Parent Resource Page for Frequently Asked Questions

• Who to Contact for What (general)
  • Emergency, night or weekend: Emergency Contacts
    
    Health and Safety: Arlene Snyder; snydera@arcadia.edu or 215-572-2822
    
    Finance, fees and billing: Jennifer Darvas; darvasj@arcadia.edu or 215-572-2148
    
    Financial aid: Rosemary Hall; hallr@arcadia.edu or 267-620-4143
    
    Student Universe/Group Flights: Rich Conroy; conroyr@arcadia.edu or 215-572-2823
    
    Program related questions: Contact Program Manager; List of program responsibilities
    
    For travel delays during departure: Contact Rich Conroy or see travel guide
    
    For all other inquiries, please contact our general number during business hours at 215-572- 2901, or toll-free within the USA at 866-927-2234, and briefly explain your specific question or concern.

• Health and Safety
  • Arcadia provides comprehensive health and accident insurance for all students attending overseas study programs. We work to provide a safe and healthy environment to all of our students studying abroad. Arcadia partners with HTH Worldwide in order to offer all of our students a high quality, comprehensive health insurance policy which will protect them throughout their travels abroad. (Note: students attending New Zealand programs have a different arrangement as mandated by national law, though they are are offered the same high level of protection.)
    
    For more information about Arcadia’s commitment to student health and safety, please see the following page: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/default.aspx?id=6690.

• Finance/Fees and Financial Aid
  • For detailed information including program costs, estimated budget information, billing policies, financial aid, and other matters relating to the financial aspects of our programs abroad, please see our Fees page here: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/fees.
    
    Fees can differ for individual students depending on their student aid arrangements and home school policies. All students are able to see their specific billing information by logging on to Arcadia Passport at http://passport.arcadia.edu/ and clicking on the Financial tab. Students are able to grant parents or guardians access to this page as well.
    
    Please note: program fees are posted one academic year at a time; if you are inquiring about a future semester, the posted fees can be used for the purpose of comparison.
    
    For scholarship information, see: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/scholarships
    
    For refund and withdrawal policy information, see: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/default.aspx?id=6396

• Transcripts and Transfer Credit
  • Included in each program’s fees, all students are issued with an Arcadia University transcript recording the grades earned while studying abroad. As a fully accredited university, credit transfer is normally a fairly straightforward process. See this site for further details: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/default.aspx?id=6697
    
    If you have a specific question as to how your son or daughter’s grades will be transferred into their undergraduate degree program, it’s important to contact their home school directly, as each university has a different policy for transferring credit.

• Program Dates
  • When making program travel plans and flight arrangements, it is very important to follow your student’s individual program start and end dates as published on our website: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/default.aspx?id=8368. Please note that all students are required to be in attendance for the full duration of their academic program, including the mandatory orientation.
    
    Programs dates are normally posted several months in advance. Dates for previous and current study terms are available on the calendar page and can generally be used as a point of comparison for anticipating future program dates.

• Student Universe and Program Travel Arrangements
  • Travel instructions and flight arrangements differ widely by program and destination country. For individual program travel instructions, please see our Student Travel website here: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/default.aspx?id=19082. Click on your country’s individual travel page on the menu to the left for detailed instructions.
    
    Arcadia partners with Student Universe for group rate flight arrangements and student discounted fares. For information on Student Universe and to view group flights for the countries/programs where they exist, please visit http://www.studentuniverse.com/travel/arcadia.

• Money and Banking
  • One of the most important plans to make before departure is to ensure that students are able to reliably access their funds. In most cases, the easiest way to to do this is by using an American ATM debit card linked to a bank account in the US. This enables the widest access to funds, the most advantageous exchange rates, and the most seamless account management. It is important to get in touch with your financial institution before departure in order to be aware of all international usage fees they may charge, in addition to learning about any international locations or links they may have in the destination country.
    
    Note that in some countries ATM availability is limited, so other arrangements may be advisable; make sure to check The College’s Before You Go pages for detailed advice for your country.

• Orientation
  • All students on Arcadia and partner institution programs begin their experience abroad by getting to know the staff, fellow students and taking part in a comprehensive orientation program. The Arcadia staff is a dedicated and extraordinarily well-informed team of individuals who take real pride and delight in sharing their knowledge with your child on topics spanning academics to safety and everything in between.
    
    Your student’s first days with the staff will help prepare them for living and studying in their destination country. They will meet other students and have a chance to explore their host city and learn about basic cultural and academic differences.
    
    All of the activities during orientation are especially designed to help your student adjust skillfully to their new home and to help them become an informed participant in the host culture. Orientation is one of the most important steps in giving them the skills and knowledge to expand their own cultural learning while studying abroad.
    
    For more information on orientation, check out our your country’s page on our website here: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/programs/. 

• Academics
  • Every participant in an Arcadia study abroad program can rest assured in knowing that academics are at the core of our programming. As one of the constituent colleges of Arcadia University, all programs offered by The College of Global Studies are taught with the intention of bringing together the highest quality academics with unique global engagement experiences.
    
    All programs, either center-based programs or integrated study programs with partner institutions, are regionally accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and are overseen by the US Department of Education.
    
    During the advising process before departure, Arcadia staff members will assist students in ensuring that their chosen program is suitable for their academic goals, and will advise students regarding course choices. During orientation, much attention is paid to helping the students to understand the differences in academic study between the US and the host country. In-country staff will be available to assist our students at all time if they are having academic difficulty.
    
    For more information about our academic policies, see here: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/default.aspx?id=6697

• Housing
  • Housing is guaranteed for all students participating on programs through the College of Global Studies.
    
    It’s important to approach the whole issue of housing while abroad with an open mind. Housing across all of the program sites is highly variable by nature and may be very different from student accommodation standards in the United States. Since housing is so variable across countries and by individual programs, it is very important for students to read their individual program’s housing information page in order to know what to expect.
    
    Generally, some students will live in single rooms; others will live in double or triple rooms. Rooms may be ensuite or (more often) will have shared bathrooms. Housing may include meal plans, or students may be placed in self-catered housing where they will be able to cook their own meals. While Arcadia takes all students’ preferences into account, due to availability, we cannot guarantee that any student will be placed in his or her first choice of accommodation location or style. Furthermore, for direct-enroll partnership programs, it’s important to note that the host university accommodation office often is solely responsible for housing placements.
    
    While some housing is in close proximity to classroom buildings, some students (especially those who will be living in large cities) should expect commutes of up to 45 minutes or an hour to their classes, either on foot or via public transportation such as subway and bus lines. This is absolutely normal for both study-abroad students and full-degree students in these environments and is in no way unusual.
    
    Across many programs, it’s commonplace for students to receive housing placements very shortly before their departure, as many overseas housing placement processes differ from those in the US. Nevertheless, for many programs it is standard practice to have the students receive final housing assignments at orientation. In order to verify the way that students receive housing assignments for your student’s individual program, it is important for them to confirm this with their program manager.

• Study Visa Applications
  • Most nations require some kind of visa and/or immigration process for students to legally study in that country. It’s extremely important that all visa regulations are followed exactly as mandated by the issuing authority. Otherwise, your student may face expensive hassles upon entry to their destination country and may even face deportation!
    
    Your student’s program manager will provide extensive instructions and documentation about the visa process via email throughout the pre-departure period. Nevertheless, it is each student’s responsibility to research the visa process if applicable for their country of study and to carry out all steps necessary in securing this documentation. Arcadia University provides all students that require study visas, regardless of country, with documentation necessary to certify their acceptance as a student and proof of health insurance coverage for their term abroad. Students receive these documents only after being officially accepted to a program of study and are expected to use them towards their study visa applications. If you’d like an overview of the visa process in your student’s particular country, please see the main visa page here and follow the links: http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/visa

• Culture Shock/Transitions
  • Don’t be too concerned if your son or daughter has some ups and downs whilst they adjust to life in their new country. Culture shock is very normal and all students experience it to some degree. Arcadia staff members are very experienced in helping students to cope with the challenges of living in an unfamiliar place and adopting healthy mechanisms to take advantage of the profound personal and intellectual growth opportunities presented by international study.
    
    Here’s some background information on the processes of culture shock.
    http://www.arcadia.edu/abroad/default.aspx?id=6001

• Packing
  • You may be surprised to know that most returning study-abroad students end up reporting that they feel as though they’ve overpacked for their experience abroad! The best advice you can give your son or daughter is to approach packing in a very thoughtful manner. Follow the zen adage: Less is often more! It’s difficult to give general packing advice, since our students go to so many diverse places around the world. 

• Weather
  • It’s important to remember that the weather in your student’s host country may be quite different from the weather he or she is used to at home! From the damp and misty British isles, to the warm Mediterranean, to the savannas of East Africa, to the mountains of Chile and New Zealand, our programs run the gamut of environments. For students preparing to study on Southern Hemisphere programs please observe that the seasons are opposite to those in North American (e.g.: When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in its southerly counterpart). Make sure to check out weather patterns and trends in your student’s country before he or she departs!
    
    Useful weather websites include:
    http://www.weather.com/
    http://www.accuweather.com/
    http://www.wunderground.com/
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/