Country Coordinator

Important Documents

Job Description

Thank you for volunteering to serve as a District 5470 RYE Country Coordinator. You will be working with your RYE counterpart in a specific country abroad. This typically involves only one Rotary District in that country; however, it may involve more than one district in a single country or a multi-district organization. Rotarian Country Coordinators in the U. S. and abroad agree to exchange one or more students each year and work together to see that the exchanges work smoothly and efficiently, resulting in a positive experience for the students, Rotary clubs, schools and host families involved. As Country Coordinator, you will also work with the 5470 Rotary club or clubs hosting the foreign student from the country for which you are responsible and with inbound students from that country. You will also work with outbound students (and their parents) who have accepted placement in the country for which you are responsible. 

Exchange Agreements

Exchange Agreements should be made in writing so that both the sponsoring and hosting District Committees will know what is expected of them and the students they are sending abroad, and what to expect of the district or multi-district committee and students with whom they will be working. These agreements need to be completed far enough in advance that our District Committee knows how many inbound students to expect and how many placements are available in a given country, as well as the conditions under which the exchange will be made. Because conditions can change from year to year, these agreements should be renewed annually.  The Country Coordinator will be responsible for keeping copies of such agreements on file, for providing the District Chair with a copy, for knowing the conditions contained in the agreement, and for seeing that the students, as well as clubs, schools and host families in District 5470 involved in the exchanges covered by the agreement also know what the conditions are. Those conditions should include, but may not be limited to:

• Number of students involved
• Range of acceptable ages
• Timing of the exchanges (when they will begin and end)
• Insurance requirements
• Language requirements
• Training opportunities
• Rotary sponsored tours or other travel opportunities available