasil to visit a self-sustained company run by mentally and physically challenged individuals. Students and faculty recommended that there be more cultural discussions on differences and similarities between Brazilians and Americans as well as shorter, varying classes to keep students engaged