Updated – March 8, 2020

• CDC is your best resource for all Coronavirus medical information: www.cdc.gov
• As of March 3, 2020 The CDC released this: Guidance for Student Foreign Travel for Institutions of Higher Education
  
• CDC Coronavirus Disease 2019 Information for Travel
• A reminder to use OSAC or the Overseas Security Advisory Council.  This is required for all Accredited Members, but any US-based organization can register for access to OSAC: the public arm of the Diplomatic Security Services of the US State Department.
• Every organization that’s attended the conference has access to experts we bring in and can call for advice.  These are experts we bring in because they have deep knowledge and they hope to bring in new clients.  Again, please consider paying them for some professional advice.
  • Lodestone Safety International – http://www.lodestonesafety.com/
  • Experiential Consulting – https://www.outdoorrisk.com/single-post/Coronavirus
• SECUSS-L is a listserv that has a GREAT forum feature of professionals in study abroad. GYA has no forum feature and while we plan on building one, the timeline is some distance in the future.

• Outbound departures to program sites – it is worth noting that any traveler with an active fever will likely get pulled aside and sent to quarantine.  This has happened already in 2020 with a student traveling who was recovering from a cold, but had a fever jump to 99.5 over the course of a long few days of travel.  The student was sent to isolation for a 2-day quarantine while they ran a COVID19 test.
• Returning post-program – be aware that students traveling through international airports are at increased exposure, and some training, or possible testing at the end of program may help mitigate the risk to older family members.

We have kicked off February with the annual Gap Year Exploration Month campaign to share about gap years and further the movement collectively. Thank you to the individuals, counselors, alumni and organizations who are participating and engaging in this exciting campaign!

A couple ways to get involved: Share this contest announcement!

Check out the information-rich calendar Streamable U helped us put together, with live webinars happening all month long.  The calendar highlights private events, public events, and the entire USA Gap Year Fair schedule.

View the Gap Year Exploration Month Toolkits.

Want even more ideas, check out #explorethegapyear for what others are doing.

The 2020 National Alumni Survey is here. We need your help to push this out to 3000 alumni. In 2015 the survey reached 1000 participants, this year we are hoping to triple participation for even stronger findings! A special thank you to Nina Hoe Gallagher and Kempie Blythe, as well as the Research committee, for their incredible efforts rebooting the Survey!

Let the on the road season begin!

The USA Gap Year Fairs schedule is live. We hope to see you at some of the fairs. In addition, check out some other great fairs happening around the country like this one at the Hotchkiss School.

We hope that you will join us at Hotchkiss on Friday, January 24, 2020 for our annual Summer and Gap Year Opportunities Fair!

Gap Year Programs:

There are currently 20 Hotchkiss students on a gap year, and there is general interest in gap years here (we have had over 115 students go on gap years in the last ten years). Our students do everything from travel to language study to volunteering to internships.

+ Logistics for Fair

The date of the fair is Friday, January 24, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. This is the part of the swing through CT schools that is advertised by Ginny DeConinck at Loomis Chaffee.

You should plan to arrive by 9:15 a.m. and be set up by 9:30 a.m. as all the students are free at 10 am and will be in the main hallway. You will continue to see students in between periods, if they have free periods, and during lunch.

+ Fair Fee, Marketing, and Registration

The cost to send a representative is $125.00, which will be used to help fund scholarships for students and cover the costs of the fair. The cost for a “display only” is $50.00. Over the last ten years these donations have made it possible for several students to contribute to community-based service in the developing world.

Our goal is to provide you with well-informed, enthusiastic students who will make your visit worthwhile.  There is a place on the registration form where you will be asked to submit a 50-75 word blurb describing your program (include your website).  The information that you provide will be posted in a news item in our parent section of the site, and will be emailed out to students in the weeks leading up to the fair.

Register to attend the Fair by completing this Registration Form. 

For more information contact: Diana Jones: djones@hotchkiss.org

Gap Year Exploration Month is coming… great opportunities for GYA Members

Gap Year Exploration Month is coming this February! Join this second annual month-long campaign to help promote the gap year movement. Want to host an event? As a GYA member we will feature any events you are hosting in the month of February on the Gap Year Exploration Month calendar.

We are encouraging live social media events with your staff and students in the field! Let’s get creative this year. Toolkits and more idea can be found here.

We are also excited to be partnering with Streamable U for a unique opportunity to reach even more students and educators throughout the country with tailored webinars for their audience.

And, this year with special thanks to the generosity of Rae and Karl Haigler, and CET Academic Programs, we are pleased to introduce our first Gap Year Exploration Month Instagram Contest. Two students will be selected at the end of Gap Year Exploration Month and awarded $500! Check out the details on the two opportunities below in preparation for spreading the word in February!

MEMBERS SAVE 10% ON THE EARLY BIRD RATE!
Use code: GYAMEMBERSUNITE

Register Today!

CONFERENCE AT A GLANCE:

The conference this year is taking an innovative approach, different from previous conferences in that we are hosted at a college with strong gap year roots, and we are taking a deeper approach to professional development than in the past. Starting with a Newcomer Orientations at 8:30am on the morning of October 21st, and going until 5pm on the 23rd, we aim to keep all attendees engaged in deepening their professional efforts while also building community within the larger gap year movement.

1. Intensive sessions: These are designed as 5.5 hour sessions to tackle issues vital to our work and professional roles within the gap year field. This deeper dive will provide a foundation for individuals to invest in and uplift their local communities through sharing of knowledge and understanding received at the conference. At past conferences many were left wanting more after three days of short sessions, we are thrilled to offer this new format for 2019.
2. Standard sessions: These are your more typical 45-90 minute sessions facilitated by regular conference attendees. These will highlight topics that are more relevant for shorter discussions and will be in balance to the Intensive sessions, in order to add value for all conference attendees.
3. Interested in proposing a session? Complete this form to be considered!

Some of the highlights we have confirmed so far are Intensives lead by Erica Nelson and Sydney Clark on Equity and Inclusion; Brian Stafford on Integrating Human-Nature Developmental Theories to Educational Programming; and Sarah Byrden on The Body of Sex – Working With Young Adults to Find Center. And those are just some of the highlights thus far. Other topics will include: marketing, college credit on gap years, risk management, mentorship and self-awareness training, vetting partners in the field, insurance, and more.

Please share with Dianna (Dianna@gapyearassociation.org) if you have topics you would like us to include, or specific speakers you would like us to feature, we still have room for a few more intensive sessions.

LOCATION:

This year we are proud to be hosted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With their innovative Campus Y program and the incredible work done over the past decade in promoting quality gap year experiences, this feels like a match made in heaven. The main conference will take place in the UNC student union building, with full access to campus grounds for outdoor space, and in close proximity to a Official GYA Gap Year College, Warren Wilson College and another local gap year ally, Duke University, this promises to be a veritable who’s who of gap year.

Did your organization use the hashtag? Did you host an informational event about gap years? Did you engage with Alumni? What did you do to celebrate and promote the first Gap Year Exploration Month? We want to know. Please fill out this survey on GYEM!

Our new Planning Guide is here!

With endless appreciations for Sasha and Jiyoung at Gapyearly and Erin Aucar, we are proud to announce our new Planning Guide is now live. We encourage members to use the guide and keep us posted if you do so. We would love to see it shared to students and educators. Spread the word and the guide!

Get Ready for Gap Year Exploration Month this February!

The beauty of this effort is that you can get creative! Think of ways to make this initiative work for you and your community. As an organization, educator, alumni or even a parents, you are already planning events in Feb, use #explorethegapyear to stretch your promotion further. Email us your event info and we will share it far and wide.  

You can find more information in a few places:www.gapyearexplorationmonth.comGap Year Exploration Month Facebook page Using the #explorethegapyear tag  

Please direct any questions to Dianna: dianna@gapyearassociation.org or Julia: enrouteconsulting@gmail.com

We are happy to support you in the lead up to this exciting event!

“Few professional gatherings can match the GYA annual conference for camaraderie and functionality (and let’s be honest: fun). I am a better program provider each year by attending the conference, and am emboldened to do so by spending a few days with such motivated, motivating people.”  – Gap Year Program Director and 2018 conference attendee

This year, in collaboration with the AEE, represented a fantastic conference filled with community, professional development, new ideas, collaborations, and important questions for the future. We are already kicking things into gear with planning for next year, but for now, please fill out our 2019 PRE-Planning conference survey. Your feedback is vital! If you are interested in supporting and joining our organizing committee for the 2019 conference, please contact Dianna: Dianna@gapyearassociation.org

Highlights:

Three GYA speakers, and three AEE speakers, each shared their powerful personal stories at ActivatEE!  Thank you to GYA members Cecilia Polanco, Ben Welbourne, and Jake Lewis. We held our breaths, laughed, and cried as we listened to your incredible stories about coming of age, grappling with challenge, and creating a brighter future for others. Thank you!  We do plan on keeping this in upcoming conferences as each story was profound and impactful … videos are to follow!

GYA Awards: We honored many who have made their mark on the gap year community.

• INNOVATION IN GAP YEAR PROGRAMMING –
  • Awarded to Verto Education for their work in creating a consortium of colleges to recruit gap year students, guaranteeing within the consortium credit transfers towards a diploma.  The innovation is in credit-mapping and college continuance.
• KARL HAIGLER EXCELLENCE IN GAP YEAR RESEARCH –
  • Awarded to Linda Frey and Bob Clagett for their pioneering work to create the Gap Year Research Consortium, which is now giddily housed at Colorado College.  Through their efforts, more than 30 colleges (and growing!) are signing on to participate in gap year research.  Colorado College has agreed to a multi-year commitment, staff, and a small budget that we hope will open many doors for the gap year movement!
• ADVANCING THE GAP YEAR MOVEMENT–
  • Awarded to Naropa University, for being the first college to run and operate their own gap year experience.  Many other colleges have run gap year offerings, but outsourced that programming to other providers.  Naropa represents an advancement in how colleges relate to gap years and gap year students.  It is unclear yet, but all indications are that this will be a 1+3 program rather than the typical 1+4 program.
• ACCESSIBILITY IN GAP YEAR PROGRAMMING –
  • Awarded to the Travel Access Project for their incredible efforts to make gap years accessible to all students.  Awarding more than $50,000 in general needs-based aid to young adults embarking on their gap year.
• CORNELIUS BULL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD –Awarded to Karl Haigler for his tireless advocacy of gap years, co-authorship of multiple books on gap years, incredible commitment to gap year research (including having the gap year research award named after him), fielding a child who took a gap year and is now leading experiential education initiatives in North Carolina, and of course his stewardship as a valued GYA board member for many years.

Thank you GYA presenters shared resources, knowledge and posed valuable questions.

Want to see more photos? Check out our Facebook page!

VotingFromAway

The Gap Year Conference is coming together wonderfully for Orlando, Florida in November.  We have a few key reminders to share, and want to make sure you have your discount coupons to tap to save some money!

• Join us for any one of the 8 pre-conference workshops and certifications.  https://www.aeegya2018.org/pre-conferences
• For anyone keen on staying on top of the rapidly changing international security issues, Bill Frederick from Lodestone Safety International is your go-to workshop.  I, Ethan, attended one of these with Bill when I first started the Gap Year Association and it was highly educational … I still use his framework weekly to consider risk-management: Engineering solutions (cut the element out of the itinerary), Legislative solutions (add rules and policies), and Educational solutions (which takes longer but usually has the best results)

• GoOverseas.com has a conference discount code for anyone who has never attended an AEE or GYA conference before.  https://providers.gooverseas.com/conference-discount