As part of its commitment to training global citizens and encouraging students to experience new cultures, Elon University and the Isabella Cannon International Centre have added five new Winter Term study abroad programs and three semester programs across the world.

The Winter Term destinations are India/Dubai, not to be confused with the existing program in India, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Turkey/Greece and Vietnam, while the semester programs are in China (Shanghai), France (Montpellier) and Turkey.

"We are happy that the programs are in new places," said Woody Pelton, dean of international programs.

For a program to be created, a faculty member who is interested in leading the course or program must submit a proposal to the Study Abroad Committee, which then determines if the proposal is successful or not, according to Pelton. If the program has been approved, ICIC will then support the program leaders with logistics such as airfare and accommodation, coordinating the events that make up the program and "the movement of the program," Pelton said.

"Each course would have its own objective and one thing the committee looks at is whether the proposal has the fundamental goals of personal growth, academic content and cultural awareness," said Paul Geis, assistant director of affiliations and exchanges.

The Turkey program in Istanbul is an exchange between Elon and Koç University. The program came about after various conversations among ICIC staff members, a board member and even a Turkish Elon alumna, according to Pelton.

"It was a confluence of many things, mostly from a big hole in our map in that area," he said. "The program was official when President Lambert signed the agreement this summer in Istanbul."

Elon saw Koc as a fit for the program because of its similarities to Elon, according to Geis.

"Koc University came up as one of the best matches to Elon because of its academics, size and the ethos of the institution," he said. "The importance of undergraduate research at Koc is something that helped us decide it was a good fit."

So far, some students both from Elon and Koc have expressed interest in the exchange program, according to Pelton.

"We will begin sending students in the spring semester," he said. "Initial interest has been from international students, but the program is for a broad range of students."

Overall enrollment for the new programs has been good, according to Geis. He said that the Turkey/Greece program is "just about full" while the Puerto Rico program currently has low enrollment.

"Students have already submitted applications to these new programs as well as the other popular WT programs," Geis said. "Out of 26 programs, about six or seven already have waitlists. South Africa tends to be popular as well as Ghana and Ireland. But the Mexico program has been cancelled this year."

Students can still apply to WT or spring semester programs until Sept. 15, Pelton said.

"We think the Turkey exchange and the other programs are really good fits and we're all excited about it," Geis said.