Isabel Campbell is the Deputy Campus Director and Registrar/Head of Studies at the Madrid Campus of Schiller International University. She holds a Master of Education in Leadership and Management and Post-Graduate studies in Distance and Online Education. She experienced the challenges of international education in person and enjoys helping students to make the most of the international educational experience.
Did YOU study abroad?! If so, where and what inspired you to go?
I was born abroad in Turkey and have spent much of my life “studying abroad” in different shapes and forms.
My first study abroad experiences probably started when I was about 5 years old - I briefly went to a French girls school in Tabriz, Iran - I learned no French, but my Farsi improved and I learned all the playground games. I needed the Farsi to be able to play the games. I also spent a couple of weeks at a girls school in Gijon, Asturias and remember being made to rewrite the number 8 until I did it “de la forma correcta” (the right way).
I had never had to do this in the British system. It is those many little unexpected experiences that sum up the benefits of experiencing different cultures. You learn that what is important in one place may not be so important elsewhere and that you need a real reason to learn a language.
As an undergraduate, I did study abroad for a year at the University of Poitiers in France as part of my degree in French and History at Edinburgh University. This was actually an obligatory part of my degree program - I chose Poitiers because it was one of Europe’s medieval universities. I like history, ok?
Describe a time when you felt especially proud to be part of the Schiller International University Madrid team.
Schiller International University Madrid is a great team and I often feel proud of the students and the staff and faculty. Graduation day is always a very special day - seeing student complete their studies and begin their professional lives is immensely satisfying for us all.
I love hearing from our alumni - they all have really interesting lives - Schiller alumni are often great entrepreneurs and have set up companies all over the world. I am proud that we have played a part in this.
The Staff and Faculty constantly amaze me - I have faculty who have found specialist internships for students and generously given their time to explain their professional experiences. The staff are used to resolving all kinds of student issues - from international bank transfers to local knowledge - students come up with the weirdest questions. but I have to say that we have always managed to answer them!
What unique qualities does your company possess?
Uniquely, Schiller International University has been offering Study Abroad programs since it was founded – in fact, they are the reason why we were founded!
In 1964, the University started taking US students to Germany - success here led to the opening of other campuses in other European countries. Generations of study abroad students have come to Schiller - and when many of them wanted to stay, we developed into a full university offering complete degree programs. We are the Study Abroad program that does not need to end.
Our origins are still part of our on-going mission to prepare our students for international careers.Today, Schiller offers the possibility of experiencing the advantages of study abroad throughout the whole of our degree programs - you can study in Spain, France, Germany, the USA and soon the UK.
You can design your international experience to visit all the campuses or just stay at one. You will get to know your host country - but you will also share your classroom with students from all over the world.
You will need to learn how to work with them. We can offer our students all the advantages of a study-abroad program within the framework of a full degree.
Talking of degrees, Schiller is also unique because we offer our students two degrees from the USA and the UK. Our degrees are recognized in the Americas, Europe, and the Commonwealth countries.
What about the future of the industry? How do you think study abroad and international education will change over the next 10 years?
I think that study abroad and international education are essential to creating flexible and knowledgeable citizens of the future. However, this is not necessarily new.
efore the printing press, this was the only way to gain access to specialist knowledge. Medieval scholars traveled spending time at the great university towns - Montpellier, Heidelberg, Salamanca, Poitiers, Padua, and many more.
Today, we can access unimaginable amounts of information on the internet, we do not have to travel. This raises the question, why study abroad? In answer, I think many more of us will be international citizens than in the past. We will live and work in many different countries during our professional lives. We must have the skills to function in this international environment and we need to have educational qualifications that allow us to work anywhere in the world.
The best way to learn how to deal with different cultures, values, and ways of doing things is to actually have to live with them! For example, when I was in Brazil the one thing that stood out was doing paperwork in Brazil. It was extremely irritating – until I learned that Brazilians are culturally conditioned to please - they hate saying no, and would rather ask you for unnecessary additional papers than to give you a straight refusal.