Personal Health, Wellness and Self-Care for Leading Programs Abroad 

Faculty Development Series

Course Description

This e-learning short course will empower program leaders with the tools for reducing stress, prioritizing self-care and finding a balance between personal and professional life while leading programs abroad. The course includes strategies for self-care in the areas of physical, emotional, social, and relational health and well-being, as well as self-care during three ‘critical moments’ in the education abroad program cycle: 1) prior to conducting the education abroad program, 2) self-care on-site during the program, and 3) self-care upon return to the institution.

The intended learning outcomes for the course include:

Identify possible sources of stress for education abroad program directors
Apply multiple evidence-based and tangible praxes for practicing better self-care throughout the education abroad program cycle
Provide a set of self-reflection questions for program director self-care
Explore case scenarios for deeper self-reflection on self-care abroad
Develop a personally meaningful action plan for improved self-care

Please note that all Diversity Abroad Short Courses are available for 7 days after purchase. Check out our Frequently Asked Questions for additional information.

About the instructor

Associate Director of the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center (TLPDC) at Texas Tech University

Allison Boye

Allison Boye, Ph.D., is Associate Director of the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center (TLPDC) at Texas Tech University. There she oversees two graduate student development programs as well as a faculty peer observation program, and enjoys working one-on-one with instructors. She also provides consultations services for teaching philosophy statements and portfolios, leads workshops and conferences, and teaches a freshman seminar course. Her research interests include effective consultation practices, peer observation, graduate student development, syllabus development, and generational student engagement, as well as burnout and self-care. Her work has appeared in publications such as To Improve the Academy, The Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, and The Scholarly Teacher. She is also co-editor of the book Transparent Design in Higher Education Teaching and Leadership, forthcoming from Stylus. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD) as well as on the Executive Committee for the Texas Faculty Development Network., and currently sits on the Review Board for the IDEA Center. Allison earned her B.A. from William and Mary, her M.A. from Bowling Green, and her Ph.D. from Texas Tech University, specializing in contemporary American literature, Women's Studies, and Cultural Studies. She has received recognition for her academic work and writing, including membership in Phi Beta Kappa, and she enjoys publishing both scholarly and creative pieces.

About the instructor

Founder of the Consultancy for Global Higher Education

Pamela Roy

Pamela Roy is the founder of the Consultancy for Global Higher Education. She offers project management and strategic leadership in the areas of youth education, diversity and equity, faculty development, and higher education capacity building in the Global South. Some of her clients have included the MasterCard Foundation, Diversity Abroad, Michigan State University’s Alliance for African Partnerships, and Youth Empowerment Programs, Academic Internship Council, Association of American Colleges & Universities, Professionals in Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, and more. Dr. Roy's research expertise includes the global professoriate, gender and economic empowerment, access and inclusion in education abroad, and the ethics of north-south mobility programs. She has led programs to South Africa for 60+ Canadian undergraduate students to engage in teaching, learning and community development, and to Rwanda where she co-planned and co-led the Secondary Education Scholars Convening which offered youth from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana and Rwanda (MasterCard Foundation Scholars) to find their leadership voice, develop community give back goals, explore career understandings, and create high-value relationships with other youth from across the Continent. She also created the curriculum for and managed the program experience (pre-departure, onsite, and re-entry) for the Global Institute for Inclusive Leadership held in South Africa (June 2017) and New Zealand (January 2018) for cohorts of 10 senior administrators from various universities who were interested in gaining skills to better support their global education and diversity-related work. Dr. Roy has over 15 years of experience in international higher education and has committed her scholarly background and creative leadership abilities to foster community-building at the local, national and international levels. She received her PhD in Higher, Adult, & Lifelong Education from Michigan State University. Her professional activities and publications can be accessed at pamelaroy.net.

About the instructor

Instructional Consultant at the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center (TLPDC) at Texas Tech University

Adam Smith

Adam Smith works as an Instructional Consultant at the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center (TLPDC) at Texas Tech University. He works primarily with graduate student instructors as part of the Tech’s preparing future faculty program, TEACH. A former TEACH Fellow himself, he appreciates the opportunity to work one-on-one with graduate students who are actively seeking to develop their own teaching skills. Dr. Smith has worked in educational development for the past 4 years, consulting primarily with graduate students and developing relevant programming to help share evidence-based teaching practices with the campus community. As an educational developer, Adam is interested in how to help teachers adopt evidence-based practices and cultivate a more critically reflective approach to teaching. Over the last year, he and Dr. Allison Boye have collaborated together developing material and presenting about self-care for faculty members at Texas Tech and at conferences around the United States. Adam received his B.S. in Piano and Political Science from Indiana University, Bloomington. He received his M.M. in Piano Pedagogy and Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Texas Tech University. His research interests include the relationships between meditation and music practice and performance as well as the role of motivation in adopting evidence-based behaviors in personal and professional contexts. He continues to perform regularly both as a soloist and as a collaborator/accompanist. Adam’s favorite forms of self-care include yoga and meditation, reading, playing piano, and playing peek-a-boo with his young daughter, Eleanor.