Jamie Shannon, CISabroad On-Site Program Coordinator
Jamie graduated in 2011 with a BA in Environmental Chemistry from Pomona College and most recently completed an MA in International Education Management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) in Monterey, CA in 2014. She currently works at CISabroad in Northampton, MA as a Senior Program Coordinator on the Customized Faculty-Led Programs Team. Jamie has worked with students groups in Italy and New Zealand, and loves getting out of the office to experience firsthand the transformative programs she gets to help create! In addition to spending several months living in both Thailand and New Zealand, she has been fortunate enough to spend a summer researching humpback whales in the Cook Islands, travel every now and again to various parts of western Europe, and spend several weeks backpacking throughout Southeast Asia. When not studying or working, she enjoys all outdoor pursuits (especially hiking and attempting to surf), cooking (and eating), and adventuring with her fiancé, Nate.
Jamie will be with you for your whole journey across Southeast Asia and she looks forward to greeting you in Chiang Mai!
David Jackson, CISabroad Site Director in Thailand
David was born in the UK and moved to the US when he was 16 and completed high school and University in Colorado. As an avid traveler, his first thought on graduation was to travel to Asia. He volunteered and lived with a family in Kathmandu for 2 months before travelling to Thailand. He quickly fell in love with the country and for the last 12 years has worked as a teacher, as a development officer in NGOs, and has worked with volunteers and study abroad programs for the last seven years. He has an MA in Asia Pacific Studies and is fluent in Thai. He loves his work because it allows him to share his love of Thailand and its people with participants and at the same time support the great things that people all over Thailand are doing every day.
David will greet you in Chiang Mai and travel with your group throughout Thailand. He’ll be present for your orientation, and will provide additional support for your program in both Chiang Mai and Bangkok. He looks forward to meeting you all soon!
Tityarith Bun (Rith), CISabroad On-site Program Coordinator, Cambodia
Rith graduated from Build Bright University, Battambang Cambodia with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Traveling is one of his favorite activities as he strongly believes that people can learn so much through their travel experiences. He especially likes to be involved with educational trips, especially working with other nationalities to exchange knowledge and cultures. He has experience coordinating trips and projects for school groups from all around the globe for more than 7 years and has been providing amazing support to different charities where he works in Cambodia. With the passion of “making a difference through travels”, he looks forward to spending time with all of you in Cambodia and will be there to support you in every way possible to ensure your program abroad is a safe and meaningful one. He looks forward to meeting and getting to know you soon!
Rith will meet your group in Siem Reap, and travel with you for the week in Cambodia (Siem Reap and Phnom Penh).
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What’s an OPC? As part of your customized faculty-led program abroad, you will be led and supported by a CISabroad On-Site Program Coordinator (OPC). OPCs are experienced and well trained staff members, there to ensure the schedule goes according to plan. Each OPC attends an extensive training program that involves a range of modules – risk management, emergency response, safety, logistics’, cultural awareness, communication, culture shock, budgeting, social media, La Vida Local and customer service.
The primary role of the OPC is to facilitate the in-country implementation of the assigned customized program, by providing safety / emergency response and logistical support. During the program, the OPC is responsible for managing the day-to-day logistics of the assigned customized program and providing in-country support to both the faculty and students. Using personal travel experience, professional work experience (and where possible language knowledge), the OPC will help create a program environment that is safe and culturally engaging. The CISabroad OPC may or may not be an in country local. The majority of CISabroad OPCs are expats from the US, who have travelled, lived, volunteered, or worked abroad in the program destination.
The OPC is not a registered tour guide nor expected to provide tours of sites visited during the program. If the program is one that requires specific guided tours of various sites, these will be provided separately. The OPC provides a general neighborhood walking tour to help the group identify the nearest bank/ATM, pharmacy, laundry-mat, grocery store and other similar conveniences.
The OPC’s role allows faculty to focus on the academic objectives and the students to make the most of their time overseas!