This summer, the University will become the academic partner of the Semester at Sea study abroad program.
The program, whose origins date back to 1926, has allowed almost 40,000 students to spend a semester aboard a "floating college," the MV Explorer. The University of Pittsburgh separated from the program in May, allowing the University to become the new sponsor.
"Virginia just offers a tremendous opportunity for the program," said Paul Watson, spokesperson for the Institute for Shipboard Education. "We're not sure we could have found a better partner anywhere, so we're all ecstatic."
As part of the University's Virginia 2020 Commission on International Initiatives, the University has sought to bring "more international expertise to the University of Virginia and to create amongst our student body a more global directive," said Leigh Grossman, vice provost for international affairs.
Grossman said University staff sailed on the MV Explorer and observed the education and community of the professors, students and staff.
"We felt it was a very, very attractive solution with great academic possibilities," Grossman said.
Semester at Sea allows approximately 670 students from colleges and universities nationwide to participate in the fall and spring semester and a smaller group to attend a shorter summer session.
"This partnership will provide our students with a distinctive opportunity for expanded learning opportunities," University President John T. Casteen, III said, in a press release. "Students who participate in Semester at Sea will develop a deeper understanding of the diversities that distinguish various cultures around the world as well as the common bonds that tie us together in the age of global interdependence."
Students who take the 100-day voyage in the fall or spring will take upwards of 12 credits, choosing from more than 70 courses in 20 different academic areas. As well as having classes every day, students will stop at nine or 10 different ports.
"Some students really are more interested in a comparative global education," Grossman said. At the destinations, there are "multiple educational opportunities that actually correlate with the classes they are taking on board."
The on-deck experience is shepherded by approximately 30 faculty members and a crew of 200. A different academic dean will be chosen for each session, and that dean will choose his staff. The University will have a large part in determining the courses taught and the overall academic program, Grossman said.
Students will spend their time on board "talking with the faculty, eating with the faculty," Grossman said. "It really is a true academical village."
According to Grossman, about 10 percent of the student body on board may be University students.
"They're on board with students from all over the country: many different kinds of universities, and -
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