By Steven King

Education Abroad is finding new ways to improve its visibility throughout campus.

A new and improved Resource Center is one of the ways the program plans to gain new students. Until now, the center was in one room. Now it is a three-room suite on the third floor of Bradley Hall.

The rooms contain computers for researching and applying to Education Abroad opportunities, information regarding all of the programs and private space for students to talk to advisers about different opportunities.

Education Abroad held an open house Thursday to celebrate the launching of its newly refurbished Resource Center. The open house let students see the new center and talk with Education Abroad coordinators as well as peer ambassadors about the opportunities offered abroad.

The process of students talking to peer ambassadors — students who formerly participated in Education Abroad and can advise students interested in an abroad opportunity — will be easier in the new Resource Center, said Anne-Marie Vaughn, coordinator of the ambassador program.

“The new Resource Center will be more accessible to students,” Vaughn said. “Students will be able to talk to peer ambassadors about their personal goals in a private setting if they choose, and it will not be crowded.”

Anthony Ogden, director of Education Abroad, also has confidence in the Resource Center’s new accessibility.

“I think the new Resource Center will make students more comfortable,” Ogden said. “It will be an easy first step for students to learn about the Education Abroad program.”

The Knowledge Exchange Institute sponsored the renovation of converting the rooms into a suite. The process was harder because Bradley Hall was originally designed to be a dormitory when it was erected in 1921. The process involved many components, said Julie Pollard, the institutional relations manager for KEI.

Pollard said the difficult process was well worth it.

“The computer and literary rooms will flow more freely now that there is more space,” Pollard said. “The entire Resource Center being one room just didn’t work as well, but this extra space makes it more organized.”

KEI has 15 programs embedded in the Education Abroad program at UK, KEI President Eduard Mandell said.

Mandell also said that the company’s mission is to provide programs that support each student’s career goals while providing a valuable cultural experience.

“The opportunities are there in the classroom,” Mandell said. “But the people you meet while studying abroad can have an equally lasting impact.”

The efforts of KEI and Education Abroad offer one of the most comprehensive and valuable Education Abroad programs in the U.S., Mandell said.

Ogden said Education Abroad at UK also has plans for the unveiling of its new website in a month’s time.