Sport Management Study Abroad and International Exchange Program Innovation for a Post COVID-19 Era

The globalization of the sport industry has required sport management programs to create strategies
for internationalizing students. Study abroad programs are a prominent example of those strategies. The
COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on study abroad programs in Spring of 2020. Many students had their study abroad experiences either cut short or canceled all together. The purpose of this
essay is to discuss how the student learning process can continue during an interruption or cancellation
of study abroad and international exchange programs due to a pandemic or other global issues. Using an
observational study, we asked the following research questions: RQ1: What can the disruption caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic to higher education teach the sport management community to ensure students
are able to engage in experiential and transformative learning? RQ2: What strategies can institutions of
higher education implement to provide students with continued opportunities to benefit from the types
of engagements traditionally associated with international programming? We offer recommendations
that will help sport management programs prepare for future interruptions to study abroad experiences.
These recommendations aim at fostering experiential and transformative learning despite disruptions to
the traditional study abroad experience