GAP Year Best Practices and Standards - Carlton as a Industry Reference by American Gap Association

GAP Year Best Practices

and Standards

Posted on April 1, 2013

It’s not a surprise that it’s taken so long to develop the Standards for Gap Years in the US, but after much effort, several drafts, and a lot of collaboration, I’m proud to say that they’re here!  Visitwww.americangap.org/standards.php to download a copy!

What’s in the Standards:  AGA’s Gap Year Standards hold five main certifications at this point: “Philosophy & Integrity”, “Partnerships”, “Backcountry / Developing Country”, “Service-Learning”, and “Independent Student Placements”.  Each of these certifications represent what any single organization will be doing when on program, and organizations will submit corroborative materials for each certification.  In most cases the Standards represent common-sense best practices, but their true value is in safety – primarily those issues that are potentially major but due to their infrequency are often overlooked.   The idea is to prevent the major issues through planning!

Why should I care?:
Simply put, Gap Year enrollment has shown consistent growth since the numbers have been tracked.  At this point we’ve been able to take a sample accross the industry and I’m pleased to see the growth of the industry.  However, as this form of pedagogy has grown, so too has the onus to ensure the highest caliber of instruction, and so, the Standards are beyond important!
o 2006-­‐2007 = + 35.3% enrollment
o 2007-­‐2008 = + 39.0%
o 2008-­‐2009 = + 4.2%
o 2009-­‐2010 = + 27.8%
o 2010–2011 no data
o 2011–2012 = + 34.9%
o 2012–2013 (March to March) = + 58.2%

How they’ve changed: The Standards have gone through many evolutions, but the big ones include:
* removal of the “Environmental Sustainability” section.  While this is a very important standard, it represents only one of many possible (such as women’s issues, etc.), and thus a larger plan is required to integrate these sub-certifications into the overall fold
* revised Gap Year pedagogy section that focuses more on outcomes
* revised Service-Learning section
* increased transparency about financial aid availability
* greater clarification about Philosophy & Integrity Indicators: policies about relationships, forms, incident reporting, student orientation, student re-entry process, hiring standards, and staff training.
* increased compatibility for online submission (coming in April!)

Who’s reviewed them: Thankfully, as these Standards have evolved, I’ve been lucky enough to incorporate some great feedback from peers in the industry.  The following people deserve a very special thanks for their comments in this documents evolution.  Holly Bull (Interim Programs), Robin Pendoley (Thinking Beyond Borders), Drew Edwards (Carpe Diem Education), Erin Barnhart (Effective Altruism and IPSL), Carlton Rounds (Volunteer Positive and formerly Cross Cultural Solutions), and Karl Haigler (Author of The Gap Year Advantage).  Without these tremendous people the Standards would not represent such a high caliber.

Carlton Rounds is interviewed by GoAbroad.com

Carlton Rounds is interviewed at the 

2016 NASFA Conference in Denver, Colorado

The Power of GAP Year for Youth!

Excerpts from an Interview of GAP Years Abroad for New Book by Andrea Wien

ON LEARNING:

Carlton Rounds is an academic administration veteran the current Director of Campus Engagement at Cross Cultural Solutions (CCS), a non-profit organization that connects volunteers with people in need around the world. He says the benefits Mindy is referring to come from stepping outside of your comfort zone, making mistakes and learning from those around you. At CCS, Gappers volunteer alongside people of varying ages who come from different backgrounds, which can be a rich opportunity for young people who haven’t yet ventured outside their peer circles.

He tells the story of a time when he was 39-years-old and shared an experience with an 18-year-old who was volunteering at a special education center:

“At dinner, we would talk about our volunteer work days, and this younger guy was a street artist, so he loved to just sit and sketch. Then, one day he said, ‘I don't know what to do about this issue that’s happening on-site at my placement.’ ”

I said, ‘Ok, we'll make a deal. I'll teach you some special education techniques if you'll give your personal time to bring art to people on my placement.’ I could never have replicated his skills, as I have no artistic talent. One of the big, important outcomes for him was that he asked for help from an adult in exchange for his own mature talents. I think that's a huge lesson in reciprocity.”