Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

This session shares experience of obtaining and implementing a highly successful University Linkages Program between the University of Cincinnati, USA and Salahaddin University, Kurdistan, Iraq. The authors will reflect on practices and make recommendations for setting and implementing achievable goals; negotiating and maintaining personal and institutional relationships; and strategies for addressing potential challenges during and beyond the linkage. This session should be of interest to administrators, faculty, and staff who are currently involved in and/or planning on working with international partners.

The number of students, including graduate students, who study abroad is on the rise. Although many studies have addressed the political, financial, and organizational dimensions of studying abroad, the learning needs and

adaptation problems of individuals have received little attention. In this article, the five co-authors present their

views, based on their own experiences as foreign graduate students. Along with the findings of other research

studies, they offer recommendations for policy and practice related to graduate study by foreign students.