OIP, OCS Merger Reflects Changing Attitudes on Study Abroad

The recent merger of the Office of Career Services and the Office of International Programs under a new umbrella organization may seem like a reversal of the College’s decision to separate the two offices eight years ago.

But current and former administrators suggest that the restructuring reflects a College-wide change in attitudes towards international experiences over the last decade.

Before former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences William C. Kirby created the OIP in 2002, the College’s policies “discouraged”—and even “criminalized”—term-time international experiences, Kirby wrote in an e-mail.

At the time, many faculty members were “suspicious” that study abroad “probably represented some plot to evade the benefits of a Harvard education,” said John H. Coatsworth, who chaired the committee charged with reviewing and approving students’ petitions to study abroad.

Students wishing to study abroad had to submit “immense quantities of paperwork” requiring multiple signatures from different offices as well as an essay detailing the academic necessity of the proposed international experience, Coatsworth said.

Prior to the OIP’s founding, the Study Abroad Office—which comprised a small part of OCS—organized the College’s international academic offerings.

“It was quite literally buried in OCS, both physically and administratively,” Kirby said.

In 2001, Kirby created the OIP to increase study abroad opportunities. The newly created OIP reported directly to the Dean of Undergraduate Education rather than to OCS.

Kirby said he placed the OIP in University Hall as a “signal to undergraduates” of the increased support for international opportunities.

“I think OIP was a symbol that [the previous] attitudes and policies were changing,” Coatsworth said.

But now, after almost a decade of operating separately, OCS and OIP have once again become part of the same umbrella organization—the Office of Career, Research, and International Opportunities. The new organization will be headed by Robin Mount, former interim director of the OCS.

Current and former administrators agree that the OIP and OCS no longer need to remain separate, as studying abroad has become both more acceptable and accessible.

According to Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris, the number of students studying abroad has increased two-fold since OIP’s inception—not including the growing numbers of students who go abroad during the summer.

“We are out of growth mode and more in maintenance mode,” he said.

Both Harris and Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds have emphasized the increased efficiency the merger provides for students and administrators.

The new office structure provides “one-stop shopping” who are considering a broad range of activities abroad for the summer, Harris said.

Even Kirby, who separated the two efforts, said he could see why the merger makes sense.

“I think there’s a certain half-life to administrator restructures that assumes they should be looked at on a regular basis,” Kirby said. “[The OIP] made an enormous difference in a very, very short period of time.”

—Staff writer Melody Y. Hu can be reached at melodyhu@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Eric P. Newcomer can be reached at newcomer@fas.harvard.edu.