15UNC Staff & Faculty Development

Austral Education Group engages UNC Study Abroad Office (SAO) and Kenan-Flagler Business School (KFBS) staff and faculty as core co-creators of every custom immersion. Managed through the "Austral Planning Journey" (a 6-stage milestone protocol beginning 6–18 months prior to departure), Austral aligns program design directly with UNC course syllabi, learning objectives, and institutional accreditation criteria (AACSB, AMBA, and SACSCOC).

• Pre-Trip Academic Planning Survey

  Faculty complete a structured planning survey (Pre-Trip Academic Planning Survey) to define specific learning goals, target industries, executive speaker profiles, and co-curricular preferences.
• Curriculum Alignment Calls

  Dedicated Account Managers and localized Program Managers conduct bi-weekly alignment sessions with UNC faculty leads, submitting tentative itineraries with detailed speaker bios for formal faculty review and sign-off before confirming corporate visits.
• Learning Impact Framework (LIF) Integration

  Faculty receive access to the Learning Impact Framework (LIF)—an optional add-on academic service (LIF Platform) that utilizes a "backward design" methodology to map every site visit and C-suite engagement to measurable Assurance of Learning (AoL) competencies.

To ensure complete operational confidence before leading student cohorts abroad, Austral provides structured on-site preparation opportunities for university personnel:

• Annual Staff Reconnaissance Trips

  Austral can provide a reconnaissance trip for a designated university staff or faculty member, so representatives can audit hotel properties, review transit routes, and meet local project liaisons in person.
• Faculty Upgrades and Hospitality Perks

  During hotel block negotiations, Austral leverages vendor relationships to secure complimentary room upgrades to executive suites, guaranteed early check-in/late check-out, and dedicated hotel orientation spaces for accompanying UNC faculty and staff.

Austral connects UNC faculty with international higher education peers, government trade offices, and research institutions across 50+ countries:

• Faculty International Seminars & CIBER Programs

  Austral architects specialized Faculty Development in International Business (FDIB) seminars (such as the FIU CIBER Faculty Seminar in Costa Rica) and CIBER leadership trips designed to expand faculty research networks and regional domain expertise.
• Cross-Institutional Academic Exchange

  Austral arranges joint academic workshops, co-lectures, and panel discussions on local university campuses worldwide (e.g., Strathmore Business School in Kenya, Singapore Institute of Management in Singapore, Brock University in Canada, and Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Brazil), enabling UNC faculty to collaborate directly with international academics.
• Joint Risk Management Training

  Demonstrating our commitment to faculty development and operational excellence, Austral Education Group co-designed and facilitated a specialized Joint Risk Management Training program in partnership with Rice University. This initiative highlights the robust collaborative opportunities available to university faculty and staff, offering interactive workshops, destination safety protocols, and emergency response simulations to prepare educators for leading high-impact international programs.

UNC staff and faculty receive complimentary access to the Austral Education Platform, a proprietary digital database hosting over 1,000 live corporate consulting challenges, case studies, and executive speaker profiles sourced annually. Faculty can filter projects by sector, geographic hub, and student capability level to incorporate real-world business briefs into their Chapel Hill classroom teaching prior to travel.