Academy Events & Curriculum

Individualized learning is fostered through the development of an Academy Learning Plan in which you identify and prioritize your personal and institutional learning goals. You develop the plan prior to Spring Training and revise and adjust it throughout the Academy year.

Join us for an intensive virtual training designed to connect you with your Academy class set the stage for your Academy year. Spring Training provides the foundation for your Academy year by providing sessions featuring: comprehensive internationalization, international enrollment management, education abroad, international student advising, and advocacy in international education.

You will gain a broad perspective of international education, network with professionals from around the country, meet one on one with your coach, and solidify your learning plans.

Academy trainees will receive free registration to NAFSA's annual conference in Denver. Trainees will recieve guidance from their coach to develop a conference schedule that supports their individual learning plans. They'll also and meet and connect in person with their coaches and fellow trainees throughout the week.

At the NAFSA annual conference, trainees reflect on their progress and develop a visual demonstration of that progress. They share their presentation with their cohort as a way to reflect and refocus on their Academy priorities.

Trainees focus on a single objective they would like to accomplish by the end of the summer. They submit three blog-style posts detailing their selected objective, their midsummer progress report, and their final results from their summer initiative.

Prior to receiving their certificate of completion, trainees write a culmination and transition paper to review their learning and progress, capture their progress in qualified statements, and to identify their future goals as they transition out of the Academy.

Throughout the year, coach-led trainee cohorts connect in a variety of ways, including virtually through online community spaces, conference calls, and at Academy events. Individual cohorts determine as a peer learning group what works best for them.