四虎影视

Designed for students and faculty to create and develop international collaboration with their peers around the world, the Virtual Global Exchange Program (VGE) at 四虎影视 is a wonderful way to facilitate professional development, networking opportunities, and deepen existing collaboration. Through international cooperation with institutions overseas, faculty can co-develop curricula for activities that take place in their own classrooms. To illustrate the scope of opportunities that exist within VGE, four 四虎影视 faculty members鈥�, , Dr. Michelle Bombaugh, and Margarita Altuna 鈥攕hare their experiences with VGE in the classroom.  

Dr. Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, an associate professor of political science and the founding Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at 四虎影视 St. Petersburg, brings fifteen years of experience and knowledge about the profound impact VGE can have on students and faculty鈥攆rom events like Constitution Day, Women鈥檚 History Month events to semester-long research projects鈥攚ith partners in the , North Macedonia, Romania and Moldova.  

鈥淚t was a dream of mine for a long time to be able to work with partners to get my students exposure to working internationally, even without traveling abroad,鈥� McLauchlan says. 鈥淚 had this desire to get my students connected with colleagues around the world to broaden their horizons and their perspectives鈥�as not everyone can travel abroad, VGE brings the world to students.鈥�  

This dream led McLauchlan to start the , where students study the U.S. Supreme Court in comparison to the European Court of Human Rights over the course of a semester in partnership with overseas universities.  

鈥淭he very first time I ran that project was in Fall 2011, but I鈥檝e since run it with professors in Macedonia, and Moldova at several different universities,鈥� McLauchlan explains. 鈥淚 find my students have a much deeper and richer understanding from having this opportunity to do that comparative research with students from another country.鈥� Students meet in research groups through joint classroom meetings and small group sessions over 10-12 weeks to create their research paper and posters.  

McLauchlan鈥檚 global classroom won the from the American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Political Studies Association (PSA) for her collaboration with Larisa Patlis, a senior lecturer in International Relations at the Universitatea Libera Internationala din Moldova (ULIM).  

鈥淭he advantages that students gain from these projects are multifaceted,鈥� McLauchlan explains. 鈥淭hey develop legal research and writing skills, and they gain a much better understanding of the U.S. Supreme Court by having the opportunity to compare. They also gain soft skills such as teamwork, time management, and communication. And we鈥檙e throwing in another dimension, which is working with students from another country.鈥� McLauchlan offers opportunities for her students to present their class research at conferences throughout the semester, giving them concrete professionalization opportunities.  

鈥淚 find my students have a much deeper and richer understanding from having this opportunity to do that comparative research with students from another country.鈥濃�� Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan

One of McLauchlan鈥檚 students, Taylor Herman, is a great example of how VGE can have a huge impact on a student鈥檚 academic and professional development. Having discovered her interest in international relations through a collaborative research project with ULIM in McLauchlan鈥檚 class, Herman explored this passion for international relations in her thesis project, which looked at how the European Court of Rights has been involved in decisions made in Moldova. Herman was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Moldova, which began in September 2025 and concluded in June 2026.  

鈥淲e鈥檝e done Constitution Day with partners in Moldova for a few years now. The first year I was in Moldova as a Fulbright specialist and Taylor Herman was leading the group at 四虎影视 St. Pete,鈥� McLauchlan explains. 鈥淭he next year, she was on her Fulbright in Moldova, and I was in St. Pete. It was really a full circle moment.鈥�  

McLauchlan鈥檚 advice for faculty exploring VGE is to start small. 鈥淪tart with maybe an assignment, or just an opportunity to have a discussion with students in another country,鈥� McLauchlan says. 鈥淲e also have the 四虎影视 Global Discovery Hub, which is a great resource.鈥� The 四虎影视 Global Discovery Hub is a software program that maps the institution's international partnerships and the global mobility of 四虎影视 faculty, staff, alumni, and students.  

Another instructor who has integrated VGE into his classroom is Kevin Hawley, a Master Instructor in the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications. His interest lies in advertising creatively and graphic design. Hawley has unique insight, having led numerous study abroad programs, most recently an integrated Public Relations and advertising study abroad program in Barcelona. In 2022, Hawley received the 四虎影视 World Global Excellence Award for advancing student success. 鈥淰GE adds an opportunity for students who may otherwise not be able to study abroad,鈥� Hawley says. 鈥淚t enables students to learn about another culture, another place.鈥� 

Hawley initially became involved in VGE after participating in a Spanish Immersion Program at Universidad del Norte in Colombia. When teaching an online course on global media design during early 2020, he was able to reconnect with a faculty member and collaborate. 鈥淢y students could have a study abroad experience at a time when other study abroad programs were cancelled,鈥� Hawley says. 鈥淭heir classmates in Colombia have faced a lot of the same issues that young people face anywhere. It鈥檚 an appreciation of differences and similarities.鈥�  

鈥淭he ability to learn how to work with people in other countries and using technology is beneficial to the students in a career in the world of advertising, PR, journalism, etc.鈥� 鈥�  Kevin Hawley

In his Visual Design for Global Media course, Hawley assigns a final presentation that students present with their peers from Colombia. 鈥淭he thing I really enjoy the most is how well the students present together over distance using a mix of languages,鈥� Hawley says. 鈥淭he ability to learn how to work with people in other countries and using technology is beneficial to the students in a career in the world of advertising, PR, journalism, etc.鈥�  

Hawley also believes that VGE introduces opportunities for international collaboration for curriculum development and professional networking for faculty. 鈥淰GE is also an eye-opening experience for the faculty,鈥� Hawley says. 鈥淚t parallels with what the students experience because we鈥檙e also learning from both our colleagues and from the students鈥� We can get together and look at how the year went and connect over things that went smoothly or went wrong, and plan for the year ahead. It鈥檚 a broadening experience for faculty as well.鈥�  

Dr. Michelle Bombaugh, an assistant professor of Instruction, Higher Education and Student Affairs in the College of Education at 四虎影视, also incorporated VGE into her classroom. In a collaboration with Dr. Yulia Davydyuk from Khmelnytskyi National University in Ukraine, Bombaugh created a VGE to support both Ukrainian undergraduate students and the 四虎影视 College Student Affairs (CSA) graduate students in the SDS 6646 鈥� Advising and Support course. During the collaboration, students explored student-specific issues at both universities, the effects of cyberbullying and social identity on mental health, career preparedness, and academic pressure.  

鈥淚 enjoyed watching the final projects,鈥� Bombaugh says. 鈥淚t was neat to hear the voices of all students involved.鈥� Students analyzed global issues from multiple cultural perspectives, collaborating and problem-solving when the semester posed unexpected challenges. There were power outages and alerts due to the war in Ukraine that interrupted classes, and the students at 四虎影视 experienced campus closures and extended power outages due to hurricanes. Students and professors worked closely to mitigate the challenges, resulting in successful and collaborative group presentations at the end of the semester.  

Margarita Altuna, Associate Instructor of Spanish at 四虎影视 Sarasota-Manatee, incorporates VGE into her classroom and research for her Ed.D. in Educational Innovation at 四虎影视. 鈥淎t the end of each semester, I assign my students a final reflection that allows me to understand their growth and what they most liked about the course,鈥� Altuna says. 鈥淭he one thing that they always mention is the VGE because they have an opportunity to learn from the other culture.鈥� 

Working with colleague Martha Villal贸n, English instructor at the Universidad Marista de M茅rida (UMM) in Sarasota鈥檚 sister city, M茅rida, Yucatan, Mexico, Altuna developed a VGE program that allows students from each university to learn from one another. 鈥淭he students from M茅rida are learning English, and my students are learning Spanish, so we do language activities together. One of my favorites was when they did mock job interviews and we could see how much they improved,鈥� Altuna explains. 鈥淓very semester, we do something different, so I have so many good memories.鈥�  

In Spring 2025, Altuna presented 鈥淭ransforming Language Learning through Virtual Global Exchange鈥� at 四虎影视鈥檚 World Languages Colloquium, along with Martha Villal贸n from UMM, another collaborating colleague, Gorety Campos, a Communication Instructor at the Universidad Don Bosco (UDB) in Soyapango, El Salvador, and students from each university. The presentation incorporated student video reflections, classroom activities, and learning outcomes from the collaborative projects.  

鈥淚f I can connect two cultures and we can learn from each other, we are going to have a better world,鈥� Altuna says. 鈥淰GE has great potential. I noticed that professors are often nervous to start because of the potential mistakes and issues working with technology, but it鈥檚 worth it when you start seeing the growth in yourself and your students. You start to have a lot of fun with it.鈥�   

All four faculty members have applied VGE in different ways, but all touched on the positive impact that VGE had on their students and their own professionalization. Full-time faculty are invited to participate in the鈥�Virtual Global Exchange (VGE) Academy during the 2025鈥�2026 academic year. This professional learning community is designed to support faculty in developing collaborative, globally focused teaching practices that enrich student learning through international engagement. If you are interested in joining the upcoming Virtual Global Exchange Academy, complete the鈥�.