Rhonda Waller, executive director of global engagement, talked with the national news outlet about how the university is addressing the challenges that come with study abroad during the pandemic.
A recent report by the Washington Post about the challenges students and universities are facing with their study abroad opportunities during the pandemic featured insights from Rhonda Waller, executive director of global engagement.
Elon typically has hundreds of students participate in study abroad opportunities each fall, but this fall, that number has dropped into the teens. That’s due in large part to the fact that because of the COVID-19 pandemic’s spread in the United States, many countries are not allowing visits by Americans except those traveling for work, emergencies or school.
However, Waller said that Elon has received a robust response from students since opening the application period to study abroad in fall 2021.
“For a lot of families, it was a risk calculation,” Waller told the Washington Post. “You do have to get on an airplane, and that’s definitely part of the calculus as part of their thinking. But once you get off that airplane, some of these locations are probably looking actually pretty favorable, compared to the relative conditions and the positivity rates here in the United States.”
Read the entire article here.