UGA -General Independent Experience Abroad
This general application may be used for UGA students who are seeking to register at UGA for academic credit for an internship, research or independent study program abroad, as well as students traveling abroad for non-credit experiences, internships or research. The academic department sponsoring the UGA credit will also be requested to submit Department planning materials to the Office of Global Engagement or asked to submit a recommendation (confirmation) the student has been approved for a Non-Credit Activity with Experiential Learning option.
Internships Abroad are programs abroad that provide students with temporary on-the-job training in a certain industry. Students typically complete these programs for academic credit and, in some cases, may be paid for their work. Students complete the Internship activity while abroad.
Fieldwork, Independent Study or Research Abroad involves quantitative and/or qualitative research and instructional hours that, while supervised and initiated by an instructor, feature independent work and self-direction outside of a laboratory, library, or classroom setting. Students complete this Fieldwork, Independent Study or Research activity while abroad.
For a student to participate in an independent experience abroad, whether for credit or not-for-credit, both the student and the supervising UGA faculty member submit an application or recommendation in the
StudyAway Portal.
Discussing your specific program details with a Global Education Advisor, as well as your academic advisor is strongly recommended.
- Take note that some internship programs abroad may provide credit from either a US or overseas university, either included in the program fee or able to add credit for an extra fee. Depending on the circumstances, students may prefer to arrange direct UGA resident credit as a UGA Independent Experience or prefer to transfer in credit from another university, or choose to participate in a non-credit activity.
- If a student plans to earn transfer credit from another university vs. enrolling for direct credit at UGA, please use the Non-UGA Study Abroad Program Application to facilitate the transfer credit instead of the Independent Experience application.
Student Application Steps
To start, a
student's StudyAway Independent Experience application will ask for details regarding:
- Initial itinerary (city, country and dates abroad)
- Report if activity will be for-credit, not-for credit and/or used to fulfill an Experiential Learning Requirement
- Department course (i.e. INTL 4720 International Affairs Internship or MARK 4960R Faculty-mentored Undergraduate Research I)
- UGA Faculty/Department representative contact details
Once approved or "pre-approved" a student's StudyAway application will provide additional pre-departure steps such as finalizing your itinerary, attending a pre-departure orientation, enrolling in Study Abroad insurance, registration for the SABD program course, as well as other steps. In addition to the academic subject, approved students must register for an SABD study abroad program (non-credit,) course to note the location of your activity abroad (i.e. SABD 1279 SPIA Internship, China). The POD/permission of department will be provided by your department after the Department Independent Experience Program is approved by OGE.
The academic department sponsoring the UGA credit will also be requested to submit planning materials to the Office of Global Engagement, so it's important to submit a complete application so we can help loop in the department representative. Academic department will likely have separate steps for students to complete, such as providing details regarding the internship, research or independent study project abroad, especially if are seeking UGA credit and/or department approval for an experiential learning activity.
Department Application Steps
Students, please ask your Supervising faculty, advisor or other department representative to complete a separate
Department Independent Experience Abroad Planning Application to support your independent experience abroad on behalf of your department. In some cases, a department might submit one planning application for a group of students going abroad to several different locations. Alternatively, if you are seeking a Non-credit with Experiential Learning option, you may need to request a "Department Recommendation" from your advisor/experiential learning coordinator to confirm these plans.
For additional information:
Independent Experiences Abroad Faculty/Staff Resources at StudyAway.
The
Department Independent Experience Planning Application typically asks for information regarding the host organization abroad, the syllabus, academic template including the academic course
(to be loaded as SNR/study abroad campus), CRN section (load per country location), total hours study abroad campus. Departments are also asked to complete the Department Planning Application when working with students pursuing non-credit internships, research, service learning or volunteer activities abroad used to meet an Experiential Learning requirement. OGE will work with Curriculum Systems to create a country specific non-credit SABD study abroad program course
(i.e. SABD 1279 SPIA Internship, China) after the Department Independent Experience Program is approved. Departments are asked to provide the POD for the SABD sections once alerted by OGE.
Deadlines for Student & Department Applications
- November 1 for Spring or Calendar Year applications
- April 1 for Summer, Fall or Academic Year applications
For full details on the policies and procedures regarding establishment of Independent Experiences Abroad for students abroad, please see the
Reporting Student Travel Policies.
All questions about Independent Experiences Abroad should be directed to Ms. Colleen Larson, Global Education Advisor,
clarson@uga.edu.
Contact Information
Colby Seay
Office of Global Engagement | Assistant Director for Global Education
1324 S. Lumpkin St | Athens, GA 30605
706-542-6602 |
colby.seay@uga.edu
Click to Schedule an Advising Appointment
Optional - Internship Provider Organizations
- Some students may choose to work with a Study Abroad, Internship, Service Learning, Volunteer Provider to organize an Independent Experience Abroad.
- Depending on the provider, specific program and credit options offered, some students may choose to study abroad for transfer credit (Non-UGA Program option), for direct UGA credit (Independent Experience option), Non-credit for UGA Experiential Learning, or non-credit.
- Discuss your options with a Global Education Advisor, as well as your Academic Department Advisor
