Pre-Departure Orientation: the three-step
process
In order to fully prepare you for your upcoming journey and allow
you to make the most of your time abroad, we've developed a
three-part orientation process that will guide you through
everything that you need to do and know before you go. Through this
process, you'll get detailed information on what you can expect
from your program and what we expect of you. It may seem like a
lot, but we've found this process to be the best way of making
pre-departure orientation as painless as possible - and remember,
you'll be required to complete all three components of the
orientation process before beginning your program.
Pre-Departure Requirements
1. Complete the Blackboard Course -
Available Starting June 1
We’ve condensed everything you need to know in one place! (You’re
welcome.) The Global Studies Orientation Blackboard course will be
available starting on
June 1 for you to
complete at your leisure. To access the Global Studies Orientation
Course, just login to your Blackboard account:
· Step 1: Go
to https://bbprod.stjohns.edu
· Step 2: Login - To
log in to Blackboard you'll need a username which is your
St. John’s email (this will be sent to you via your home school
email address) and your password, which is your 6 digit birthday.
So if your birthday is March 27, 1991 then your password is
032791.
· Step 3: Click on
the “Global Studies Orientation” course link.
· Step 4: Get
started!
It’ll take about an hour to complete the course, but you don’t have
to finish it in one go. That said, you must
complete each learning module with a perfect score, but don’t
worry: you can take each quiz as many times as you need in order to
master the material and get everything right. The
deadline to complete the Blackboard course is August
1. You will not be able to participate on the Global
Studies program until you have completed the Blackboard
course.
2. Complete the Required Forms
Packet
This is a two-step process. We have a bunch of information we'll
need to collect from you before you go, and a couple ways of
collecting it. First, you'll need to complete two online surveys,
which will allow us to collect information on your roommate
preferences and your flight itinerary. The surveys are available
here (LINKS). Second, you'll have to complete and hand in the
Required Forms packet, available in the Required Forms section of
this site. The deadline for forms and surveys is
Saturday, May 4.
**Important Note: Since this inlcudes your flight itinerary, you’ll
need to have your passport in hand and your flight booked
by May 4. If, for whatever reason, we have
all the other forms by May 4 but not your flight information, we
won’t revoke your admission, however: it’s even worse. We just
won’t be able to consider your arrival time when we arrange airport
pickup, and though we can’t guarantee everyone a pick-up, we
attempt to accommodate as many students as possible in this
courtesy service.
3. Attend a Global Studies
Advising Session
Remember that part about wanting you to be really prepared? Well,
we've developed a special in-person advising session to make sure
that happens! You'll meet with a Global Studies staff member, along
with a small group of fellow travelers, to discuss the process of
applying for your visa, meeting OGS pre-departure requirements and
everything else that needs to happen before you go. You'll also be
able to ask any questions you might have about any part of the
process. The full schedule of Advising Sessions will be posted here
soon, but expect sessions to happen daily throughout the month of
April. RSVP early to ensure that you get the session that best fits
your schedule.
For those students who do not live in the NYC metro area, you will
have to attend an online information session. Date TBD.
* Attend the Global Studies Send-off
Soiree (for those who live in the NYC metro area)
This is your chance to meet other travelers in your program and/or
module, learn a little more about the language and culture of the
places you'll be going and maybe even win a prize. Oh yeah, and
there will be food. You can even invite your parents! (Don't worry,
you won't have to hang out with them the whole time -- we'll have a
separate orientation session just for them.)
OGS Send-off Soiree
Saturday, May 4
1:00 - 4:00pm
D'Angelo Center: Room 416, Queens campus
For Parents
We have a number of info sessions and Pre-Departure Orientations
designed specifically for parents scheduled throughout the spring
semester. See our Parent Orientations
and Info Sessions page for full details.