By Susan Sward

The University of California's systemwide Education Abroad Program (UCEAP), entering its 50th year of operation, is going to be administered in the future by the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The academic program, first established by UC President Clark Kerr in 1962, has been administered in recent years as a unit of the University of California Office of the President in Oakland.

Today (May 4), UC President Mark Yudof, UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry Yang and Jean-Xavier Guinard, UCEAP associate provost and executive director, met in the president's office and signed an memorandum of understanding transferring administrative oversight of the systemwide program to UC Santa Barbara.

Daniel Greenstein, UC vice provost of academic planning, programs and coordination, who had been administering the program, said the move was based on the idea that "academic instructional programs like UCEAP are better served at a campus than they are at the university's administrative headquarters — UCOP.''

Since its inception, 76,800 UC students have participated in the program, which today operates in 34 countries and has 117 host institutions.

Many of the students have been in a yearlong program while others have participated in quarter, semester and summer programs. UC also has hosted 24,000 international students who have completed non-degree study at a UC campus through UCEAP's exchange program.

Guinard said, "This is a real opportunity to celebrate UCEAP's leadership and accomplishments over the past 50 years and to build the study abroad program of the future.''

Susan Sward is a freelance writer in the UC Office of the President.