BUNAC
Encyclopedia
The British Universities North America Club (BUNAC) is an organisation, the objectives of which are:
BUNAC now also works towards the same objectives in countries other than those mentioned above. Where frameworks are already in existence to permit work exchanges between countries, BUNAC aims to increase awareness and levels of participation. Where no framework exists, BUNAC works with government departments to try to create new reciprocal work abroad opportunities for students and young people in both the sending and host country.
, University of Cambridge
and University of London
. It is a not-for-profit members Club and is one of the largest and oldest international work exchange organisations in the UK.
During the 1960s BUNAC was actively involved in the efforts of Lord Harlech (British Ambassador to the USA 1961-65) to formalise the reciprocal arrangements between the US and the UK to enable students from one of those countries to work in the other. This resulted in the development of the Exchange Visitor Programme (EVP) which allowed degree-level students to work in the USA during their summer vacation
and, in 1966, the creation of SEEP (the Student Employment Exchange Program) US to UK programme. SEEP became known as the Work in Britain/Blue Card programme. The US administration of Work in Britain was originally undertaken by BUNAC’s American partner CIEE until it was taken on completely by BUNAC USA in 1997. BUNAC’s Work in Britain quickly grew to become the largest outbound work abroad programme from the USA until September 2008 when the 5-Tier Managed Migration restructuring of work-based immigration policy by the Home Office UKBA abolished the concession under which it existed. BUNAC’s long-running Work America summer programme operates within the US State Department J-1 visa
Program framework.
In 1969 Lord Harlech became Honorary President with The Rt. Hon John Freeman and Senator James William Fulbright as Honorary Vice Presidents. The BUNACAMP programme was established by John Ball and Howard Crew in 1970. BUNACAMP (later BUNACAMP Counsellors and now Summer Camp USA) enables young people to spend a summer working as camp counsellors for American children on a wide range of summer camps.
BUNAC’s early involvement with Canada was through a relatively restrictive tobacco picking programme. In 1986, in co-operation with the Canadian High Commission and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, BUNAC was authorised to offer a small but much more open Work Canada programme for students only. This has since developed into a much larger programme allowing 18- to 30-year-olds to work in Canada for up to a year.
Throughout the 1990s BUNAC expanded the range of work abroad destinations from the UK to include Australia
, New Zealand
, a Teach & Travel China Programme, volunteer programmes to South Africa
, Ghana
, Costa Rica
, Peru
, Cambodia
and, most recently, India
.
BUNAC programmes are promoted on university campuses across the UK by former participants who provide students with the information they require in order to take full advantage of the international work abroad programmes available to them through BUNAC. This used to take the form of campus clubs run by volunteers, which were often affiliated with the university Students Union. The approach to promotion has changed in recent years, and now those who wish to promote Bunac on campus have to complete an application similar to applying for a job in order to be considered for such a position.
Since 1962 BUNAC has published a travel handbook, The Moneywise Guide to North America (originally The Student Guide to North America) specifically designed to assist those working and travelling in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The guidebook is distributed as a benefit to members.
.
Introduced in 1996 in honour of the late Howard Crew (General Secretary of BUNAC, 1966 to 1992) the Green Cheese Awards consist of the scholarship and prizes and are awarded on a competitive basis. Entrants are required to submit a humorous piece of creative writing
which is judged according to originality, presentation and content. The unique nature of the awards reflects the personality and the sense of humour of Howard Crew.
with a summer office in New York
. These offices administer a range of outbound programmes to Australia, New Zealand, Ireland
, France
and the UK as well as volunteer programmes to developing countries. The offices also provide support for inbound programme participants.
In Australia BUNAC provides outbound programmes through its wholly owned subsidiary organisation International Exchange Programs Pty. Ltd (Australia). Inbound participants are being serviced by the company Work n Holiday as of 2011, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. IEP Australia have their office in Melbourne - they also had an office in Sydney, however this closed at the end of 2010.
In New Zealand BUNAC provides inbound and outbound programmes through its wholly owned subsidiary organisation International Exchange Programs Ltd. (New Zealand). IEP New Zealand office is in Auckland.
Long-term partnership arrangements also exist with countries such as South Africa, Poland
, Germany
, Holland
, Sweden
, France, Serbia
, Hungary
, Macedonia, Lithuania
, Russia
, Turkey
and Ukraine
.
“Know before you go” safety campaign. In the United States, BUNAC USA is a member of NAFSA and the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange and a founder member of the American Camp Association
ICEO Group (International Cultural Exchange Organisations).
In December 2007 a consortium of BUNAC, Christian Aid
and Islamic Relief
was authorised by DFID to create, administer and operate Platform2. This was a DFID-funded 3-year volunteer programme designed to provide short-term (c10 weeks) overseas volunteering experience for 2,500 economically disadvantaged young UK citizens.
BUNAC now also works towards the same objectives in countries other than those mentioned above. Where frameworks are already in existence to permit work exchanges between countries, BUNAC aims to increase awareness and levels of participation. Where no framework exists, BUNAC works with government departments to try to create new reciprocal work abroad opportunities for students and young people in both the sending and host country.
History
BUNAC (the British Universities North America Club) was founded in 1962 by Christopher Harbour and Martin Truscott. It grew out of the Canada Clubs and North America Clubs at the University of OxfordUniversity of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. It is a not-for-profit members Club and is one of the largest and oldest international work exchange organisations in the UK.
During the 1960s BUNAC was actively involved in the efforts of Lord Harlech (British Ambassador to the USA 1961-65) to formalise the reciprocal arrangements between the US and the UK to enable students from one of those countries to work in the other. This resulted in the development of the Exchange Visitor Programme (EVP) which allowed degree-level students to work in the USA during their summer vacation
Summer vacation
Summer vacation is a vacation in the summertime between school years in which students and instructors are off school typically between 6 and 12 weeks, depending on the country and district.-Students:In some countries, students participate in programs such as organized sports, summer camps, and...
and, in 1966, the creation of SEEP (the Student Employment Exchange Program) US to UK programme. SEEP became known as the Work in Britain/Blue Card programme. The US administration of Work in Britain was originally undertaken by BUNAC’s American partner CIEE until it was taken on completely by BUNAC USA in 1997. BUNAC’s Work in Britain quickly grew to become the largest outbound work abroad programme from the USA until September 2008 when the 5-Tier Managed Migration restructuring of work-based immigration policy by the Home Office UKBA abolished the concession under which it existed. BUNAC’s long-running Work America summer programme operates within the US State Department J-1 visa
J-1 visa
A J-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa issued by the United States to exchange visitors participating in programs that promote cultural exchange, especially to obtain medical or business training within the U.S...
Program framework.
In 1969 Lord Harlech became Honorary President with The Rt. Hon John Freeman and Senator James William Fulbright as Honorary Vice Presidents. The BUNACAMP programme was established by John Ball and Howard Crew in 1970. BUNACAMP (later BUNACAMP Counsellors and now Summer Camp USA) enables young people to spend a summer working as camp counsellors for American children on a wide range of summer camps.
BUNAC’s early involvement with Canada was through a relatively restrictive tobacco picking programme. In 1986, in co-operation with the Canadian High Commission and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, BUNAC was authorised to offer a small but much more open Work Canada programme for students only. This has since developed into a much larger programme allowing 18- to 30-year-olds to work in Canada for up to a year.
Throughout the 1990s BUNAC expanded the range of work abroad destinations from the UK to include Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, a Teach & Travel China Programme, volunteer programmes to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
and, most recently, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
BUNAC – the Club
BUNAC is a not-for-profit club. The Club membership elects an Honorary Chairperson, Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Secretary annually. These “officers of the Club” sit on a fully voting basis on BUNAC’s governing body, the General Council. Previously there was also a National Committee (known as the NatCom) made up of members of the club (usually students), and this group met frequently during year.BUNAC programmes are promoted on university campuses across the UK by former participants who provide students with the information they require in order to take full advantage of the international work abroad programmes available to them through BUNAC. This used to take the form of campus clubs run by volunteers, which were often affiliated with the university Students Union. The approach to promotion has changed in recent years, and now those who wish to promote Bunac on campus have to complete an application similar to applying for a job in order to be considered for such a position.
Since 1962 BUNAC has published a travel handbook, The Moneywise Guide to North America (originally The Student Guide to North America) specifically designed to assist those working and travelling in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The guidebook is distributed as a benefit to members.
Scholarships and awards
BUNAC also offers financial assistance for British students wishing to study in the US and Canada through scholarships. A number of scholarships are awarded each year through the BEST (BUNAC Educational Scholarship Trust) Scholarships. The individual amounts awarded vary but are typically in the region of $5000–$10,000. The BEST Travel Awards of $1,000 are awarded to offset the cost of travel to the USA or Canada by UK nationals who are taking part in a year of study abroad in North America as part of their UK undergraduate degreeUndergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree is a colloquial term for an academic degree taken by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. It is usually offered at an institution of higher education, such as a university...
.
Introduced in 1996 in honour of the late Howard Crew (General Secretary of BUNAC, 1966 to 1992) the Green Cheese Awards consist of the scholarship and prizes and are awarded on a competitive basis. Entrants are required to submit a humorous piece of creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
which is judged according to originality, presentation and content. The unique nature of the awards reflects the personality and the sense of humour of Howard Crew.
Office locations
The head office of BUNAC is located in the Farringdon area of London. There was also a small office in Edinburgh for Work in Britain participants, however this closed in early 2009. BUNAC’s US office is located in ConnecticutConnecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
with a summer office in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. These offices administer a range of outbound programmes to Australia, New Zealand, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the UK as well as volunteer programmes to developing countries. The offices also provide support for inbound programme participants.
In Australia BUNAC provides outbound programmes through its wholly owned subsidiary organisation International Exchange Programs Pty. Ltd (Australia). Inbound participants are being serviced by the company Work n Holiday as of 2011, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. IEP Australia have their office in Melbourne - they also had an office in Sydney, however this closed at the end of 2010.
In New Zealand BUNAC provides inbound and outbound programmes through its wholly owned subsidiary organisation International Exchange Programs Ltd. (New Zealand). IEP New Zealand office is in Auckland.
Long-term partnership arrangements also exist with countries such as South Africa, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Holland
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, France, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Macedonia, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
Industry affiliations
BUNAC was a founder member of IAEWEP (the International Association for Educational and Work Exchange Programmes) which has since become the WYSE Work Abroad Association, and is a founder member of The Year Out Group in the UK. BUNAC is also a member of BUTEX, ISTC, BETA (the British Educational Travel Association) and of the Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeForeign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
“Know before you go” safety campaign. In the United States, BUNAC USA is a member of NAFSA and the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange and a founder member of the American Camp Association
American Camp Association
The American Camp Association , formerly known as the American Camping Association, is a 501 nonprofit that serves the United States. It is an association for camp owners, camp professionals and others interested in summer camps and similar camp programs.ACA runs an accreditation criterion for camps...
ICEO Group (International Cultural Exchange Organisations).
In December 2007 a consortium of BUNAC, Christian Aid
Christian Aid
Christian Aid is the official relief and development agency of 40 British and Irish churches and works to support sustainable development, alleviate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster relief in South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia...
and Islamic Relief
Islamic Relief
Islamic Relief Worldwide is a Muslim international relief and development organization consisting of a family of 15 aid agencies that aims to alleviate the suffering of the world’s poorest people...
was authorised by DFID to create, administer and operate Platform2. This was a DFID-funded 3-year volunteer programme designed to provide short-term (c10 weeks) overseas volunteering experience for 2,500 economically disadvantaged young UK citizens.