Global Education Office

VCU Education Abroad supports the university’s internationalization and experiential learning efforts through promoting and facilitating study abroad, international exchange, and other global learning programs and opportunities for all students with a commitment to safety, accessibility, and sustainability.

“Education abroad” programs include credit bearing and non-credit bearing global learning programs and experiences such as study abroad, study away, international exchange, internships abroad, service-learning abroad, research abroad, virtual global learning, and more. VCU Education Abroad supports domestic, international, in-person, virtual, credit-bearing, and non-credit bearing global learning experiences.

Education Abroad staff:

• Collaborate with academic units including faculty, advisors, and administrators to identify and/or develop affordable, academically appropriate global learning opportunities for all students;
• Increase awareness of study abroad and global learning opportunities with the ultimate goal of increasing the number and diversity of participants;
• Facilitate VCU faculty-led programs and programs offered through international partner institutions and organizations including short-term and semester- or year-long global learning experiences;
• Advocate for student financial access to global learning experiences by offering affordable programs and collaborating with campus and external partners for students to identify and receive funding support such as scholarships, grants, fellowships and financial aid;
• Inform, advise and support students and their families before, during, and after participation in study abroad and global learning experiences;
• Support student academic, professional, and personal growth and development including intercultural development through intentional co-curricular programming and alignment with VCU REAL;
• Prepare students and faculty for a safe, healthy, and successful experience abroad through pre-departure orientation/training and resource development/distribution;
• Strive to provide equitable opportunities to all VCU students to engage globally and to increase access to global learning opportunities for all students including students from diverse and underrepresented populations;
• Manage global learning participant application processes and databases to provide a central clearinghouse of VCU students’ global engagement for reporting and emergency purposes;
• Continually endeavor to provide our students with quality programs and experiences with articulated global learning outcomes and assessment mechanisms that help us better understand the impact on students’ knowledge, skills and dispositions for continuous targeted support.

Email: davenportse@vcu.edu

Schedule a virtual advising appointment with Stephanie!

I work in a hybrid capacity and am on VCU's campus on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
 
Stephanie Tignor has worked in the Global Education Office for more than a decade in a variety of positions. As the director of Education Abroad, Stephanie oversees the administration of the university's study abroad and exchange programs including faculty-led programs. She is an alumna of VCU, at which she earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees. She first discovered her passion for international education while on a semester study abroad program in Edinburgh, Scotland, through the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). As a graduate student in English, she studied abroad in Peru and spent time volunteering in Ecuador as a teacher of English as a foreign language. She has also co-led service and study abroad programs to Mexico and Malaysia, and has led a program in the U.S. for students from VCU's Partnership institutions in China.


 

Email: syoung8@vcu.edu
Schedule a virtual advising appointment with Sarah! 

I work in a hybrid capacity and am on VCU's campus on Mondays, Tuesdays & Fridays.

Sarah Carrier joined the Global Education Office in 2008 after graduating from Allegheny College with a degree in International Studies and Spanish. Sarah studied abroad with American University’s Washington Semester Program and has traveled through Western Europe, Asia, and Central and South America. She is also a graduate of the VCU School of Education’s Counselor Education program where she focused on the importance of cultural exchange and the career development of college students. Sarah joins the Education Abroad staff in assisting returnees with their career development and professional goals, as well as working with incoming exchange students.

Advising areas

• Australia, New Zealand and Oceania
• Germany
• Returnee advising
• VCU Partnerships & Exchanges:
  • Macquarie University
  • Curtin University
  • Fudan University
  • University of Bristol
  • University of the West of England
  • University of Surrey
  • University of Westminster
  • FU-BEST/FU-BIS
  • Bauhaus University
  • University of Guadalajara
  • University of Lima
  • VCUarts Qatar
  • Pusan National University
  • K Arts
  • Kyung Hee University
  • Chung Ang University
  • La Salle Ramon Llull
  • University of Cordoba
  • Rabdan Academy

Email:  millera16@vcu.edu

Schedule a virtual advising appointment with Amy! 

I work in a hybrid capacity and am on VCU's campus on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays.

Amy Miller joined the Global Education Office in 2019. She graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a B.A. in Geography and Spanish. Amy studied abroad in Bilbao, Spain and Buenos Aires, Argentina, interned and researched in the cloud forest of Guatemala and has traveled to many other countries in Latin America and Europe. She also graduated from SIT Graduate Institute with a M.A. in Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management. There she worked with SIT Study Abroad in Morocco offering student affairs support and researching intercultural competency development. Amy is here to advise students towards making their study abroad dreams a reality and to support existing and new program initiatives.

Advising areas:

• Latin America & Caribbean
• Europe (except UK, Ireland, France and Germany)
• Russia
• Multi-country programs
• VCU at American College of Greece
• VCU at SRISA
• VCU at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
• VCU at the Sant'Anna Institute
• VCU at University of Nicosia

Email: mingojk@vcu.edu

Schedule a virtual advising appointment with Janet!

Janet Mingo joined the Global Education Office in January 2022. She is a graduate of Norfolk State University with a B.A.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Kinesiology and International Business, and a minor in Japanese Language. During Janet's undergraduate career she had the opportunity to study abroad three times. She studied in Shinjuku, Japan for a summer program,  Akita, Japan, for a semester program, and Curacao for a summer break research program. During her undergraduate career she served as an intern in the International Studies & Service Learning Department. After graduating she worked for a third-party study abroad provider KEI, where she was the Eastern Regional Institutional Manager, and later became the Japan Program Manager. Recently Janet served as Lincoln University's Study Abroad Student Fellow. With Janet's diverse experiences, she is equipped to make your study abroad dreams your reality. 

Advising areas:

• UK and Ireland
• Asia
• Africa
• Middle East
• France & French-speaking locations
• VCU at American Business School in Paris