The Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) is joining with Colorado State University as the new academic home for Semester at Sea, in a partnership of two organizations focused on providing students with a college education that is a true voyage of learning and discovery.
A five-year agreement was signed on June 3, 2015 by Colorado State University and ISE, which is the parent organization of the globally renowned study abroad program Semester at Sea. Under the agreement CSU will provide academic, administrative, and student recruiting support for the shipboard program under a partnership that will officially begin on June 1, 2016. The Fall 2016 voyage of Semester at Sea will be the first through which participating students from a variety of universities will earn CSU credit for coursework that will transfer to their home institutions.
“CSU’s commitment to experiential learning and internationalization aligns with our core mission of a global comparative education,” said Kenn Gaither, President of the Institute for Shipboard Education. “This is the beginning of a rich and dynamic partnership that will offer great benefits to both institutions and our students.”
Founded in 1870 as a land-grant institution, CSU combines intellectual classroom pursuits with hands-on experience in the field and laboratory, similar in approach to the Semester at Sea global comparative experiential learning model. As the recipient of the 2013 Senator Paul Simon National Award for Outstanding Campus Internationalization, its significant role in the founding of the Peace Corps, and its emphasis on the importance of diversity and global education, CSU is a natural partner for the SAS program.
“This new partnership is an ideal match. Education is a voyage of learning and discovery, and both Semester at Sea and Colorado State University provide exceptional, dynamic environments in which students can undertake their own learning voyage, ” said Tony Frank, President of Colorado State University. “That shared commitment to student achievement and innovative, globally engaged education makes this a wonderful fit, and we look forward to a strong and exciting collaboration.”
CSU becomes the fifth academic partner in Semester at Sea’s 51-year history, following current sponsor, the University of Virginia. The University of Virginia will continue as academic sponsor not to extend beyond May 2016. Over the next year, ISE will move its offices from Charlottesville, Virginia to the CSU campus in Fort Collins.
The university has seen an increasing number of students involved in education abroad, growing by 70 percent in the past five years. In addition, CSU has nearly 2,000 international students and scholars representing more than 90 countries on campus, and more than 20 percent of tenure-track faculty hail from other countries.
The new academic partnership is announced shortly after the unveiling of Semester at Sea’s new vessel, which will be renamed the World Odyssey for her role as the Semester at Sea campus. Currently named the Deutschland, she has been meticulously maintained since her construction in Germany in 1998 and will undergo routine dry-dock maintenance this summer. The World Odyssey meets the International Maritime Organization’s SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Public Health requirements, as well as all other statutory standards to operate throughout the world. For further information on the new ship, visit: semesterseadev.wpengine.com/ship
Since its maiden voyage in 1963, Semester at Sea has sailed on 114 voyages on five primary floating campuses, and collaborated with four academic sponsors. SAS students have traveled to more than 60 countries through a program that has impacted the lives of more than 60,000 students from 1,700 colleges and universities worldwide.
