The University of Maryland Eastern Shore had a first in the campus’s nearly 140-year history – its first group of foreign exchange students.
The students, who come from the University of Lorraine (UL) in France, came to UMES as part of a partnership between the two schools.
“We organically found this partnership through a direct reach out – the university contacted us,” said Phillip Broussard, Director of Global Opportunities at UMES’ Center for Foreign Language Instruction & International Education. “There was a year-long dialogue between the two schools and ultimately, it came down to finding the most synergy between our business programs.”
As part of the agreement, each school can host up to five students per semester, per year.
“Having the partnership between the UMES and the University of Lorraine demonstrates the international reach of our academic programs,” said Dr. Derrek Dunn, Dean of the School of Business, Engineering, Applied Sciences, Technology, and Tourism Management. “Allowing our students to study abroad offers them a learning experience that is essential in our institutional mission of creating global citizens.”
Last year, recent UMES graduate Jalen Gourrier was the first to participate in the program by spending a semester in France. This year, UMES hosted four students – three juniors, Yanis Choucha, Elliott Wagner, Flavy Seminara, and sophomore Nathan Millot.
The quartet are accounting, finance, and marketing majors and will spend the spring semester on campus. During their time in Princess Anne, the French contingent will also get the chance to experience life on campus while also exploring American culture.
“One of the things I’m hoping to take away from this experience is to see the difference between French and American ways of teaching and learning,” said Millot, who is visiting the United States for the first time. “So far, the biggest difference I’ve seen was the length in classes. In France, one class is often three hours long, where the average college class here is a lot less and it passes fast.”
Throughout the semester, the students will have opportunities to visit various locales including Ocean City, Washington, D.C., and other destinations in order to make their experience at UMES a memorable one.
“Being in a new country and not knowing anyone can be a scary and stressful situation,” Millot said. “But during my time at UMES, people have been welcoming. I think if you’re polite and nice, you won’t have a reason to be stressed or scared.”
The opportunity to host the exchange students not only came down to a strong partnership, but to a bit of good fortune as well.
Broussard said of the various foreign exchange locales available to UL students, UMES was the only partner in the United States.
As part of the program, the four students pay their tuition fees at the University of Lorraine while only paying auxiliary fees at UMES.
“We wanted to bring down those barriers to bring them here,” he said. “Without that kind of MOU, we would likely go another 100 years without having exchange students on campus.”
Added Broussard, “Hosting these exchange students is a vital step in expanding UMES’ global footprint and reinforces our mission as a globally engaged HBCU. We want to give students a chance to have global experiences they can remember for the rest of their lives.”
