Global Skills Program
The Global Skills Program is an optional, non-transcripted program designed to help students turn their global experience into transferable skills that they can then use in school, their communities, and at work.
The Perks
Earn a Digital Badge for LinkedIn
Add this Experience to Your Resume
Program Timeline
Plan Phase
(Before Program)
The Plan phase is an opportunity to set goals, prepare for your experience, and think about your Badges before you go abroad.
Phase 1 Requirements
- Register for the Global Skills Program in your program application post-decision steps. Once registered, you will be enrolled in the Global Skills Canvas modules.
- Complete the “Global Skills Program: Plan Phase” section in the Global Skills Canvas module before going abroad.
Learn Phase
(During Program)
The Learn Phase occurs while you are abroad and is when you engage in activities and experiences via your Learning Abroad Program and develop skills that you can later apply upon returning home.
Phase 2 Requirements
- Participate in activities while abroad that will help you earn the badges you have chosen as part of your goal.
- Complete online Badge Reflection(s) in Canvas.
Integrate Phase
(After Program)
The Integrate Phase occurs after you return home from your program. The Integrate Phase helps students convert their experience abroad into transferable skills that can be used at school, in the community, and in the workplace.
Phase 3 Requirements
- Completehe Digital Returnee Seminar in the Global Skills Canvas module
- Attend 1 Returnee Event
- Complete Testimonial
The Badges
There are (5) badges offered in the Global Skills program, and each badge offers different benefits and skills for you to earn while on your program. Depending on the program type, some badges will automatically apply while others will need to be earned independently. You can find that detail in each program's brochure under the Student Experience tab.
- Career Development
- Community Engagement
- Intercultural Learning
- Language Immersion
- Research Experience
Career Development Badge
Helps you incorporate practical professional experience while providing a global context to your chosen career field.
Badge Benefits
- Puts you in an environment that develops problem-solving skills and adaptability
- Teaches you to ask questions, learn quickly, be resourceful, and analyze information across cultures
- Provides global context to your career goals
- Helps you to develop emotional intelligence and leadership skills
How to Earn Badge
If your program doesn't include this badge automatically, here's how you can earn
this badge independently.
| For-Credit Activities | Non-Credit Activities |
|---|---|
| Complete a minimum of 3 internship credits while abroad | Complete a minimum of 25 hours of business visits, internships, job shadowing, networking, career counseling & informational interviews while abroad |
Community Engagement Badge
Provides unique insights into the host culture, encourages communication, and contributes to community initiatives.
Badge Benefits
- Provides unique insights into the host culture
- Gives firsthand experience with the infrastructure of the host country
- Requires you to creatively adapt to conditions in a social setting
- Contributes to local and international communities
How to Earn Badge
If your program doesn't include this badge automatically, here's how you can earn
this badge independently.
| For-Credit Activities | Non-Credit Activities |
|---|---|
| Complete a minimum of 3 service-learning or community engagement credits while abroad | Complete a minimum of 25 hours of a community service project while abroad |
Intercultural Learning Badge
The Intercultural Learning Badge encourages you to reflect on identity, explore cultural impact on communities, and grow through engagement beyond your own community.
Badge Benefits
- Requires you to consider how your identity and upbringing informs your view of your culture and others
- Helps you analyze how culture directly impacts community spaces and demonstrate key examples
- Allows you to unpack the complexities of your experience and its influence on how you perceive your growth
- Promotes continuous learning through engagement in communities other than students own community
How to Earn Badge
If your program doesn't include this badge automatically, here's how you can earn
this badge independently.
| For-Credit Activities | Non-Credit Activities |
|---|---|
| Complete a minimum of 3 credits taught by a local professor or with local students |
|
This badge applies automatically to all Exchange programs and the Utah Asia Campus.
Language Immersion Badge
Encourages you to practice language skills in a variety of settings & understad how language interacts with culture.
Badge Benefits
- Allows you to practice using a language in everyday life
- Creates the opportunity to understand how language interacts with culture
- Provides you with cross-cultural communication skills that can be used in academic, social and professional settings
How to Earn Badge
If your program doesn't include this badge automatically, here's how you can earn
this badge independently.
| For-Credit Activities | Non-Credit Activities |
|---|---|
|
Complete a minimum of 6 language credits (includes courses taught in host country language) while abroad |
Complete a minimum of 96 hours non-credit language classes or language exchange while
abroad |
|
OR complete a minimum of 3 language credits and 48 hours attending non-credit language classes while abroad |
Research Experience Badge
Allows you participate in intense academic inquiry and consider how culture impacts international research initiatives.
Badge Benefits:
- You gain new perspectives in their area of study
- Learn how culture impacts international research initiatives
- Participate in intense academic inquiry
- You share your scholarly work with the U community
How to Earn Badge
If your program doesn't include this badge automatically, here's how you can earn
this badge independently.
| For-Credit Activities | Non-Credit Activities |
|---|---|
| Complete a minimum of 3 research credits (or special designation) while abroad | Complete a minimum of 25 hours on a research project while abroad |
Testimonals
(click on images to read full testimonals)
Bryson Christensen
Language Immersion Badge Testimonal
Having returned from Oviedo, I get to utilize many skills that I learned there on a regular basis. Primarily, I use Spanish at work and in the community. Working in healthcare, it is important to me to be able to help people. My patients enter a position of vulnerability, and it brings me great satisfaction to assist them effectively. I also frequently get to engage with people in the community, which often surprises them. This brings me to another invaluable skill that I learned abroad. I have a deeper appreciation of other people’s cultures. I love to travel, and I can see the difference in the way that people interact with me because of the insights that I have gained.
Nandhini, Ramanathan
Intercultural Learning Badge Testimonal
Returning from my program, I learned how much a simple smile impacts others. When words could not get the message across, simple actions and gestures got a long way, especially after half an hour trying to split a bill resulted in the waiter smiling widely when we got messages through. I have also joined the Asian American Student Association where I can continue to learn about new cultures and feed my curiosity about “norms” and how diverse they are between places. I have adopted not wearing shoes in the house which was new to me in Korea but a staple now as I respect keeping my house clean. Incorporating ideas from a Korea have strengthened, even altered my own beliefs.
Jaden Lee
Intercultural Learning Badge Testimonal
When I was abroad, I approached everything with an unprecedented element of curiosity because everything was new and novel. I’d ask questions of people, both personal and random in the spirit of continuous learning. Showing that same interest in friends and coworkers back home has improved my relationships and given me a more nuanced understanding of why we operate differently, thereby helping with conflict resolution. Meanwhile, I’d also read and explore in my free time to learn something new. That has led me to discover new techniques and strategies within my profession and new dimensions to the world around me. My education used to primarily happen in classrooms, but studying abroad made me realize I’ll learn just as much on my own and with others.