THE BARCELONA SAE FACULTY TOOLKIT

All faculty will receive full access to our online Faculty Toolkit, which has resources for faculty preparing programs abroad. This includes recruiting resources, pre-departure orientation materials, guidelines for facilitating cross-cultural communication and understanding while onsite, and much more. 

WHAT IS A FACULTY MEMBER’S ROLE ONSITE?

MORE THAN JUST TEACHING

Any faculty member who has led groups abroad soon learns that you develop a very special relationship with your students, and that your role extends beyond what you may be used to at home. Students will look to you for advice and come to you with challenges along the way. You’ll wear the hat of professor, friend, mentor, cheerleader, counselor and more!

One of Barcelona SAE’s core values is to “Be prepared. And then be prepared for everything to change.” With that said, it is important to realize that each program and student is unique. There is no way to prepare yourself for every possible scenario or crisis that could arise, but see our Faculty Toolkit for some tips on intercultural communication competencies.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM US

We are here to make your experience a success! Our goal is to make sure that you have the resources and support that you need to facilitate an effective learning environment for your students onsite. We will coordinate the logistical pieces of your program so that you can focus on student learning both inside and outside of the classroom.

All of Barcelona SAE’s staff are multilingual, have experience working with international students in Barcelona, and are passionate about the city’s culture and history. We will take care of everything from your student’s welcome orientation, arranging guided tours of the city, accompanying students on day trips, and packing your itinerary with meaningful visits that contribute to the students’ academic learning.

We also are here to help with health & safety needs. We have relationships with Barcelona’s hospitals and mental health professionals that speak English and are accustomed to working with students. There is a 24-hour emergency phone that rotates amongst the staff, available to both you and your students.

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU

Faculty are responsible for designing their program, recruiting students, and instructing students onsite. In addition to instruction in the classroom, you should be helping your students in drawing connections to learning happening outside of the classroom… such as debriefing site visits and academic excursions.

Remember, you will be learning some new things as well! We hope you will come on this program with an open mind and a willingness to see things from a different perspective. Oftentimes, professors discover new things about Spanish/Catalan culture (or even about themselves) that lead to productive discussions in the classroom. Your role as a facilitator is to get the students engaged in this learning process. Challenge them to think outside the box – to look at the world differently than before.

You should also be making sure that students are actively participating in educational activities by setting clear behavioral expectations and enforcing your attendance policy. This includes tracking attendance and punctuality for classes and activities and helping to keep students paying attention during tours. See more about our behavioral policies below in the FAQ’s.

TIPS ON CREATING GREAT GROUP DYNAMIC

We’ve found that the faculty have an important role in keeping a group positive and happy. The best way to do this is to lead by example. Point out the positive side of situations, listen to concerns, be flexible, expect the unexpected, and roll with the punches. These are important tools for anyone traveling abroad and you will be teaching your students these skills on the go!  Below are some other suggestions from past faculty on activities to cultivate a positive group dynamic.

MIXING YOUR STUDENTS

Make an index card with each student’s name. When you get to a restaurant, shuffle them and place a card in front of each plate randomly, and have the student sit where their card is. This way your group will mingle bit by bit during group meals.

If you feel that your group is cliquey or that someone is feeling left out, we encourage you to randomly assign rooms on any trips. You can also encourage participants to share their free-time plans with the group and open their activities up to others.

CHECKING IN

Take a few students out each day for coffee to see how they are adjusting and if they have any concerns. These check-ins with 2-4 students at a time can be a great way to get to know your students better and to be able to identify issues.

If you notice that a student seems to be acting differently than usual, take them aside to ask how they’re doing. Are they enjoying the program? Are they having any difficulties they would like to address?

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WAIT TIMES

Use waiting times to prepare students for the upcoming experience. Some faculty members even utilize this strategy prior to arrival. If you are on a group flight, you can use the time in the airport lounge to ask students about what they think they will miss the most or what they expect to be their largest obstacles. Facilitate a discussion on how to prepare for that and give them some tips. Share some anecdotes from your previous travel experience to demonstrate that culture shock can also be fun!

CREATING SELF-RELIANCE

Each student has an itinerary, but they’ll come to you constantly with questions about meeting points and the schedule. Pick a student leader for each day! That person can be in charge of moving the group, mapping the route, reminding people of meeting times and points. Maybe they could even create a group blog post for that day.

LOGISTICAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Here are some ways you can help in ensuring that your program runs smoothly:

• Be familiar with our rules and policies, as outlined in the Faculty Toolkit.
• Build participation into your grading and make clear what participation means to you (punctuality, coming to activities prepared to participate, asking questions, respecting tour guides, etc). Remind students of your expectations throughout the program.
• Add facts and tidbits from guest speakers and tours into your quizzes to reward those who were paying attention. Let students know in advance that this will happen to encourage students to pay attention or take notes during tours.
• When we are meeting for an event or activity, the faculty member should take attendance or headcount their group. One tip is to assign each student a number chronologically and have them count off when you’re gathering the group together. If there is a pause in the counting, you can quickly identify who is missing. Please notify the Barcelona SAE staff if someone is missing.
• Reward positive behavior. Sometimes we buy local treats and give one to the first person who asked a question after a guest speaker, or the first person who was in the lobby and ready to go for a field trip. Even just saying thank you to the students after a day trip where you noticed they were particularly punctual and attentive goes a long way. One group made the last person in the lobby each morning sing “I’m a little teacup.” It was silly, but no one wanted to be the last one down!
• Assign a daily student leader. This student can be responsible for doing some basic research about topics touched on guest lectures or site visits. Ask them to give a brief overview of the day with the group and be responsible to bring up some questions during the lecture or tour.
• During group lunches or any other gathering times, ask students to share what activities they have enjoyed the most, their favorite meal so far or what places they’ve discovered. This is a great opportunity for students to share about their experiences while getting some recommendations from their peers!

TIMELINE

Many faculty have never led programs abroad, and have been helped by a timeline of pre-program preparations. We're happy to provide you a timeline that'll give you a good idea of what this process looks like, all the way out to one year prior to program arrival.

Every program begins with an in-depth analysis of the sending institution’s needs and desires for their time in and around Barcelona. We like to first listen to what your ideal program would include, and then fill in the rest based on our expertise and knowledge of the city. In your initial Skype call with our highly knowledgeable customized programs team, we’ll get you thinking about things such as:

• What is the overall theme?
• What do you want your students to walk away knowing?
• How will your faculty be involved?
• Some institutions decide to send their own faculty along to teach for-credit courses, some rely on local Barcelona faculty to do the teaching, and others do a mix of both. The choice is completely up to you!

Customized programs can be of any length, can partner with a variety of academic institutions throughout Barcelona, and can include the activities that best fit YOUR needs. The options are endless when creating your customized program with Barcelona SAE!

FAQs

Q: WILL I BE PROVIDED A PHONE?

Barcelona SAE can provide you a basic cell phone with a local sim card upon request. The phone will be preloaded with 5€. Any additional costs of calls will be the responsibility of the faculty member. This phone must be returned to the Barcelona SAE offices before the departure of the program.

If you will be relying on your own phone and have an international plan, please be sure that the staff at Barcelona SAE has your phone number. It is important that we are able to reach you in an emergency.

Q: WHAT IS BARCELONA SAE’S ATTENDANCE POLICY FOR CLASSES AND ACTIVITIES?

Attendance policy for classes and academic excursions is up to the discretion of the professor. Since Barcelona SAE’s programs are designed to take advantage of the unique contribution of the instructor and the lecture/discussion format is regarded as the primary mode of instruction, we normally assume that professors will make attendance to all program activities mandatory. Please let us know if this is not the case so that we can adjust reservations accordingly.

Q: WHAT HAPPENS IF I GET SICK AND CAN’T TEACH FOR A DAY?

These situations are managed on a case-by-case basis. Professors usually find time to make up the class hours if needed. In the past professors have had a “double class” on the following day or added additional class hours to the following couple of days, depending on the availability of classroom space. If you have a planned group activity, guest speaker or excursion, let us know as we will most likely be able to run the activity or event in your absence while you work on getting better.

Q: WHAT WILL MY CLASSROOM LOOK LIKE?

Classrooms are located in International House in downtown Barcelona. They are fully equipped with computers, projectors, speakers and whiteboards. The use of pen drives is strictly prohibited, so we encourage you to have presentations in places where you can find them online (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc). There are rooms of varying sizes, to accommodate large or small classes. Students will also have access to Barcelona SAE’s student lounge with a few computers, wifi and a printer.

Q: I DO NOT SPEAK SPANISH/CATALAN. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM?

Not at all! All locals speak both Spanish and Catalan and many are quite fluent in English as well. All of our staff members are fluent Spanish speakers (most also speak Catalan) and will be with you in any situation that might require translation. Take this opportunity to learn a bit of both languages, and practice with the staff!

Q: WILL I BE ON CALL AFTER HOURS FOR EMERGENCIES?

Barcelona SAE has a 24-hour emergency phone that rotates amongst our staff members. Staff are all trained on emergency response, and will take appropriate action in the case of an after-hours emergency. Should there be any serious situation involving a student’s health or safety, Barcelona SAE’s Health & Safety Coordinator will contact the faculty, but unless it is a very serious case we will let you sleep and update you in the morning.

Q: WILL I HAVE ACCESS TO A PHOTOCOPIER?

We have a photocopier available for scanning documents or copying/printing occasional handouts when needed, but this should be for occasional use as normally we do not include these printing fees in our budgets for Customized Programs. If you know in advance that you will need to print lots of materials (more than 10 pages per student), we can build this into the program budget or we can help you to find a local photocopy shop to print materials on the faculty budget.

Molero on Ronda Sant Pere 44 is a good print shop near our offices, but check their schedule before you go!

Q: WHAT IF I WANT TO LEAD AN ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY OR DAY TRIP THAT ISN’T IN THE SCHEDULED ITINERARY?

Some faculty plan additional visits and activities outside of what is planned by Barcelona SAE, such as group meals or day trips using the school’s budget but not within the program outline and budget provided by Barcelona SAE.

This is fine, but please keep in mind that although we will try our best to be helpful and assist you in planning, Barcelona SAE is not responsible for logistics and execution of these events. If you are relying on Barcelona SAE to make reservations and aid in the logistics of this event, there will be an added charge to the program fee to cover staff time.

Q: IF I ARRIVE BEFORE THE START OF PROGRAM, WILL MY AIRPORT PICKUP AND HOUSING BE COVERED?

If your program includes airport pickup, a Barcelona SAE staff member will be at the airport from 9am to noon on the day of the arrival and will help with the housing check-in (or at a specific time in the case of a group flight). Arrivals before program start are managed on a case-by-base basis, but normally students and faculty will be responsible for their own transfer to the center if they arrive outside of the set arrival date. If we cannot cover your housing and airport pickup, we will at least provide you with resources for booking your shuttle service and your housing until the program starts.