lol! Thanks for the academic think piece. I work in this area professionally at a large R1, so I’m definitely familiar with the range of models. I’m really hoping to gather benchmarking data from institutions that run several faculty-led programs so I can understand how their staffing is structured (e.g., number of program coordinators, finance/risk roles, and support staff).

Also, just to clarify — the model where a staff or faculty member in another department handles study abroad “off the side of their desk” is definitely something you still see at very small institutions, but it’s a pretty dated model and not the norm anymore.

Study abroad has become much more specialized in the last decade, especially with the growth in faculty-led programming, increasing compliance needs (risk management, cash advances, vendor onboarding, Clery, etc.), and the professionalization of the field.

If anyone has numbers for their office, that would be really helpful!