Don't Just Think Outside the Box, Live There!
posted 11/6/09
Adrian College opens Institute for Study Abroad

ADRIAN, Mich. – The fourth Institute at Adrian College, the Institute for Study Abroad, will further the opportunities for students to study overseas and experience different cultures. Adrian College graduates are becoming global citizens because of this initiative.

Adrian College President, Jeffrey R. Docking, is an avid supporter of study abroad.

“International education is the single most transformative experience a student can have during their undergraduate years,” said Docking. “Through exposure to new cultures, languages, and people through study abroad, prejudice is diminished, cross-cultural understanding is enhanced, old hatreds and stereotypes are washed away, and students begin to see the commonalities that bind us together as a human family and the illogic of war. Only when we see all of us – not only ‘us’ as Americans – but us as people living together on one planet can we call ourselves educated for the greatest common good.”

This Institute is the conversion of the popular Study Abroad Office and will advance the development of community outreach. The Institute will also explore additional curricular offerings, study abroad sites and possibilities in international service learning.

“Study abroad cuts across all majors, ethnicities, orientations and genders,” said Dr. Robin Bott, director of the Institute for Study Abroad. “Through this Institute, our students become globally minded by immersing themselves in other cultures across the world.”

She is very passionate about the Institute and cannot stress enough the significant impact studying abroad has on a student.

“It’s an investment in your future,” she said. “Value is added to your education, your career and your life. Students will be much more experienced, exciting and interesting people because of their time spent abroad. It also gives them an edge in the job market.”

Bott has many tasks as the director. She is responsible for initiating, organizing and managing all activities of the Institute. She is required to promote the Institute and its activities via published articles, talks and interaction with the community. Bott is the prime contact on campus for studying abroad and her entire staff is made up of students who have studied overseas.

One task of the Institute is community involvement outside the campus walls. Bott plans to draw people in from the community by hosting events like the upcoming Passport Day in November. The Institute offers this event twice a year and has built a relationship with the County Clerk’s Office.

Another important task is getting involved with the local high schools. She hopes to educate and attract local high school students to the idea of studying abroad when they go to college.

“We have a few high school students, juniors and seniors, on our campus now who are enrolled in Japanese classes,” said Bott. “There is clearly an interest with high school students to learn other languages that are not offered at the high school level, and to learn more about world cultures.”

This interest in study abroad is evident on the Adrian College campus. On average, more than 40 AC students study abroad each year. To put this number in perspective, 11 percent of last year’s graduating class studied abroad; the national average is less than two percent.

Here on campus, Bott hopes to encourage faculty to develop programs of their own. She hopes that professors and staff members alike will promote and even share their own stories to help students realize the positive and everlasting effects of studying abroad.

Bott also wants to address the common misconceptions of studying abroad, the first being “it costs too much.”

“A lot of students and their parents think they can’t afford to study abroad,” she said. “Actually, there is financial aid and loans available for those students who are interested in studying during a semester.”

Another myth is that by studying abroad a student will take longer to graduate. This too is false.

“If students study with one of our affiliates, every credit they take abroad will apply to their graduation at Adrian College,” said Bott. “Most of our students who study abroad graduate in four years or less, and many of them complete more than one major. Another misconception is that a student must speak the language of the country where they want to study. Students can actually take their classes in English, while also taking language classes.”

The biggest change Bott hopes to make in the near future is focusing more time on preparing students before they leave and on reintegrating them back into campus life at Adrian once they return.

She also hopes to launch internationally themed housing next year. The College already offers themed housing; international housing will help students build a globally minded community. It will also act as a support system for the students traveling abroad as well as any exchange students the College receives from other countries.

President Docking is confident in Dr. Bott’s abilities to make this Institute a success.

“Professor Robin Bott serves as a wonderful director for this program,” said Docking. “She founded the Office of Study Abroad, and I know she will do great things within the realms of the Institute. She will help our students become global citizens and more knowledgeable of the world in which they live.”

Bott is excited for her new responsibilities as director of the Institute and hopes the idea of studying abroad will attract more students.

“I love this position and am excited to work with the students, my colleagues across campus as well as the community,” said Bott. “I hope more students will take advantage of the opportunity that is right in front of them, and realize the benefits of living in another country. Studying abroad changes lives in profound ways, providing life-long skills and challenging attitudes.”

Bott came to AC in 1997 as a professor in the English department, became the Study Abroad director in 2006 and the Institute director in 2009. 

Dr. Robin Bott was born and raised in Hawaii. She received her B.A. from Brigham Young University-Hawaii; her M.A. from North Carolina State University; and earned her PhD from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has published articles on Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Hawaiian Studies.

Upon graduation with her bachelor’s degree, Bott lived in Japan for two years teaching English on the JET Programme.  While on the JET Programme, she was married in Tokyo, Japan to Dr. Bryan Bott, who is the Japanese Studies professor at Adrian College. They have two daughters, Carys 12, and Maura 9.