Feedback From Client Faculty

"Two of the things I most appreciate about GED are that they allow for experimentation, and that their bottom line concern is for the quality of experience and education provided to the students. They don't look to cut corners or to box a faculty member in to a narrow set of unchanging choices. Certainly they can't operate as if costs don't matter and there is no need for plans to be made. But they are reasonable, interested in your own goals for a program, and work with you as a partner to help you achieve what you hope for your program. If you work with them over some time you come to see that they are interested in experimentation and broadening horizons – for faculty and students, but also for what they can accomplish as facilitators. You can rely on their expertise and concentrate on being a teacher."
Professor Fred Hagstrom, Department of Art and Art History, Carleton College (Minnesota, USA) – Faculty leader for Carleton College’s Australasian and South Pacific Art Seminar, visiting the Cook Islands, New Zealand and Australia.

As a faculty leader who has coordinated several overseas programs for Lewis & Clark College, I have worked with educational organizations around the world. I can honestly say that I have never encountered a more organized, helpful and knowledgeable group of individuals than the Global Education Designs staff. Because Lewis & Clark College has worked with GED for many years, one might have anticipated that they would have a set program in place; however, it was immediately made clear to me that the content and itinerary is re-evaluated and revised on an ongoing basis. GED staff members are facilitators who listen, analyze, guide and then implement ideas in an effective manner. They are more than reliable; they are pro-active in the most positive sense. Their guidance led to a framework that allowed for a program that was uniquely that of our group, taking advantage of current and relevant opportunities as they arose. From the outset, well before we arrived in Australia, they sought to understand our goals and objectives and then to assist us in fulfilling them.

Once in country, exploration and discovery were promoted and extremely high academic standards maintained in each component of the program. GED brought together educators, naturalists, speakers, cooks and support personnel from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to offer an exceptional program of study. That said, when/if a presenter did not meet the highest standards, GED did not hesitate to make changes. Whether in a classroom under fluorescent lights, doing field studies in a rainforest or marine biology studies on the Great Barrier Reef, the experts with whom we worked were knowledgeable as well as caring. They promoted excellence, challenged students and required commitment.

I have just reread the student evaluations and am struck by how overwhelmingly positive they were. Their experiences were described as “problem free” and “amazingly well organized” as well as “the learning experience of a lifetime” and “a semester that went so far beyond my expectations that I could not have conceived of it.” Superlatives are to be found throughout their assessments! In sum, it was more than a pleasure to work with problem solvers, educators and genuinely good people who made my responsibilities so much easier to fulfill and my own experience so enriching.
Joann Geddes, Lewis & Clark College, Australia Overseas Program Leader, 2005