Amy Potter: At best, a band-aid solution

It was the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. I was in Albuquerque. There was absolutely nothing to do. I weighed my options, put in a month of work, earned some money and hopped on a flight to Spain. It was time that I learned how to speak Spanish once and for all. My months living in Salamanca, Spain were fabulous. I lived with a wonderful family, wandered around with a group of eccentric friends, drank alcohol without harassment and finally put to use all those years of classroom Spanish. It may not have been the most intense of experiences, but it accomplished my goals for the summer. I was 16 years old then and in high school. I had the intention to study abroad when I came to college. A few obstacles got in the way, primarily this job, but my enthusiasm was also significantly diluted by the Penn Abroad system. Penn demands that all of its students participate in its own programs -- allowing little flexibility for exploring other universities' options. And when I started to survey those who had previously studied abroad, the responses I got were discouraging. Many claimed that they spent most of their time with the Penn kids in their own programs and that when it came to intense studying, they'd definitely forgotten what that was like. When it comes to a college-level abroad program, different demands and expectations must be met. And unfortunately, at this point, Penn's programs abroad are becoming a joke. The University's actions in the past week have only made the situation worse. The Provost's Council on Arts and Culture passed part of an agenda stipulating that any courses taken while overseas count for Penn credit, but will not be factored into a student's grade point average. Deputy Provost and Chairman of the Arts and Culture Council Peter Conn told The Daily Pennsylvanian last week that grades don't necessarily motivate students and that Penn students are motivated enough on their own. Plus, as Conn added, much of the study abroad experience is not quantitative. Cultural immersion is not something that can be graded. Setting a standard across all study abroad programs is nearly impossible. For instance, it might make the lives of students studying at Oxford for the year much less difficult. They would be, in effect, taking classes pass/fail. But for the less difficult programs, where A's are easily given out and study abroad turns into more of a four-month vacation, not having those grades count toward the GPA is preventing those students from cashing in on a free gift. It's possible that the University has finally realized that the education received at overseas institutions is not comparable to what Penn offers at home and that to compare the two is simply unjust. However, if that is the case, then the University needs to re-evaluate its overseas programs at a fundamental level. Is a student's time abroad an educational or cultural experience? Or is it a combination of the two? Just changing the system of grading isn't going to erase all of the complicated inadequacies of Penn's programs abroad. If the University is truly looking to improve its options overseas, it needs to look into a complete overhaul -- and not just a minor change in policy. At this point, the University needs to revisit its mission statement for the study abroad program. Right now, the philosophy behind the programs and its practical implementation have glaring inconsistencies. At this point, trying to patch up a lopsided framework is only creating more damage. It would be nice to think that students are motivated on their own and that grades don't really matter, but couldn't we say that about the experience on Penn's campus as well? And don't we know that, in either case, that's an ideal that would never happen in day-to-day practice? The University is at a crucial point. Take one more step in one direction and the credibility of Penn Abroad could be diminished entirely. Step in the opposite direction and perhaps some real, concrete improvements could be made. Spending time overseas and away from Penn shouldn't be an extended vacation in a foreign country. It's time for the University to step up finally and make study abroad a legitimate experience -- whether you're in Senegal or Australia. Amy Potter is a junior World History major from Albuquerque, N.M. and executive editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian.

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