Dr. Stephen McDowell, Assistant Provost for International Initiatives and John H. Phipps Professor of Communication, presented on the panel “Navigating Risk Management and Mental Health Abroad: Strategies and Insights” at the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA) conference.

“The panel was very well-attended, and we had a lot of good questions,” McDowell said. “This gave us confirmation that these are important questions that many other universities are also facing.”

NAFSA is a conference focused on international education.  This includes on-campus programs, studying at foreign universities, international academic exchanges, study abroad by U.S. students, international internships and service, and recruiting international students to the U.S.

McDowell and his colleague Ashley Krutz-Ordner, university director of International Travel Safety and Risk (ITSR), presented on the panel. Part of McDowell’s role at Florida State University includes working with Krutz-Ordner to manage international travel safety for students, staff, and faculty. McDowell and Krutz-Ordner went into depth about specific challenges in this area on the panel.

McDowell also met with representatives of different countries at the conference as part of an “Embassy Circle” event organized by the U.S. Department of State.

The conference was attended by staff from the FSU Center for Global Engagement and gave them the opportunity to meet with representatives from universities that have academic exchanges, and to meet potential exchange partners.

“At FSU we seek to prepare students who lead in each of their academic majors, and who can interact well with people from different parts of the world in their professions and civic life,” McDowell said. “FSU has some leading international programs and research engagements, and these types of meetings enable us to strengthen our outreach.”