Like most other organizations, Rotary Youth Exchange also has a collection of common questions and you may come across several Rotary Youth Exchange terms and nomenclature.

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What is RYE?

RYE is the abbreviation for Rotary Youth Exchange.  It is a common term across all of Rotary Youth Exchange, albeit the full term "Rotary Youth Exchange" should be used as much as reasonably possible.

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What is SCRYE?

South Central Rotary Youth Exchange (SCRYE) is the multi-district youth exchange to which Rotary District 6000 belongs. SCRYE was created to promote and facilitate Rotary International Youth Exchange for member districts. SCRYE provides information, education, collaboration and the independence to facilitate the Youth Exchange process. Learn more at: South Central Rotary Youth Exchange – Welcome to SCRYE Country

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Our district has over 20 RYE team volunteers with countless years of experience across the district.  Also, many nearby clubs have experience in RYE.  To begin, please review the website, which has information, and contact our Inbound (IB) coordinator team to get started and placed on our training schedule.  You will also need to establish a RYE team for your club so you can begin recruiting club volunteers at any time.  Our district team volunteers are committed to supporting our clubs and keeping the RYE program strong.  We are here to help in any way possible.  You can contact anyone on our "Contact Us" page for more information.

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What is an Outbound Student?

An Outbound (OB) Student is an Iowa high school student who resides in our district and is interested in studying abroad in our RYE partner countries.

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Are there scholarships available?

As we come across different scholarships, we will provide links for them in the outbound student area.  Some scholarships might be available in your local area, and your local school's guidance counselor and your local Rotary club can offer some assistance.  World Experience is a charitable corporation providing financial support for

teenage high school exchange students. There is no fee or other financial obligation attached to this scholarship.

The WES application windows are in the Fall and Spring - please check their website for availability and requirements: https://worldexperiencescholarships.com/

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What is an Inbound Student?

An Inbound (IB) student is from one of our RYE partner countries who comes to Iowa for an exchange. They will be placed with clubs and host families in our Rotary District 6000.

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What is a host club?

A host club is a District 6000 Rotary club that will host and counsel our inbound students.  They also provide the host family recruiting, vetting, and support for inbound student transition among the host families.  The host club will have a team of RYE-vetted volunteers who are the primary point of local contact and support for their students in club activities, meetings, and service projects.  A host club is not required to be a sponsor club.

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What is a sponsor club?

A sponsor club is a District 6000 Rotary club that recruits outbound students, performs the initial interviews, and provides support during their students' RYE application process. Like a host club, a sponsor club will also have a team of RYE-vetted volunteers who are the primary contact for their club. While the district RYE team provides much of the application process and training, the sponsoring clubs should introduce the students to Rotary so they can become active in the club's activities, meetings, and service projects.

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Does a sponsoring club need to be a hosting club and vice-versa?

The foundation of Rotary Youth Exchange is the word "exchange."  It would "be beneficial to all concerned" if a sponsoring club was also a hosting club.  However, we recognize that some clubs are challenged to find host families when they have a sudden interested outbound student.  We also have clubs and host families who are interested in hosting an inbound student but have no interested outbound students.  We work around these issues at the district level, but we encourage a club to host and sponsor students for the full experience.

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Are host families required to have a Rotarian in the family?

NO!  This question is a strong candidate for the number one FAQ question and has the strongest misunderstanding in RYE.  A family can be a non-Rotarian family, and you may encounter this situation more often than not.  Every host family goes through the same RYE vetting and reporting process. Recruiting host families and outbound students is a non-stop Rotary activity!

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Does a host family need to have their family members in school?

Host families are not required to have their children or students in school or living at home.  We encourage all clubs to look beyond their membership to find host families and always to be recruiting.  As noted above, recruiting host families and outbound students is a non-stop Rotary activity!

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What is a Rotex?

A Rotex is a past Rotary Youth Exchange student of any age.  We have several Rotex in our district who are also Rotarians and our district's RYE team members.  They are an invaluable resource for training and RYE events and also support our current students when they want to discuss some of their exchange challenges. Their experience is critical, and their unique insights help the RYE leadership understand the ever-changing trends and issues that can only come from their unique experiences.

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What is a V-1?

A V-1 is required for anyone actively participating in our Rotary Youth Exchange program.  It is required for ALL RYE district team members and includes information required for a criminal background check and references.  Not all host and sponsoring club members are required to have a V-1 completed, but anyone considered a youth exchange officer (YEO) or Local Counselor (LC) in a club is *required* to have completed a V-1 intake form and successfully passed subsequent vetting.  Every club is responsible for adhering to our district's Youth Protection Policies, which are contained in this link: https://www.rotary6000.org/SitePage/youth-protection-policy-1

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How do I complete a V-1?

A V-1 can be completed conveniently online.  You will need to provide some basic information to our Inbound Coordinator team to be granted access to our database. Detailed instructions may be found at this link: "V-1 Completion Instructions."

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