Studying abroad, which has recently been impossible with the travel bans set in place, has now become surprisingly more accessible to the students at the University of Northern Iowa.

It should come as no surprise that when there were limitations put on travel last year, study abroad programs countrywide suffered greatly. Many were heartbroken when UNI announced the cancelation of all study abroad programs. And, where some lost their opportunities to participate in one of the most memorable experiences of their college careers, others had to leave midway through theirs and quarantine upon return. With the extension of UNI’s ban on student travel until Aug. 1, going abroad became more of a vague hope in the eyes of both faculty and students. But with the current progress of immunizations and UNI’s winter semester having just come to a close, UNI Study Abroad is more than hopeful; they’re prepared and offering solutions.

At 11 a.m. every day from Jan. 27 until Feb. 2, the Study Abroad Center is hosting a virtual version of their spring 2021 fair. The fair, which would usually take place all day in the Maucker Union Ballroom, allows students to explore possibilities of study abroad programs by visiting with representatives from universities UNI holds partnerships with and talking with professors who have designed their own capstone program.

“What usually happens for that in-person fair is we have the Maucker Ballroom and we set up many, many tables,” said Ann Frenna, secretary at UNI’s Study Abroad Center.  “Each table represents a university abroad, and often we’ll have partners from those universities abroad visit. We’ve had people from Greece, Scotland and Italy coming to represent their university.”

This year however, because the fair is being held over Zoom, it will be hosted by Frenna. She will be there to answer questions and present an overview of information to attendees. This series of mini fairs will somewhat resemble the meetings Frenna normally has with students as they consider studying abroad.

“A lot of what I do are initial meetings with students to talk about where they’re at, what kind of program they’re looking forward to. Some of that general info before they start meeting with one of our advisors,” Frenna said.

This year’s fair is an informational opportunity to discuss the future of study abroad and what it means for UNI students. Frenna has been committed to making as many opportunities available to as many students, regardless of the current pandemic.

“Our goal is to get as many UNI students abroad as we can. And that can mean a number of things,” said Frenna.

While UNI is currently not allowing some of the usual options, such as taking major courses at a university abroad which could last the duration of a single semester, a year or a summer. Sometimes these courses can take up to two months, but students are not entirely out of options.

“We do still have the opportunity to do some virtual capstones with us this summer,” Frenna said. Places like South Africa and Southern Italy are on the docket, with hope for more.  She explained that virtual capstones would enable students to work with leaders and programs in real time while they were abroad.

This past extended break, UNI offered their very first winter semester in which the experience of going abroad was brought directly to students virtually.  Students would use Zoom to tour other countries and talk to people there while completing course work. These capstone courses can be completed in a few short weeks by students of any major.

“We had a couple of (capstones) over winter break that were quite popular,” said Frenna. “For the virtual options, we are getting a lot of positive feedback about them. It’s something between taking it on campus and actually being able to travel and melding those.”

However, Frenna was clear that the goal was to soon be able to physically travel once again. She expressed that she herself felt the itch to travel even more strongly now that she was unable and predicted that others would feel the same.

“I think we’re going to see a huge expansion in the number of people studying abroad once people can actually travel… We’re still meeting with a lot of students that are ready for that future,” Frenna said.

She spoke happily about her interactions with students who were as eager as she is to spread their wings again.

“I’ve had a lot of emails this week, even of students who want to talk about summer 2022,” said Frenna. “I think we’re going to see a huge group of students in this next school year who are ready to get out of here.”

If you’re itching to travel like Frenna and want more information, you can email [email protected] or visit the Study Abroad Center at 103 East Bartlett Hall for more details.