March 11, 2021
By Deb Strohmaier, International Programs
When Kelly Newlon joined WSU’s Office of International Programs as director of Global Learning in December 2019, no one could foresee her scramble less than three months later to direct 300 students studying abroad to return home immediately from multiple countries.
Nor could anyone predict international travel – and global learning – would be shut down for more than a year.
Determined not to be “dream crushers,” Newlon and the Global Learning team worked together virtually for months to bring the world to students stuck at home.
“We wanted to create a program where our grounded students could learn and thrive without being able to travel.”