CIS ABROAD Office Hours 

Florence - SPRING 2025

February 3, 2025 to April 30, 2025

During inter session break and Easter week office hours 

will be on-line, upon appointment.

Romina Marchionne

Florence Site Director & Italy Country Director

The Site Director is CIS Abroad's On-Site staff.  Their job is to support the CIS Abroad students throughout their on-site study abroad experience. They serve as a cultural liaison, organizing excursions, cultural activities, and providing invaluable guidance on everything from the local cuisine to navigating public transportation.  If students run into any issues while abroad - Romina and Martina are there to help provide resources and guidance.  

Romina is a native Roman with a degree in International Communications and a degree in International Relations at the University for Foreigners of Perugia in 2005 and 2007. Shortly after graduating she moved back to Rome and began her study abroad career working for IES. In Rome she began pursuing her MA in International Affairs at the SIOI.

After completing an internship at the Italian Development Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, her career took a turn as Romina was offered a position to work as a Communication and Public Information Officer within the civilian component of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Herat for the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Between 2008 and 2009, Romina completed two missions in Afghanistan. In 2009 she began working for the Italian Embassy in Beirut (Lebanon) which then led her to cover the same position at the Italian Embassy in Sana’a (Yemen). In the Spring of 2011, the Italian government ordered embassy staff to return home due to the uncertain situation of the Arab Spring. Ever since, Romina has enjoyed her return to the eternal city and to her career in study abroad. 

Martina Rosa

Assistant Site Director in Florence

Assistant Site Director plays a crucial role in supporting the Site Director to provide high-quality on-site support to students. They act as a key liaison between students and staff, ensuring that students receive the guidance and resources they need to succeed.

When Martina was 16, she lived in Brazil for a year and that experience completely changed her life. She fell in love with the world of abroad experiences and discovered her Ikigai: getting in touch with different cultures and passing this passion on to other young people. She graduated in International Studies at the University of Trento.  She also worked one year in the UK as an au-pair and one year in Spain as an educator and site manager for pre-med American students. Her desire to work in the world of international education is her life mission. She wants to give to the world what the world has given to her; she wants more people to respect cultural diversity and would like young people to develop their empathy during their period abroad.

Tiffany Ho

International Operations Assistant Director - Italy

The International Operations Director ensures that the study abroad program runs smoothly, overseeing on-site logistics, health and safety measures, and responding to emergencies.  Tiffany works closely with Romina and Martina to ensure that the program is set up and ready for students.  Then, they work closely together when students are on-site to ensure that things run as smoothly as possible.  Tiffany may work directly with students if they have special requests, they experience an emergency, or if they need additional accommodations when they are abroad.  

Tiffany is a first-generation Asian-American with mixed ethnicity from China, Cambodia and Vietnam. She feels incredibly lucky to have the higher education her parents were unable to have, of which her favorite part is when she studied abroad as an undergrad. To date,  she has worked 10+ years in the field of international higher education, five of those years living and working in Qatar. Besides travel, she loves to dance (ballet, tap, jazz, salsa and tango) and is currently fixing up her recently purchased condo in her home city of Chicago!