SF State will send 141 students to study abroad through the highly competitive California State University International Programs in the 2005-06 academic year, the most that any CSU campus has sent in the program's 42-year history.

The SF State Office of International Programs and the CSU International Programs hosted a reception honoring the students selected to study abroad Tuesday afternoon at McKenna Theater in the Creative Arts Building.

About 250 participants, including the selected students, their families, faculty, exchange students from different countries and local consuls general representing seven nations gathered for the celebration and expressed their excitement at the coming departure.

At the ceremony, student scholarship winners were announced, and all students selected to study abroad received certificates of recognition.

SF State’s delegation is the largest of the 23 CSU schools who will study abroad, according to Marisa Thigpen, an International Exchange Program advisor at SF State. The second-highest number of students, from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, was almost half that of SF State, Thigpen said, adding that 94 percent of SF State's applicants were admitted.

“It’s our privilege to announce the special accomplishment to have the highest number of students accepted for the CSU International Program,” said My Yarabinec, the coordinator of Study Abroad and International Exchange Programs at SF State. “It is highly competitive to be accepted for the program from all CSU schools.”

The International Exchange Program offer services to students hoping to win a slot to study abroad, Thigpen said.

“We help students to put together the best application possible and give tips and recommendations,” said Thigpen.

Thigpen pointed out that International Education Exchange Council, a SF State student organization, has contributed to raising the number of students accepted to the program.

The IEEC is comprised of study abroad applicants, study abroad alumna and the international exchange students coming to SF State from different countries of the globe.

Through a number of social events such as an international film festival and camping trips to Las Vegas and Yosemite, the club hopes to create an opportunity for students to get know each other, exchange information and learn about different culture from students, said Daniel Painitz, an IEEC member who studied in Australia.

Through their fundraising efforts, the IEEC also offers scholarships for the students.
Leo Van Cleve, the director of the CSU International Program, was the keynote speaker at the reception.

“San Francisco is an internationally oriented city, and the OIP worked very hard and effectively to recruit students,” Van Cleve said. “It is the role of university to teach, and this program is important to maintain economic competence (and) diplomatic skills and promote global understanding.”

The CSU International Program was founded in 1963, and has sent over 15,000 students to 17 countries around the globe. The program offers students an opportunity to spend a year in overseas, giving a choice of 17 different countries, according to Van Cleve.

The SF State Bilateral Exchange Programs have the same purpose and require the same eligibility as the CSU program – both programs are open to juniors through graduate students, though sophomores can apply for some language-learning programs While the CSU program offers only year-long study abroad opportunities, the Bilateral Exchange program offers a choice of either a semester or one-year term.

Also, the programs at SF State offer choices to students whose majors may not be eligible for the CSU program, according to Thigpen. Sixty-six students will participate in Bilateral Exchange Programs for the 2005-2006 school year.

Here at SF State, students studying business, particularly international business, well-represented in the study abroad programs. The international relations and liberal studies majors also supply many study abroad participants, according to a report compiled by the OIP. France was the most popular destination for students of both programs, followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Japan, the report adds.

Frederic Desagneaux, the consul general for France in San Francisco, said after the ceremony that he was very proud to have the most number of students going to study in France.

“This program is a great investment for students’ education and a good way to promote cultural diversity,” Desagneaux said. “It helps to build bridges for the future of both countries.”
Rachel Wirth, a junior cinema major, will study in the United Kingdom under the SF State program.

“I firmly believe that a study abroad is very important for both academic and life experiences to be able to look at another culture,” Wirth said.

Jennifer Scibetta was one of two students who won $200 scholarships offered by the SF State program.

“I hope to enhance my education by having hands-on experience,” said Scibetta, a junior French major.

SF State student Claudia Ramirez won the other scholarship, which she will use while studying at London Metropolitan University.

While she pursues her education in college, she is also a mother of two school-aged children, who she said will travel with her to France. The children can speak French as they learn in school, and they are very excited to go to France, Scibetta added.

“It’s an adventure,” she said.