Faculty & Staff

We hope that you will encourage all of your students to consider studying abroad during his/her ODU career. In order to properly advise students on their study abroad options, we ask that you refer them to our office. You may also request a Study Abroad presentation for your students, by emailing us at studyabroad@odu.edu.

Leading a Study Abroad Program

Short-term faculty-led programs offer faculty the chance to "broaden students' horizons" both in the classroom and outside of it in new and exciting ways. We encourage faculty to consider leading a program abroad.

Faculty Recommendations

Film students meet an orangutan

Students who are applying to study abroad for a semester or academic year may ask for a faculty recommendation. These 

recommendation requests will be sent to your ODU email address from oduabroad@odu.edu and will mention the student's name, the program they are applying for, and any information the student has chosen to share. The email will include instructions on how to complete the recommendation electronically (preferred) or print the form out for completion.

Completing the recommendation should take less than 5 minutes. If you have questions about completing the recommendation please contact the Office of Study Abroad.

Chief Departmental Advisors

Study Abroad students are instructed to contact Chief Departmental Advisors to have their proposed courses, classes, modules, and units evaluated for transfer credit before they leave the U.S.

Students are asked to provide the Chief Departmental Advisors with a course description and the transfer credit evaluation form from the Study Abroad office. Advisors should assess the course selections chosen by the student that fall under their academic department for pre-approval of credit transfer and indicate the appropriate equivalent ODU course(s) (i.e. COMM 360, COMM 400, COMM 3ELE [300 level elective]).

Dean's Education Abroad Award

Students study abroad

Faculty may be approached by students asking them to write a letter of recommendation for the Dean's Education Abroad Award. These scholarships are supported by each academic college and the Office of Study Abroad.

These recommendation requests will be sent to your ODU email address from oduabroad@odu.edu and will mention the student's name and any information the student has chosen to share. The email will include instructions on how to complete the recommendation electronically (preferred) or print the form out for completion. Faculty will typically mention some of the following: class performance, maturity, motivation, work ethic, ability to handle stress, ability to adapt and/or be flexible, etc.