About the Rotary Youth Exchange Program
Rotary Youth Exchange (Rotex) students spend up to a year living withhost families and attending school in a different country. The purpose of the Rotary Youth Exchange is language learning, citizen diplomacy, leadership, service, and cultural exchange. Youth exchange programs are available in over 100 countries and geographic areas to young people ages 15-19. The Rotary Club of New Paltz has hosted and sponsored both inbound and outbound long-term youth exchange students.
Rationale for Supporting Youth Exchange
Supporting youth exchange means serving young people and giving them an unparalleled opportunity to gain international experience and contribute to both their home and host communities. Youth exchange programs introduce Rotary to a new generation and allow students to observe and participate in Rotary activities, service, and community their home and host countries. Many youth exchange alumni stay active in Rotary and even go on to become Rotarians. An often overlooked but very important benefit of the youth exchange program is that Rotarians can learn from and benefit from the perspectives and example of the young people they welcome into their lives. It is a privilege and an opportunity to host and send youth exchange students.
Role of the Youth Exchange Committee
The Youth Exchange Committee (YEX) facilitates all aspects of the youth exchange and ensures good communication between the student(s), members of the New Paltz Rotary Club, District 7210, host families, New Paltz School District, and the wider New Paltz community. The Youth Exchange Committee must appoint a Youth Exchange Officer (YEO) and a Youth Exchange Counselor (this person may or may not be the same person). If the YEO is not of the same gender as the exchange student, a YEC of the same gender should be appointed. Additional Rotarians are encouraged to be on the YEX committee if they are prepared to practically contribute in some consistent way to the youth exchange program.
Prior to the arrival of an inbound student, the YEO is responsible for finding host families, submitting the proper paperwork to the district (including host family applications, background checks), arranging for airport pickup, and keeping the club updated about the process. After the student arrives, the YEO attends orientation with the student, reviews all relevant information with the host families, ensures that the student has transportation to and from district-sponsored events, submits proper paperwork to the district (monthly reports, etc.), and regularly spends time with the inbound exchange student (at least 3 times per month).
Although it is impossible to measure the amount of time needed for a successful program, it is estimated that the YEO should be prepared to devote on average 3 hours per week for the duration of his or her term to youth exchange (more or less depending on the time of year and circumstance). Regarding outbound students, the roles of the YEO or the YEX committee have not yet been defined by the Rotary Club of New Paltz, but recommendations are suggested in this report.
For a more practical breakdown of the roles and responsibilities of the YEX Committee and YEO, please see Appendix I.
Role of the Rotary Club
Participating Rotary Clubs are responsible to ensure that the youth exchange program is vital financially and in terms of the support they offer the student. This means having dedicated members who plan and manage the youth exchange functions in the club as well as having a general population of members who are educated about the program and understand how to be involved. In the case of youth exchange programs, the support and service to the student is the larger and more important commitment.
The consequence of funding a youth exchange program financially but under-committing to the service portion of the program is akin to being invited to a fine dinner in a new town with complete strangers who pay for your meal but never talk to you. You’d be grateful for the fine dinner, but confused as to the lack of relationship and conversation with your host.
Conversely, if Rotarians invest in the life of a young person by speaking to them, asking them questions, inviting them to service events and meetings, keeping up with their lives, and supporting them as they accomplish their goals, they will be grateful for the rest of their lives for being given such a rare opportunity and they are more likely to consider joining the organization that they already feel a part of! Also, this creates the possibility for the student to enrich the life of the Rotary club and community.
Role of District 7210
District governors supervise the Youth Exchange program and should be familiar with program guidelines and youth protection requirements. The DG appoints a Youth Exchange Chair for the district and that person promotes Youth Exchange activities within the district and communicates with Rotary International, the district governor, and clubs. The chair also plays a significant role in managing the inbound and outbound student applications, planning orientations and coordinating district youth exchange activities, developing a crisis management plan and other guidelines and policies, etc.
For every student district 7210 hosts, district 7210 can send a student on the youth exchange program. Rotary clubs that host inbound exchange students will be given preference when the district has to select outbound exchange students.
Please see Appendix II for more detailed descriptions of the role of the district.
Finances
The costs associated with hosting an inbound student are a combination of district mandates, weekend charges, and host club options. District 7210 recommends each hosting club budget $2,000 per inbound student. This money goes toward the student’s monthly $100 stipend and Rotex weekend event[1] costs. Generally there are about five weekends hosted by Rotary Clubs who each set the agenda and the cost for their weekend. District 7210 Youth Exchange Committee imposed a cap of $100 per weekend.
Costs will not likely exceed $2,000 per inbound student per year but may be less depending on the student and the club. For example, it is not required by Rotary International or District 7210 that the host club pay for a cell phone but it is something to be considered due to the fact the student needs to have a cell phone to keep in contact with Rotary and his or her host family but the cost of a cell phone and plan would at minimum be at least half of the monthly stipend[2].
To send an outbound youth exchange student, the club must make a financial commitment of at least $500. However, it is suggested by District 7210 that each club contributes $800 to cover the district mandated costs as well as the cost of the student attending district conference.
Recruitment
District 7210 and individual Rotary clubs share the responsibility of recruiting high school students to participate in the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Successful applicants do not select where they would like to go but are able to give preferences. There is not a right or a wrong way specifically to recruit high school students, but the goal is to widely disseminate the information and get the word out to young people where they are able to receive the messages. Costs to the club of all outreach efforts should be carefully considered and built into the youth exchange budget. Many recruitment efforts require little to no financial cost (social media, word of mouth, self-produced printed materials, school announcements, etc.)
The New Paltz Rotary club can create or strengthen links with local schools and other community centers and establish the best way to inform students at those schools about the opportunities available. Rotarians may wish to inform those within their own personal networks about youth exchange opportunities. By creating an effective recruitment strategy, the Rotary Club of New Paltz is not only informing potential student applicants of a unique opportunity, but also spreading the word to the wider community about what Rotary is all about and the ways in which Rotary impacts New Paltz.
Please see Appendix III and pg. 11 of the YEX Handbook for additional recruitment strategies and ideas.
Application Process
The district manages the application process entirely for inbound exchange students. The Rotary Club of New Paltz simply notifies district 7210 as to whether or not the club will host an inbound exchange student. All of the relevant application information about the student is given to the club President and/or YEO.
For outbound exchange students, the Rotary Club of New Paltz can distribute applications to interested high school students and communicate the process and next steps clearly to the students and their parents. Children of Rotarians are welcome to apply but are not given preference. It should also be noted that in many other parts of the world (but not here in district 7210), parents who send their students on a Rotex program are required to host an inbound student that same year.
The YEX committee will review all applications and select the student(s) they wish to nominate to the district for consideration. The YEX committee should only nominate clearly qualified students and encourage both successful and unsuccessful applicants to pursue other Rotary youth opportunities such as RYLA, Roteract and Interact, Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship programs, etc. Individual Rotary clubs along with the district will formally process the applications and select outbound youth exchange students.
Concerns and Challenges
Any number of challenges will arise when the model of the program is long-term international exchange. These may include but are not limited to issues surrounding: language barriers, physical and mental health, safety, immigration, behavior, host family, biological family, cultural adjustment, transportation, death or tragedy while on the program, school performance, legal matters, etc. It is important to be aware of the fact that in the past 75 years Rotary has developed an outstanding model of training and support to mitigate risks and ensure the health and well-being of students and host families.
To further strengthen the viability of the program, it is imperative that Rotarians from the home and host club become aware of potential concerns and work towards creating an environment and program that best allows a student and host families to succeed.
Youth exchange programs require an immense time commitment from the sponsoring and hosting Rotary Club and a significant financial contribution. If a sponsored or hosted student has to leave the program before completion for any reason, it is indeed a loss for the club. Additionally, if a student is having difficulty adjusting and is not living up to the Rotary standards of being an ambassador for his or her country and sponsoring club, it is a real concern. However, both of these scenarios (and arguably all challenges or concerns that arise) provide an opportunity for the student, host families, district, and the club to rise to the challenge and confront the circumstance with compassion, honesty, and dignity with the four-way test as a well-known guide.
See pg. 26 of the YEX Handbook for additional discussion on students who return early from a program.
Recommendations
2011/2012 was a year of organizing the Youth Exchange Committee and clarifying roles and responsibilities. Creating a strategic plan is a part of that effort. Although the club has had great success with the youth exchange programs, there is plenty of room to grow in strengthening and improving our approach to youth exchange. Each year of youth exchange should be reviewed and necessary changes made. Improving the youth exchange program is an ongoing process—never a once and done!
The following suggestions are a result of conversations with Rotary youth exchange students, YEX committee members, and Rotarians. Implementation of any or all of these recommendations will depend on level of commitment from the club, timing, and internal/external barriers and opportunities.
1. Sponsor an outbound student for 2013/2014 (application due in Fall 2012)[3].
2. Create and implement a recruitment strategy to include New Paltz area schools and youth facilities, community centers, and religious organizations. See Appendix III.
3. Consider re-structuring so that the Youth Exchange Committee merges with other youth-focused committees (Youth Development and Exchange Committee?) so that committee members can think of more ways to work together to develop communication and mentorship activities with our youth (e.g. create one PDF outreach material and distribution effort that informs people about YEX, RYLA, and scholarships for youth).
4. Re-evaluate the Rotary Club of New Paltz short and long term commitment to youth exchange and revise the annual budget accordingly.
5. Consider dedicating a percentage of funds raised to Youth Development and Exchange or having a specific fundraising mechanism for youth exchange (‘Day at the Races’ is a great example).
6. Inform the community more explicitly that youth development is a core part of our service to New Paltz. Add information to the FB page, have materials present at tabling events, discuss ways we can improve our communication with the community around these issues.
7. If the club decides that youth exchange will be a long-term priority, the organization and updating of the information and processes will remain important. It would be the role of the YEO to ensure that this happens and that information is passed along to the next YEO. How can this best be done? (Wiki space, Google Docs, DropBox, Rotary website admin., etc.)
8. Creating and maintaining a database of potential host families. All Rotarians are encouraged to suggest potential host families.
9. Connecting New Paltz youth exchange alumni with inbound/outbound students as a peer-to-peer mentoring effort. Use of social media, Rotary events, social events, etc. are a good start.
10. Identify how youth exchange programs provide a unique opportunity to interface with the community and introduce Rotary to a demographic we may not currently reach—high school students and their parents.
11. Better integrate youth exchange alumni into ongoing Rotary Club of New Paltz activities. This could mean many different things depending on the student and Rotarians, including ongoing speaking engagements, service with the club, Roteract involvement, vocational mentorship, etc.