$225K grant bolsters overseas opportunities

The IU Office of Overseas Study announced Wednesday it received a $225,000 grant to help create three new summer programs for IU students who wish to study abroad.\nThe Edward L. Hutton Foundation has a history of granting generous sums of money to the University to fund study abroad scholarships to eligible students through the Honors College. Kathleen Sideli, director of the Office of Overseas Study and associate dean of International Programs, said the grant from the Hutton Foundation will allow Overseas Study to create and fund several new programs over the next three years.\n"Mr. Hutton's grant will make it possible for us to make our newest programs more affordable for IU students who might not have been able to study abroad otherwise," Sideli said in a statement. "Given the current economy, the shrinking value of the dollar abroad and the pressure on the campus budget, his generous gesture is greatly appreciated by those of us who know the impact study abroad will have on students' lives and careers."\nThe programs created include summer programs in Dakar, Senegal and in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in addition to a photography program in Paris, a theater program in London and an intersession program in Oaxaca, Mexico in December and January. \nSideli said the grant will allow IU students a 10 to 15 percent reduction in costs to those programs, which are still taking applications until Feb. 16.\nSideli said the money would be used to help reduce the costs of several programs the departmet administers, including one in Amsterdam to study criminal justice. \nAccording to the department's Web site, www.indiana.edu/~overseas, "Social Justice in the Netherlands" begins July 1 and ends July 31 at the University of Amsterdam. Students who participate can earn up to six IU credits toward their degree. And because of the Hutton Grant, the cost will be reduced to just over $3,500 from over $4,000. \nSideli said "niche" programming is a word bouncing around in her profession, which refers to creating programs that relate specifically to the curriculum of the students in a particular line of academic programming. An example of this is the Paris photography program funded by the grant, which is designed to benefit students in IU's department of fine arts.\nThis program, administered by IU, runs June 10 to July 23 and works closely with the Speos Paris Photographic Institute.\nHutton, currently chairman of Roto-Rooter, Inc. and Omnicare, grew up in Bedford, Ind., and earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees at IU. After completing his master's, he served in the U.S. Army in Germany during WWII. When the war ended, he worked in Berlin and negotiated several trade agreements, helping to rebuild the German economy. This early experience in Europe inspired him to fund opportunities for IU students to study abroad. \nIn addition to the new $225,000 grant given to Overseas Study, Hutton also created the Edward L. Hutton International Experiences Program in 2000. Administered by the Honors College, the program has helped finance study abroad experiences for over 400 IU students. His support for such opportunities stems from his strong belief that students should be exposed to other cultures, broadening their global perspective. \n"The Hutton grant allows the Office of Overseas Study to work more closely with academic departments to create programs emphasizing and enhancing a student's overall academic curriculum without passing the financial cost onto students," said Paige Weting, an Overseas Study academic advisor who deals with a large part of the department's administration.\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.