ABSTRACT
Ted, a dean for international education on a college campus, is finding it difficult to get people to appreciate the value of study abroad and exchange programs. Although Ted has provided research from the national survey of student engagement about the value of such programs, he continues to encounter apathy among most of the senior administration, as well as the faculty and staff, about rethinking their programs and requirements. He decides that the best way to influence or persuade people about the value is to take a set of administrators and faculty abroad to experience the program he envisions for students. While the administrators and faculty are hesitant to take the time, they agree to go. When Ted returns from the trip, he finds that the perceptions of the administrators and faculty have been transformed; they now strongly support the program. It was only by experiencing the program and seeing how it could foster learning in new ways that they could truly appreciate Ted’s vision. Often, when we are making changes we have to help people to make sense of and understand the change to move forward.
