International travel is paused due to the pandemic, but UAB students can prepare for future travel, participate in remote international internships and engage with the Education Abroad staff using a new free app that is accessible on a desktop or smart device.
UAB Education Abroad developed the interactive tool to communicate with students about virtual global classrooms and internships, connect them with passport services and streamline course-approval processes.
“Our temporary virtual environment led us to developing this tool,” said Ashley Neyer, director of UAB Education Abroad. “We consolidated information students usually gather from our sources and put it all together in a searchable, interactive form.”
Neyer said students can search study-abroad initiatives within their areas of study, determine pre-travel requirements, register for online forums to help prepare for travel, chat with other students, identify international internship opportunities and schedule their passport appointment. The app also provides quick links to scholarship and financial aid resources and and service-learning opportunities.
“This online tool was really helpful in hosting our Education Abroad fair virtually,” Neyer said. “As we resume more in-person activities, this app will be here to stay; it really helped streamline access to services and provides another platform in which our students can link to new experiences.”
More information on UAB’s Education Abroad initiatives is online at uab.edu/global.
Karen Templeton, communications director for the Office of the Provost, wrote this for UAB Reporter.
