STEP Program Application Process

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 A FAMILY EXPERIENCE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND UNDERSTANDING

Student Application Process

  • General Information
    • Students are eligible for a short-term exchange any summer starting between their eighth grade and freshman year of high school to the summer after graduating high school. Most short-term exchange students are in high school. The student must be 15 to 19 years of age.
    • Students do not need a family connection to Rotary.  Any qualified student may apply.
    • The student’s family must be willing and able to host their student’s inbound exchange match.
    • Students will be interviewed and nominated by their local Rotary club.
    • Clubs may nominate more than one student.
    • Students may be eligible to go on a Short Term Exchange more than once.

 

  • Specific Club and Student/Host Family Instructions
    • The student fills out a club application for their local Rotary club.
    • If the club application is approved, the club will interview the student and family in their home.  The family must agree to host a student for the same length of time that their son or daughter is in their host country. The family must understand that both their child and their child’s exchange match will be at their home at the same time.  Since this is a FAMILY to FAMILY exchange, sending clubs should be confident that the student’s family is eligible to host before they recommend the student to the district for Short Term Exchange (STEP). This determination needs to be made before submitting the student’s Nomination Form to the district.
    • If the interview is successful, the club fills out and submits a STEP Nomination Form to the district by September 30th of each year.  A $450 check for the STEP fee, written to Rotary D5100 YEX, should be included with the Nomination Form. This fee is usually paid by the student or their family.  
    • Once clubs have filled out and signed the STEP Nomination Form, both the form and check for $450 should be sent to:

Tina Scheible   – District 5100 STEP Coordinator

14888 SE Cedar Ave. Milwaukie, OR 97267           

    • It is okay for the signed Nomination Form to be sent electronically (as a PDF) to tina.scheible@gmail.com.   Then, the family can mail the check separately.
    • The club should make sure the student and family are aware of the Application Seminar (usually the first weekend in October) and the two required Orientations (a whole weekend in January for the students (usually around the 9th), with a parent orientation on that Sunday, and a morning in late April or early to mid-May).
    • It is highly recommended that both the student and their family attend the district STEP Application Seminar held in early October.  Rotarians are also invited.
    • Students will get the link to the online STEP application after the Application Seminar.
    • The student completes the online STEP application form, including student and family letters, and pictures.  The club should support their student while filling out the online application.  The club may want to request to see the student and family letters before they are uploaded to help them be the best letters they can be.  When the online application is done, it should be submitted.
    • The STEP Coordinator will review each application and request that any needed changes be made.  This may take some time since all applications arrive at the same time.  
    • Four more documents are required after the application is submitted: 
      • a copy of their current passport good until at least March of the year following their exchange, 
      • the Rules and Conditions page signed by the student, family, and sponsoring Rotarians (all in blue ink), 
      • a completed Health Form, 
      • and the Guarantee Form.  Only the top three sections of the Guarantee Form (about the applicant, the sponsoring club, and the emergency contact) should be filled out.  
    • The club should support their student in filling out these forms.
    • The STEP Coordinator will review each document as it is submitted.  It will either be accepted or rejected.  If it is rejected, there will be a note explaining what to change.
    • Clubs wanting to nominate students after October 31st should contact Tina Scheible, the district STEP Coordinator, at tina.scheible@gmail.com.  Each request will be reviewed on a case by case basis.    
    • Because this is a FAMILY to FAMILY exchange, all members of the student’s family who will be living at the home and who will be 18 years or older at the time of the exchange, must have a background check and go through training and Rotary’s Youth Protection Policy (YPP). This is initiated when the family completes the online host family application. The family should apply to be a host family in mid-December after their student is fully accepted into the short-term exchange program.  (That timing ensures they will still be approved as a host family at the end of a possible staggered exchange.)
    • Students and their parents are required to attend the outbound student orientation to be held in January. The students are required to attend for the whole weekend.  At least one parent must join the orientation on Sunday morning of that weekend. There is also a morning orientation held in late April or early to mid-May for parents and students.  It is also required.  All students and at least one parent must attend both orientations. This requirement can only be waived under very special circumstances.  
    • On the Sunday of the January orientation, the students will make their final choice for country preferences for short-term exchange.
    • The STEP Coordinator will then work to find matches for the student from the country of their choice.  When one is found, it will be offered to the student and their family.  The student and their family will approve their match (or not).  Students and families may not contact the inbound student until the match is fully finalized and the STEP Coordinator has given them approval to communicate.
    • Once a match is agreed to on each side, the two students and families can begin to communicate. 
    • After being matched, the students and their sponsoring Rotary club will need to fill out their match’s Guarantee Form. This guarantee form must be signed by the hosting club secretary or YEO, club president, and the district youth exchange chair. All signatures must be in blue ink.  The counselor assigned to this inbound STEP student must have completed all YPP requirements and be an approved youth exchange volunteer.  The student should keep the original document and submit a pdf electronically to the STEP Coordinator, Tina Scheible, at tina.scheible@gmail.com
    • The student’s match will fill out the student’s Guarantee Form in their country and return the finished Guarantee Form electronically (as a PDF) to the student.  The student should forward it to the STEP Coordinator, Tina Scheible, at tina.scheible@gmail.com, as soon as they get it.
    • Travel arrangements must be agreed upon by both families and follow all Rotary rules.  All travel for our students must be made through our Rotary district-approved travel agent, It’s Your World Travel. For this year, 2022, no exchanges may start before July 1, 2022.  No student may leave their home before July 1, 2022.  
    • The student will forward their travel confirmation and the travel confirmation of their exchange match to the STEP Coordinator.
    • Our required Rotary district health insurance must be purchased before leaving on exchange.
    • The student will forward their health insurance information to the STEP Coordinator.