THE WEEKLY ROUND-UP (Study Abroad Edition, Nov 18th thru Nov 24th)

This week's round-up, hosted by Nick Castillo, features student-led events on the Fitchburg State University campus during the week of November 18th.

This episode includes an exclusive interview with Fitchburg State's Nicole Salerno. Nicole is the Assistant Director of International Education at Fitchburg State University. In this interview, she talks about upcoming programs that the International Education office is running, as well as deadlines and dates students should be aware of if considering Study Abroad.  Nicole believes Study Abroad looks great on a resume and is very important to think about during your time at Fitchburg State.

For more information about Study Abroad programs led by Fitchburg State, contact the International Education office at inthelp@fitchburgstate.edu and follow them on Instagram @oieatfsu.

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Want to know more about how to get involved on campus? Wanted to join a club but don't know when they meet?  The Weekly Roundup is here for you!

Each week, a different set of clubs, meetings, and events is featured for students to think about!  There may also be club leaders who will have the opportunity to speak about their events and promote!

This will be a weekly podcast, so help us help you.  Did we overlook anything? Would you like to be interviewed? Let us know (podcasts@fitchburgstate.edu), and we will be happy to oblige!

These events were directly sourced from FalConnect, if you have not logged into FalConnect with your Falcon Key, check out the many more events that are coming up!

Episode transcript here.

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Produced, written, and edited by Nick Castillo, a Communications Media student (COMM '25) and a member of the Perseverantia staff.

Click here to learn more about Perseverantia. Join us for programming updates on Instagram. Or reach out with ideas or suggestions at podcasts@fitchburgstate.edu.

Transcript

[ theme music fades in, energetic dance music ] 

Nick Castillo (host)
Hey there, it's Nick Castillo. Welcome back to the weekly roundup on the Perseverantia Podcast Network at Fitchburg State University. 

Let's get into it.

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Starting off with some club meetings:

On Monday, November 18th at 4 p.m., the Student Nurses Association will be meeting in Thompson 214; and, at 4:30 on the same day, the Greek Council will be meeting in Hammond, Ellis White. 

On Tuesday, November 19th at 4 p.m., our Billiards Club will be meeting in the Hammond Game room.

On Tuesday, November 19th at 5 p.m., a Crafters Club will be meeting in Hammond 314.

And on Wednesday, November 20th at 3:30 p.m. our Entrepreneurship Association will be meeting in Thompson 113.

Moving on to some events.

The Center for Diversity and Inclusiveness will be hosting the CDI Friendsgiving on Monday, November 18th at 6:30 p.m. in the Hammond Main Lounge. This event is co-hosted by the Center for Diversity and Inclusiveness, the Black Student Union, the Latin American Student Organization, African Student Association, and Caribbean Students Association. 

Join RA Jarred and RA Elliott as they're hosting Trivia Night Jeopardy, on Wednesday, November 20th at 7 p.m. from Simons Hall First Floor Lounge.

On Thursday, November 21st at 6 p.m. in the Hammond Game Room, the Campus Ambassadors Christian Fellowship will be hosting their game night, playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

On Thursday, November 21st at 8 p.m. in the Hammond Main Lounge, the Improv Club, Musical Theater Club, and WXPL will be hosting an open mic night. You don't want to miss that!

That about wraps up the weekly roundup. However, let's move over to an interview with Nicole Salerno and the International Education Office to talk about Study Abroad programs. Take it away, Nicole. 

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Nicole Salerno
Yeah, so we have really amazing study abroad programs here at Fitchburg State. There's really three types of programs that we do.  

We have faculty led short term programs. These are three credit courses that you travel with your professor either in spring break or after graduation in May. 

We have exchange programs where you can go for the semester to another country. We have exchange programs in five different locations. That would be Germany, Japan, Italy, England and China. 

And then we have provider led programs. So let's say if you wanted to study abroad for the semester in Australia, or in Chile, or in Spain, we work with different companies that organize these programs to go to a different university, in a different country.

Nick Castillo
Could you tell us how a typical study abroad class might work?

Nicole Salerno
Our programs are part of a course. So let’s say, for example, we have a Luxury Brand Management program that's coming up for 2025. The application is now closed. We did get a lot of students for that program. But that is where Dr. Scapparone teaches her three credit business course on luxury brands throughout the Spring Semester. The students travel to Milan over spring break. They go and apply what they've learned. So they'll go to Armani and Gucci and Lamborghini, and tour these facilities and learn how their brands are marketed.  They come back. They do a project. They do a final presentation. And that's their three credits. 

So that's the majority of how our faculty led programs work. It's part of a course. 

Nick Castillo
What do students need to know about Study Abroad opportunities?  Are there any scholarship available to students?

Nicole Salerno
We have a lot of scholarships. We have the Global Ambassador Scholarship. If you all see the blue hands around campus, that's what that is.  And then we have the Center for Italian Culture Scholarship, specifically programing to Italy. 

And these scholarships, students apply for in October – every year. And, ideally, for a qualified candidate, it would cover half of the program costs of your faculty led program. That's the idea. 

So deadlines that students should keep in mind:  students can apply in October, their first payment for the program would be in November.  

And then the second payment would be in December and the final payment in January. The student registers for the course just like a normal course. And that's your typical, you know, faculty led program process. 

Nick Castillo
What are some of the programs running this year?

Nicole Salerno
We have programs going to Costa Rica, a Global Health, a Global Public Health course going next year. It used to be a Nursing course. Now it's more general for Global Public Health. They're going to different parts of Costa Rica over spring break. 

We have the Game Design program that goes to Japan. That's a very popular program. I’m not even going to talk about it because it’s already something that  doesn’t need any type of promotion. 

But we go all over the world. So we're trying to go to more countries too, not just in Europe, but in different areas of the world.

Nick Castillo
If a student wants to do an exchange program, how early can they do it?

Nicole Salerno
I say the earlier, the better. Usually a student will come in their Freshman year. They should come into the International Office.  You can go abroad any time throughout your four years here or however many years you are here.

If you don't get in your freshman year, that's okay. You can come in your Sophomore or Junior year. 

What we try and do – if you're doing an exchange program – that's a semester-long program. So we really have to look at your academics and we have to look at your Degree Works. We have to plan with your advisor, your academic advisor and say, okay, the student is going to take their art requirement abroad. They're going to take their scientific inquiry requirement abroad. Their AIA requirement abroad. Right. 

So students usually take courses related to their major, but also, you know, courses related to where they are. Maybe that's a language course, a culture course in Italy for example. But I would say for Study Abroad, the sooner the better.

Nick Castillo
How can students find you? What are some of the staff in the office that can help you out?

Nicole Salerno
Yes. So the International Office serves both international students. So if folks have family from different parts of the world, they would be connected here. We're located on the third floor of the Hammond building. We're right near, like, the Academic Coaching and Tutoring Center, right near TRIO and Counseling Services. 

And we also serve students who want to study abroad. So we have a lot of fun cultural activities that we do on campus. For example, the Diwali event is hosted by this office. Lunar New Year is another big event that we host. So – I'm Nicole, I'm the Assistant Director for Study Abroad. So feel free to come in. We have Nelly Wadsworth. She's the director of the international office. Sandy Yu is the International Student Coordinator. And then we have our Assistant Coordinator, Ari, who works at the front desk – you would be greeted by her.

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Nick Castillo
That’s about the end for this Weekly Roundup. 

If I overlooked anything, feel free to let me know. Or if you have any events coming up or would like to be interviewed, I'd be happy to schedule that for you.

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These events were directly sourced through FalConnect. If you've not logged into your FalConnect with your Falcon Key. Feel free to check out all the other events that are coming up. Thank you so much. And this is Nick Castillo signing off. 

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Asha Speller
This is Asha Speller, a senior at Fitchburg State University, and you're listening to Perseverantia, the Fitchburg State podcast Network.

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