Veteran Educators, International Education, and Study Abroad: Perspectives, Insights, and Practices

THOMAS V. MILLINGTON is the founder and executive director of Abroadia, a study abroad provider based in Geneva, New York. He was raised in a Bolivian-American household where he was first exposed to Latin American culture. He has over 20 years of experience in international education, beginning his career with Brethren Colleges Abroad (BCA), where he developed his philosophy of strengthening the connection between the field and issues of peace and justice and providing international opportunities for students from Tribal Colleges, HBCUs and HSIs. For a brief time he served as Director of International Programs at Emmanuel College where he created a Program Approval Committee to review faculty-led program proposals while involving departments not traditionally associated with international education. At Emmanuel College, he encouraged faculty to develop and lead their own programs abroad. In 2009, he began to advocate for unemployed international educators and has researched this phenomenon extensively since then. He then accepted a position at Western Kentucky University as Director of Study Abroad and Global Learning. After leaving the university he assumed the position of resident director in Havana, Cuba for Spanish Studies Abroad. While there he established a homestay program liaised with the Universidad de La Habana and produced a “Resident Director’s Manual”. Since first visiting Cuba in 2002, he has become fascinated by the country and dedicated to promoting more engagement between American and Cuban universities. In 2013, he founded Abroadia and has since worked to create immersive study and volunteer opportunities for American students in Cuba and Latin America.

KRISHNA BISTA, Ed.D., is a Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership and Policy at Morgan State University, Maryland, USA. Previously, Dr. Bista served as the Director of Global Education at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, where he was Chase Endowed Professor of Education in the School of Education. Dr. Bista is the founding editor of the Journal of International Students, a quarterly publication in international education, and currently serves as Executive Vice President at the STAR Scholars Network. He is also the founding chair of the Study Abroad and International Students (SAIS) SIG at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). In 2023, Dr. Bista was appointed as a Fulbright Specialist at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

ROY Y. CHAN, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Education and Ed.D. Program Director in Leadership and Professional Practice in the Helen DeVos College of Education at Lee University, Tennessee, USA. His research agenda broadly focuses on graduate and professional education, online and distance education, and international higher education. Dr. Chan served as Chair (2022-2023) of the Study Abroad and International Students (SAIS) SIG at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). He is the author of numerous books, including Rethinking Hybrid and Remote Work in Higher Education: Global Perspectives, Policies, and Practices after COVID-19 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023) and Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education during COVID-19: International Perspectives and Experiences (Routledge, 2022).

BO ZHANG, Ed.D., is a TESOL instructor and district administrator at Providence Public Schools in Rhode Island who recently earned a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Hartford in the U.S. Bo’s research interests include international higher education, international student mobility, educational leadership, educational technology, and second language acquisition. The doctoral dissertation examined the experiences of international doctoral students while seeking employment in the United States. Bo co-edited Crossing Borders, Bridging Cultures: The Narratives of Global Scholars (2023), and currently fulfills various roles within the American Educational Research Association (AERA), TESOL International Association, NAFSA, STAR Scholars Network, New England Educational Research Organization (NEERO), and International Association of Student Affairs and Services (IASAS). Bo also serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education and the Journal of Learning and Instruction.