EQUITY RESOURCES FOR STUDY AWAYStudy Away has prepared a website filled with resources related to personal identity and how it may impact your study away experience. Each page of the site offers things to think about as you prepare to study away and provides resources to help you prepare for your journey. Please explore the pages by clicking on the links below.Equity Resources for Study Away
LEARN ABOUT YOUR STUDY AWAY LOCATION
How much do you know about the place(s) where you will study away? We believe that the more you know before you arrive, the better prepared you will be to understand your study away experience. Watch the video below to get some resources and tips about how to learn more about your study away location:
REGISTRATION, CREDIT, TRANSCRIPTS, AND MORE
If you have questions after reviewing the handout, please email [email protected] and [email protected].
Handout: Registration FAQ from FAP (Frequently Asked Questions from Far Away Places)
MACALESTER DEWITT WALLACE LIBRARY
Macalester’s DeWitt Wallace Library can help you prepare for study away, support you while you are gone, and help you share your experience with others upon return. If you have questions after watching the video and reviewing the handout, please email [email protected] and [email protected]
INTERNET AND CYBERSECURITY WHILE STUDYING AWAY
We encourage you to use common sense and exercise precaution regarding your online presence while studying away. Some steps you can take towards this include:
- Set up Google 2-Step Verification to protect and access your account from abroad, if you haven’t already done so
- Get a VPN and use that for all communications and sensitive web browsing (privateinternetaccess.com)
- Encrypt hard drives and phones; set secure passwords; some computers may have the option to use an encrypted SD card as an external drive so it can be removed if not in use.
- Connect with partners/family using a secure encrypted communications app such as Signal or WhatsApp. Signal is available for Android and iOS. A desktop version is also available for Linux, Windows, and macOS. WhatsApp has also adopted some of the security protocols from Signal for messaging. Both parties must download Signal in order for the encryption to work.
- You should let trusted friends/family know where you are and how to get a hold of them at all times by using the “Share my location” option on a phone; provide friends/family with numbers of the Embassy, staff and contacts where you are staying so that family/friends can give exact details about location in case of an emergency.
- If you have to hand over your device(s) to authorities and it is out of your possession for any length of time, it would be possible for software to be added that could undermine any of these security protocols. So in that event, you may decide to err on the side of caution and not send anything you would not want to be tracked.
Visit https://www.eff.org/ for more information on electronic civil liberties and freedoms.
RESEARCH REVIEW DURING STUDY AWAY
Many students do research during study away – sometimes through coursework on their program, sometimes independently of their program. All study away students should be aware of Macalester procedures around research done during study away.
Video: Study Away & Research
SAFETY & FINANCES ON STUDY AWAY
Questions about safety precautions, budgeting, spending, and more? Check out the following resources:
STUDY AWAY AND SEXUAL RESPECT
STUDY AWAY AND WELLNESS