GIVE STUDENTS THE WORLD: USF Study Abroad Scholarship Campaign

Since 2008, Amanda Maurer has served as the Director of the Education Abroad Office in USF World. In that time, the number of students participating in an international education abroad experience has increased by 150%, as reported in Open Doors.

In the 2020 Open Doors report, USF ascended into the top 40 institutions in the United States for outbound mobility. Not only has student participation in study abroad increased under Amanda’s leadership, but the Education Abroad Office has also been nationally recognized because of its commitment to ensuring access and diversity in those who participate in study abroad programs.

In 2017, USF was the awardee for the Excellence for Diversity and Inclusion in International Education (EDIIE) from Diversity Abroad, and in 2019, USF was awarded the IIE Andrew Heiskell Award - Access and Equity.

Prior to coming to USF, Amanda served as the Senior Director of International Programs at Columbia Law School. She received her Master’s degree in Russian language and literature from Florida State University, where she studied abroad in the USSR and former Yugoslavia. She has served on several international education boards, participated and led training sessions, conference panels and poster sessions, and was a contributor to the ISA ThinkDen publication on Education Abroad Operational Models.

Dr. Kiki Caruson leads USF’s global engagement across the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses, including study abroad programming, international student and scholars services, USF INTO pathway programs, the management of international partnerships, the Global Discovery Hub, initiatives that support research and scholarly mobility, Peace Corps programming, international alumni outreach, as well as global development activities.

Dr. Caruson is an expert regarding the best practices for promoting strong relationships between university research and international offices and the data and metrics associated with successful global engagement across faculty, students, alumni and global partners. She led an AIEA-Sponsored Thematic Forum: Developing Institutional Strategies for Growing Global Research held at the University of South Florida in 2014, which launched subsequent conferences hosted by Rutgers University (2016) and the University of California, Davis (2018).

Dr. Caruson is the author of numerous publications including “International Research Partnerships," in NAFSA’s Guide to International Partnerships: Developing Sustainable Academic Collaborations edited by Jane Gatewood, 2019; “Building International Research Capacity: The SIO Perspective,” in NAFSA’s Senior International Officer Guide edited by David Di Maria, 2019; and "Globalizing University Research: Innovation, Collaboration, and Competition", published in 2017 by the Institute of International Education (IIE). In 2016, Dr. Caruson received the inaugural Big Ideas Award from the Society for Research Administrators International (SRA-I) for the creation of a peer-resourced, web-based Global Research Toolkit.

Dr. Caruson is an alumna of the USIEF India Fulbright Program for senior international education administrators (2013) and is an active scholar, teacher and mentor. She has led student groups to Panama, India and Peru, and has twice received USF's Outstanding Teaching Award. A faculty member in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Caruson maintains an active, interdisciplinary research portfolio, is an advisor and mentor to graduate and undergraduate students and has served in leadership roles in a number of professional organizations affiliated with her academic discipline, international education and research administration.

Mr. Sanchez joined the Education Abroad Office in the fall of 2001. He is a USF graduate, with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in International Studies. He completed his Master of Education with a focus on Instructional Technology and Curriculum Design.

His passion for international education led him to complete study abroad programs in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland, Peru and the United Kingdom, later leading programs in the United Kingdom and France. He currently serves the office as the Assistant Director for Operations where he acts as the primary contact for faculty development, contracting and virtual global exchange while overseeing the program development and exchanges team.

Ashley Gairing started volunteering at age eight, accompanying her grandmother to help at the Red Cross Blood Bank. Later, when her three children were small, she served on the boards of the Suncoast Dream Fund, Center Against Spouse Abuse (CASA), Brookwood, and Community Preschool, and chaired fundraising events for a variety of local non-profits.

Ashley served at Shorecrest Preparatory School as Assistant Director of Advancement, Assistant Director of Admissions, and Director of Communications, Marketing and Alumni Affairs. Simultaneously, she earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from National Louis University, where she was chosen to be the student commencement speaker.

She moved to Independent Day School as a doctoral intern while she attended Nova Southeastern University’s doctoral program in Educational Leadership. After finishing with an Outstanding Dissertation Award, Ashley worked at Canterbury School of Florida as Director of Advancement and Admissions.

Her volunteer activities included two terms as Junior League Sustainer President and Centre College Parent Committee Chair plus several years on the Centre College Career Services Advisory Board. Most recently, she was Executive Vice President of Suncoasters. Today, she is retired and focusing on her second year as president of USF St. Petersburg’s Town and Gown. Ashley also serves on a drug task force in Boyle County, Kentucky, and helps develop workshops with Greenwood Associates that focus on people 50+ who are planning their next chapter.