About us
AASAP stands for:
the Association of American Study Abroad Programs in Deutschland, e.V.
AASAP is registered as a non-profit organisation with the Berlin-Charlottenburg District Court (Association Register) under VR 32922 B.
- Why did we found the AASAP, what are our goals, and what are we planning?
Our organisation found its role models in the European associations of American study abroad programs which have represented the common interests of the members on a national level since the beginning of the 1960s. The oldest of these organizations, APUNE, was founded in Spain in 1969; the newest on the scene is the Swiss AACUPS, which was founded in 2011.
Whereas the other European associations only admit institutional members, in Germany there was a strong desire to combine an individual-based approach with the representation of institutions. Administrators, lecturers, consultants and experts on international exchange from the world of higher education all wanted to form a community based on their shared professional interest in and personal enthusiasm for transatlantic student exchange. Consequently, institutes of higher education, exchange organisations and other institutions active in transatlantic exchange were to be able to take part as equal players.
It all began in 1962 at varying locations in Heidelberg, with an informal think tank and the “directors conferences” of American programs in Germany, which were attended by American Resident Directors, directors of international offices, staff of the Fulbright Commission, the America Houses, and the American embassy and consulates. This tradition lived on for more than 50 years, in previous decades under the aegis of CIEE, then later at CollegeCouncil, and today at AASAP. Our association arose out of the desire to institutionalise the informal meetings and build a reliable network of experts for transatlantic cooperation in higher education and exchange, particularly at a time when the American cultural initiative in Germany has been reduced to an absolute minimum. The AASAP is intended to be a motor of knowledge in exchange and intercultural learning, it will collect and distribute relevant information, promote the further education of its members, introduce new concepts into the study abroad community, and implement them itself. No less important is AASAP’s representation of its members interests as an opinion leader in the world of transatlantic higher education.
It is our hope that our community of individuals and institutions will analyse and solve intercultural problems from a variety of perspectives, and that the mutual learning process it promotes will improve cooperation between institutions and programs. The interests of individual members are to receive fair consideration in relationship to those of institutional members.
From our bylaws:
The AASAP particularly aims to:
- promote education and training programs on a national and international level
- promote the exchange of information about study abroad programs between North
- American and German institutions of higher education
- increase the scope of study abroad and other forms of cultural exchange between North America and Germany
- foster international networking and international cooperation in matters of education
The AASAP is open to all who support its goals. The AASAP seeks to improve co-operation between North American and German institutions of higher education in the area of study abroad programs. It unites employees of institutions of higher education, intergovernmental institutions, government authorities and other organizations active in the international education and study abroad sectors.
You can read the entire Bylaws of the AASAP here