PREPARING FOR a year abroad can be a very stressful experience. Not only do you have to choose where you’re going, where you’re going to live, what you’re going to do, but you also have to learn to communicate in a foreign language. However, as UCL French students were aghast to discover, it seems that their departments need lessons in communication too.
During a meeting in January those hoping to work in a foreign country were told by Dr Haddour, the French Department Year Abroad Tutor, that their placements had to be finalised within a week. This certainly came as a shock; students had previously been told by departmental administrators that they wouldn’t need to even search for potential placements until then. As getting a placement abroad can take several months, several students rapidly found themselves in a tricky position. Whilst admittedly literature given to students stated the deadline for placements was indeed January, the mixed signals from departmental administrators caused no end of confusion.
The mood amongst those present darkened further when Haddour added that European Social and Political Studies students had not been considered for Socrates placements. ESPS is a small department consisting of around 30 students; of whom normally a third are studying French. To go abroad, most ESPS students apply for Socrates places through the French Department and this year was no exception. With a high success rate for applications this way, it was certainly a surprise to discover not one application had been successful. Students were not only left without having a placement; they had also lost out on a bursary of around 400 Euros a month and the reduction in fees, both provided by the Socrates programme. Such a serious financial blow meant that some students were faced with changing their year abroad plans as they were no longer able to afford their first choice.
So why was this? Haddour told those assembled the decision was made in the first term that ESPS students would no longer be eligible for French Department Socrates places. Fair enough, but since the decision was made well before the deadline at the end of the first term, why had no one in either department thought to tell the students it would affect? Whilst admittedly ESPS students are not the responsibility of the French Department, surely alarm bells rang when they received applications from these students in spite of the change in policy?
Faced with the disastrous results of ineffective communication, the French and ESPS Departments held a hasty meeting and Socrates places were once again made available. However, one student was still left with nowhere to go and more worryingly, no financial assistance, despite the fact that a place had been awarded to another ESPS student who hadn’t even applied for one. Fortunately, the student who hadn’t applied forfeited his place in favour of his colleague.
Although things appear to have ended well, the inability of the French and ESPS departments to effectively communicate and liaise to organise important matters such as year abroad placements could have proven more devastating. With no explanation given to ESPS students, it appears the whole episode is due to miscommunication; miscommunication that should never have happened and that has caused students unnecessary stress.