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Greetings “Teaching the Andes” Participants!

Congratulations and welcome to the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad “Teaching the Andes” program! I am excited to introduce you to the program and start to answer the many questions that I am sure you have.

I will be assisting with the first part of the program preparation to make sure that all logistics, travel details, and project programming are communicated to you directly. During second part of the program preparation this Spring, Dr. Michelle Wibbelsman – the Faculty Director for the program – will work with you to prepare readings and other academic plans to get you ready for the program abroad.

I am attaching three documents to this email:

1. Participant Timeline: The Program Timeline is designed to provide an overview of pre-departure activities, program deadlines, and post-trip evaluation activities. You will be four webinars listed on the timeline – these are not mandatory, but we highly encourage you to participate when possible. Dates for these webinars will be finalized by the end of the week.

2. Overseas Program Itinerary: The Program Itinerary provides a detailed, day-to-day schedule during your time abroad. Please review this document and make note of any questions you may have. We will have plenty of time to address your questions during upcoming webinars.

3. Participant Questionnaire: In order to gather some data needed for the program and to help us better understand your anticipated outcomes for the program, we have developed a participant questionnaire that we’d like you to complete by Friday, March 10th. The questionnaire will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete, so I am attaching a list of the questions in case you’d like to review them before you begin. The questionnaire will be completed online and is available here: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_aasSO7fFpiHb4eV.

Other Useful Updates:
1. Website Resources – You can find the attached documents as well as other resources on the Fulbright-Hays “Teaching the Andes” Website. The “Participant Resources” page is designed exclusively for you, and is password protected. The password is: Andes2017.

2. Flights: I know many of you are eager to purchase your flights to Columbus. Please keep in mind that you will need to be in Columbus for Pre-Departure Orientation by 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15. Your flight will return to Columbus from abroad on Sunday, July 17 at 4:35 p.m., so when booking a return trip home, please try to book for later on Sunday evening.

3. Getting to know one another: Many of you have expressed interest in getting to know your fellow participants. While the live webinars will certainly facilitate that, we have also created a Facebook page and a Participant Forum page on the website. Please feel free to use these as you wish and let us know if you have other suggestions!

I know this is a lot of information to digest, so just spend some time reviewing everything, and let me know what questions you have. You may email me directly, or use the Participant Forum to post your question so that others may see them. Once I receive the finished questionnaires from all participants, I will schedule the first webinar.

Thank you!

Megan Hasting

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