Global Bachelor's Program (GBP) Faculty

Thank you to our faculty for supporting the Global Bachelor's Program and guiding our students throughout their international experiences! 

Your contributions are invaluable!

 Training Videos

Whether you've been teaching with us for several semesters or years, we encourage you review the content in our training videos to help prepare each semester. 

 Frequently asked questions

How do I select and confirm the date, time, and location for my class?

Global Inquiries (GI1) and Global Insights (GI3) are on-campus, in-person courses which will require a specific date, time and location to run. We ask all faculty to please share their preferences with us as soon as possible, in advance of semester registration (April for Fall, November for Spring). Since these are typically one-credit courses, they do not need to run for the full duration of the semester. If you'd like to make the class times longer and shorten the period of time for which the course runs, please also confirm your intended start and end dates for the course. For GI1, for the Belfast track, this course will always run on the Saturdays throughout April, though you may share a preference for time and location. We will share your preferred date and time with students in advance of semester registration so they can ensure they can work the rest of their schedule around this course. 

Final details are then shared with Academic Scheduling to find available classroom space at the desired dates/times. We will do our best to ask them to adhere to any preferences, but this cannot be guaranteed and is based on availability and size-needs. Confirmed information will be shared with faculty when available. 

Global Investigations (GI2) is an asynchronous online course during students' second study abroad experience and therefore does not require a specific meeting date/time or location. 

For Global Insights (GI3), when should the final presentations take place and how does that process work? 

Prior to the start of the semester, when confirming the dates, time and location for you course (GI3) as finalized by Academic Scheduling, we will suggest a few dates to consider for final presentations. Typically, we recommend utilizing the last, or last 2, class periods, depending on the size of your class. The timing will be based on when you requested the course to end. Once you confirm, we will book a larger space than your typical course classroom for the final presentations as we will invite many members of the community to join including the Global Bachelor's Program committee, other GBP faculty, supporting staff within the Office for Study Abroad and the other GW Global offices, as well as other current and prospective GBP students. Local students may also choose to invite their family. Many students wish to also invite friends. We encourage a large community and crowd for our students to share their research, growth and accomplishments to top off their Global Bachelor's Program experience.

We will confirm back to you the finalized dates and space for the final presentations. We will begin advertising these presentations at the start of the semester. 

Is it possible for students to take any other GI courses, outside of GI2, as a distance learning course?

While this is not possible for GI1, there is some flexibility with GI3. Some students may still be completing their final study abroad experience during the semester they must also complete GI3. In these circumstances, they may reach out to the professor to confirm if they can be accommodated as a distance learning student. This type of accommodation for a student who is currently abroad is possible at your discretion. There is no obligation to include a student who is currently abroad. However, if you are happy to have a distance learner in the classroom, there is no rule against it. 

How are students registered for the courses and how will I know who they are?

Registration takes place manually by our team in the Office for Study Abroad. We will register students around the same time as their semester registration in April (for fall) or November (for spring). Each semester, we will do an audit of which students need to be enrolled in which classes. Naturally, some changes may occur after our initial registration process with students changing their plans. If a student needs to be removed or added, we will be sure to let faculty know. We will send you a final list of all students and their emails for everyone confirmed to be in your course via email as well. 

If, for any reason, the course was mistakenly opened for students to self-register, our team will communicate with any non-GBP students who should not be in the course and withdraw them accordingly. 

What should I do if I'm encountering any issues in Blackboard?

Blackboard is governed by the Instructional Technology Lab. They offer many different services for support. 

1. ITL Website (https://library.gwu.edu/blackboard). They have a myriad of blackboard resources for instructors, including PDFs, videos, and HTML links.

 

2. Institution Page (within Blackboard). When instructors log into Bb, faculty will see the "Institution Page" tab located at the top of the blue menu on the left. This page contains Bb FAQs, as well as Blackboard guides for instructors.

 

3. Workshops. Faculty & TAs are welcome to register for any of their upcoming blackboard webinars here.
 

4. Contact the Instructional Technology Lab (ITL). They are available to assist GW faculty & teaching assistants via phone, zoom, email, or in-person.

• Hours: Monday - Friday from 9:30AM - 5:30PM
• Location: Gelman Library (Lower level), Suite B129
• Phone: 202-994-0485
• Email: ITLgwu [dot] edu (ITL[at]gwu[dot]edu)

If the issues you are encountering are more related to your students being able to see the Blackboard for the course, it's possible the students have yet to be registered, please check in with our team on the registration process. 

Who should I inform if I have concerns with a student's performance? 

Our team reminds our Global Bachelor's Program students throughout the process of the importance of the GI courses in the overall structure of the program for their preparations (GI1), reflections (GI2), and research (GI3). 

If a student's performance is faltering and the student is struggling, please let our team know as soon as possible. You may contact our Global Bachelor's Program Manager or Global Bachelor's Program Advisor. While there is some flexibility to re-take Global Investigations (GI2), the other two courses must be passed in their initial attempt in order to proceed to the cohort semester abroad and graduate on time as a Global Bachelor's Program student, respectively. 

We will perform outreach to ensure the student is aware of their performance, understands the implications of not passing the course and understand the options available from a logistical standpoint. We would encourage you, as their professor, to connect with them as well to develop a plan to support them through the completion of the course. 

What should I do if a student is unresponsive, especially in regards to GI2?

If you have tried contacting a student and they are unresponsive, please feel free to inform our team and we will work to check in with them as well, or have the on-site staff at their programs connect with them. 

If their lack of response continues, it is up to your discretion whether you feel it warrants a withdrawal or failure. We are happy to process a withdrawal and inform the students at the timing of your choosing. This would appear as a W on the student's transcript. 

What should I do if students have program-specific questions related to their study abroad experiences? 

Your role as an academic within the program means that students will understandably look to you for guidance in other areas. Please redirect any questions regarding program specifics to the Global Bachelor's Program (GBP) team in the Office for Study Abroad. We are very happy to handle  these details and help students understand that they should be coming to us as the first point of contact for these questions. 

 

Additionally, for GI1, we recommend that a member of our team visit your on-campus class within the first 3 class sessions to help answer as many of these questions for your students as upfront as we can.